Patton Power Utility Heater - Product Review

There are a lot of different heaters out there and when you're standing in front of all of them in an aisle at wal-mart, it can be hard to choose which one to buy. The Patton Power Utility Heater is reviewed here so you'll see the pros and cons of this product so that you can decide for yourself if its the heater for you.

Price

You can get the Patton Power Utility Heater for about $32.00. This is pretty low price for a heater--it's not the lowest priced one at Wal-Mart, but its close to the bottom. Buying a low priced product is always a bit of a gamble, so it's important to know more about the product before you commit to buying it. Sometimes spending ten or twenty extra dollars will pay off depending on what you need the heater for.

Features

The Patton Power Utility Heater has a number of impressive features for such a well priced heating device. The most useful of these is that it automatically shuts off if it is knocked over. This makes it safe for pets and children as well as great for preventing accidental fires. The heater has an adjustable temperature setting so that it can be put on a cycle mode like a thermostat. This temperature gauge, however, is frustratingly vague. It does not specify any temperature, but is simply "cooler" to "hotter." Something about this can be very annoying. Also, the cycle mode doesn't really work too well; when it is cold enough to be using your heater, you will most likely want to keep it on the highest temperature setting so that it doesn't shut off. The heater also has a "heat 1" and "heat 2" warmth setting so that it can be turned from 1500 watts to 1000 watts, however you will most likely want to keep it on full blast the entire time. For use in warmer weather, it also has a fan function, which allows it to act as a cooling instead of warming device. This is a nice little feature that Patton decided to add. Another useful safety feature is the automatic shut-off that this heater does when it overheats.

Heating Ability

This is a fan powered heater, which means that it is one of the weakest forms of heating. The heat delivered is not particularly powerful, but over time in a closed area is can rain the temperature pretty well. I would recommend this heater for a small room like a bathroom or garage. This unit could also be criticized for the noise it makes, which could be annoying to some people. It is surprisingly loud for such a small unit and makes a growling noise that is associated with fan powered air conditioners.

Design

The unit is designed to look sturdy and manly so that it could be used in a work space. There is a handle on top of it that makes for easy transport and it is very light. The steel grate in the front is very convenient because it captures anything like dust or dog hair that the fan intake at the bottom sucks up and makes for easy removal. The unit is stable and strong and will probably last a long time.

In summary, this is a good little heater but weak on the heat aspect. If you need a small heater for a small room then this will do the job for you, but it does not have the power to warm up a large area, and certainly not very quickly. But, for the money, it does its job well and comes with some useful features.