Bionaire

Bionaire, a division of Jarden, which in turn is controlled by Sunbeam, sells micathermic heaters under the brand names Bionaire and Jarden. The heaters reviewed here are sold under the Bionaire trademark.

Bionaire BH1551-U: ($119) This is the only micathermic heater I know of that is equipped with a fan. The fan engages automatically when the control knob is turned to the high, 1500 watt setting. (The low setting is 1000 watts).

Some owners of this heater have commented that the fan has too little power to make a difference and adds unwanted noise.

Also, a few online sellers of this heater state in their product descriptions that it can be mounted on the wall. This is not the case. First of all, this model does not include wall mounting hardware and, more importantly, the user's manual specifically states that "This unit is for FLOOR USE ONLY."

Bionaire BH1551-U

Standard features include:

• Manual controls 
• Adjustable thermostat 
• 2 heat settings 
• Carry handles 
• Tip-over and overheat shut-off 
• Manual user reset 
• Cool touch plastic end caps 
• Auto shut-off 
• 1 year warranty 
• Dimensions including stand: 25.5 x 4 x 20 inches.

Bionaire BH3950-U: ($86) According to Bionaire this heater is "ideal for larger rooms." But what is a larger room? To answer this question I scoured the reviews for examples where actual room dimensions were given and how the heater performed.

In one instance the reviewer said his heater did a good job heating a 12' x 18' (216 sq. ft.) room. In another example the reviewer complained she was disappointed by the heater's performance in a 13' x 20' (260 sq. ft.) room.

So you could probably assume this heater's effectiveness starts to diminish once the room size exceeds 216 square feet or thereabouts. In any case, I think it's fair to say that 200+ square feet qualifies as a "larger" room.

Bionaire BH3950-U

This unit features:

• 2 heat settings: 1500 watts (HI), but nowhere in the literature does it state the low setting but it's probably either 750 or 1000 watts 
• Adjustable thermostat 
• Automatic shut-off if overheating or accidental tip over occurs 
• Large carry handle 
• Easy glide wheels
• Backed by 5-year warranty
• Dimensions: 26-3/8 by 6 by 21-1/4 inches