Is It Safe to Use a Space Heater in the Bathroom?

For additional protection, look for a space heater equipped with an appliance leakage current interrupter (ALCI) plug, says Chris Regan, who oversees CR’s space heater tests. These bulky plugs—similar to those seen on hair dryers—safeguard against differences in current and can also protect against a dangerous electrical shock.

ALCI plugs are somewhat uncommon in space heaters, however—only five of the more than 100 models currently in our space heater ratings offer this protection. (On our model pages, space heaters with any plug with a resettable circuit breaker are designated as having GFCI protection.) Those models are listed below.

“Essentially, the models we’ve highlighted contain a plug device that has a reset, which will trip as a circuit breaker in your home would—preventing the user from electric shock or worse,” Regan says.

Even with built-in protection, keep your heater clear of puddles and splash areas, and out of the way enough that someone won’t inadvertently touch it. Keep vulnerable pets and people (such as children and older people) safely away from these areas.

Below, listed in alphabetical order, are the five heaters we tested that have an ALCI/GFCI plug. On this list, safety trumps performance; none of these models ranked high in our ratings. (The low-scoring Delonghi is an oil-filled radiator-type heater, which is slow to heat and generally does poorly in our tests.) The two models from Soleil have a tip-over switch, a safety feature we highly recommend because it shuts off the heater if it gets knocked over. But these five models rate excellent for fire safety, which takes into account the tip-over switch as well as other sensors that will shut off a heater in an unsafe situation.

You’ll find higher-performing models in our review of the best space heaters as well as those good for spot-heating a home office,