De’Longhi’s 1500W convection panel heater not only brings style to the home heating game, but also efficiently and uniformly warms up any small to medium sized room.
Unlike a radiant or forced air heating system, which typically offer more targeted concentrated heat, this convection style heater takes air from the room, heats it, and then diffuses that hot air throughout the room creating a comfortable and even warm environment.
The heater has a simple rectangular design and measures 32 inches in width and approximately 21.5 inches high and is a slim 3 inches in depth. The panel heater can be placed on the floor or it can also be mounted on a wall allowing it to blend in with the decor in your home. To mount it on the wall, all you will need is a drill, while De’Longhi has provided the mounting hardware. The company has chosen to offer the panel heater in two colours – grey and white.
Along the bottom of the panel heater is a grill which is where air surrounding the heater is taken in. The unit then heats that air before expelling it through the panel-wide grill at the top as well as the smaller openings on the sides of the appliance.
Additionally, there are two carrying handles on either side of the panel heater near the top allowing you to pick up and carry the heater from room to room if required. The heater itself is not very heavy weighing under 16lbs.
Finally, there is an LCD control/display panel where the unit can be powered on and the temperature, fan and timer options can be controlled and adjusted to your liking.
Heating mechanism
The De’Longhi panel heater is a convection-style heater which means it directly heats the air and then diffuses that air throughout a room for a more even flow of heat within a room. This is unlike a radiant heating system which is more focused and directional in nature and does not heat the air. Think of radiant heat as stepping out from under a tree in the summer and feeling the sun on your skin. The air temperature does not change but you feel the heat on your skin nonetheless.
The De’Longhi panel heater takes in air from the bottom of the heater. The air then passes through the heater’s dual fan lateral and convection system where air is heated and then expelled from both the top and the sides of the unit.
The result of the heating process means that the room in which the heater is located tends to feel warm regardless of where you are located.
By expelling air in three different directions, the De’Longhi panel heater does a very good job in terms of whole room heating. We measured the temperature at the corners of a 15×10 room to be very close to one another. It is important to note that you should leave the area around the bottom of the heater free from debris.
In our time with the heater we would typically find best results came from raising the temperature to the maximum 32 degrees Celsius in order to heat the room as quickly as possible before settling into a more comfortable temperature range once we felt the room was sufficiently warm.
Display Panel
The LCD panel on the side of the heater provides you the ability to control certain functional parameters. There are six buttons running down the side where the LCD panel is located as well as a screen which displays information such as temperature, time and whether or not the fans are spinning or not. A short description of the six buttons follows.
ON/OFF: This button powers on and off the unit. Once you turn on the heater it will immediately begin heating the room at the current settings.
MODE: The mode button allows you to enter one of the operating modes. For example, selecting the “Freeze Prevention” mode will keep the temperature of the room at seven degrees Celsius to avoid freezing. This is something that you may find useful if you are away and want to prevent the possibility of your pipes from freezing, or if you have pets and want to make certain that they are not in an environment that is too cold or uncomfortable without the need to incur unnecessary expenditures associated with turning on your entire central heating system.
If a heating mode is selected, its possible to choose among the four options available including “Heating 1”, “Heating 2”, “Heating 3” and “Heating 3 + Fan”.
As one would expect, “Heating 1” represents the lowest power where the energy consumption is 500W whereas “Heating 3 + Fan” activates the unit’s maximum power. At its maximum power, the De’Longhi panel heater’s energy consumption is 1500W.
+/- Buttons: The “+” and “-” minus buttons allow you to increase and decrease the temperature between 16 and 32 degrees Celsius in increments of one degree.
ECO: Under the ECO mode, the De’Longhi panel heater will automatically set the power level to an appropriate setting to maintain comfort while reducing energy consumption.
Timer: The De’Longhi has two timers that can be set depending on the circumstances. If the unit is running, you can set the timer to shut down the panel heater at a later point. This is perfect if you are going to bed and do not want to leave the heater running all night, but would rather have it shut down after a couple of hours.
The second operational format for the timer can be used to delay the unit’s start time. If you are working outside and don’t want to have the heater activated, but would still like it to begin warming up your living space 30 or 60 minutes prior to coming inside, this panel heater can do just that.
Safety mechanisms
The safety features of a heater are absolutely paramount. De’Longhi has fitted their panel heater with a safety cutoff device. This is designed to protect the appliance from overheating. Should the panel heater begin to overheat the heater will immediately shut down preventing any hazards from developing.
In case you’re wondering about safety features for pets or children, the company has implemented features that will automatically shut the unit off if it is tipped over. Once tipped over, it will begin to emit a beep alerting you to the fact that the heater has fallen over.
Next, we tested the temperature of the panel heater’s surface. This is an important factor we believe, especially if you have children or pets and you have the appliance on the ground. With such a powerful heater, there is natural concern associated with a child placing his/her hand on the heater. We tested for the temperature of the units surface while it was running at maximum power and found that the surface temperature of the panel heater’s body was approximately 36 degrees Celsius. This is quite a warm temperature but you can place your hand on the face of the heater without being burned. Still, we would always urge caution especially around children and pets for any heater, but we do commend De’Longhi for making this panel heater clearly one of the safer ones on the market.
Finally, if there are any malfunctions detected by the heater it will notify you through the LCD screen.
Noise and Airflow
Although the De’Longhi panel heater is stylish addition to any home that does an excellent job at whole room heating, there are additional considerations and factors to take into account prior to making a purchasing decision.
Using our decibel meter, we measured the noise coming from the panel heater when operating at maximum power with fans running. We took a measurement of 12 inches from the unit and found that the level of noise created by the De’Longhi panel heater to be just over 51 decibels in several readings that we averaged. This reading indicates that the heater even at maximum power is no louder than a quiet conversation.
Airflow is another factor that we wished to evaluate, since this characteristic has a direct bearing on how quickly a room will be heated. With the use of an anemometer, we measured the airspeed coming from the sides of the panel heater to be 1.75 meters/second and 2.0 meters/second for the airspeed coming out of the top of the unit.
Cost considerations
Home heating costs have been rising this year and may put a strain on some pocketbooks and family budgets. More than ever families are watching how they spend their money. Depending on your circumstances, it maybe budget friendly to consider an electric convection heater this winter, where you can dial back the temperature on the overall central heating for your home and have one or two panel heaters in individual rooms to warm those individual living spaces.
Part of our evaluation of the De’Longhi panel heater involved looking at the operational costs associated with the heater. Here is what we found.
First, we evaluated the panel heater when operating at its maximum power for three hours per day. At it’s maximum power the heater’s energy consumption is 1500W. Next, we looked at the costs of current energy consumption in Ontario, Canada. Based on figures from Enbridge, we used a value of $0.098/kWh.
Under this scenario, we find the following. Consuming 1500W for 3 hours per day results in energy consumption of 4500W or 4.5kWh. Over the course of 30 days (or a month), this would mean 135kWh of energy consumption. If we take a rate of $0.098/kWh, using the De’Longhi panel heater for 3 hours a day over the course of a month would incur total costs of $13.23 for the month. Of course these numbers are subject to change, however the overall costs of the heater are very reasonable.
Although we cannot comment on individual family budgets and the costs of heating in various locations, if we were to consider the cost of operating the heater at its low output which consumes 500W of energy, the figure would be less than $4 per month. In our opinion, this represents excellent value when compared to alternative heating methods.
What we like
Cost efficiency: We have highlighted the cost efficient nature with which this panel operates even at its most powerful settings. In an environment where economies are slowing down, we believe there are cost savings that can be found utilizing an electric panel heater such as the De’Longhi heater this winter.
Uniform heating: We really like this panel heater for its ability to uniformly heat a small to medium sized room as opposed to a radiant heater or forced heating option. The overall flow of the air from this panel heater does an excellent job creating a comfortable heating environment vs the specific target-oriented nature of other types of heating mechanisms.
Warranty: De’Longhi has been around for a very long time and has built a reputation on quality. The De’Longhi panel heater is an extension of that foundation. The panel heater comes with a three year warranty which is more than the industry average of just one year.
Timer: The ability to set timers for when you want the heater to stop running as well as the ability to set a delayed timer is very useful especially late at night when you fall asleep. Knowing that the panel heater will stop running is comforting.
Noise: At just over 50 decibels, the De’Longhi panel heater operates in the background without disturbing your activities. You can easily watch a movie or read a book without feeling the need to move to another location. Therefore, you can continue to enjoy sitting in comfort while continuing to perform your favorite activities.
Portability: When placed on the floor, the De’Longhi panel heater can be easily carried from one room to another. At just under 16lbs the heater is not heavy and its portability just increases its practicality.
What we don’t like
Radiating heat: In order to make this a complete heating source, we would have liked to have seen De’Longhi equip this panel heater with a radiating source of heat coming from the face of the unit. It is possible to find heaters that combine convection style heat with radiating heat in one unit which can increase the speed in which a room can be heated. Although these options are costly, they do exist and offer an alternative for those who wish to consider them.
Alarm noise: If the unit is tipped over and falls, the safety measures in place are a comfort, however, to simply have a beeping sound to notify you is not sufficient to grab your attention if you are more than a room or two away. De’Longhi could have easily equipped the panel heater with a much louder alarm system for an item such as this.
Final thoughts
As winter approaches and temperatures begin to drop, this year in particular could be a difficult year for many. Heating a home in it’s entirety can represent a significant expenditure. In the search for ways to save money an electrical convection panel heater may be one option to consider.
The De’Longhi panel heater’s versatility and portability offers one of those options that we believe should be considered. Beyond operating costs, the panel heater has other characteristics that we find attractive such as its quiet nature as well the generally uniform heating option the unit offers.
De’Longhi has a long history of providing quality products and we believe that this panel heater is just the latest example of just such a product.
Perhaps this is the year that many decide to look at an electric convection panel heater, and if this is indeed the case, the De’Longhi 1500W panel heater should be one to consider.
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