Heating and cooling picks, checked against the official ratings
For the cold months, start with these three: a space heater, an air purifier and a furnace filter. Each has today's Amazon price.
This season's picks
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Space heater for a cold room
Dreo Atom 316 (HSH006) ceramic heater
$35.99 on Amazon, November 11
Its listing states tip-over and overheat shutoff, a thermostat and an ETL safety mark.
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Air purifier for a living room
$169.96 on Amazon, November 11
AHAM, the appliance test program, certifies it to clean a room up to 388 sq ft.
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Furnace filter, 16x25x1
Amazon Basics 16x25x1 MERV 11, 6-pack
$34.38 on Amazon, November 11
$5.73 a filter. MERV 11 suits most homes. Change it every 60 to 90 days.
Heat a room
- Best space heaterPicks for a bedroom, bathroom, large room and garage, each with the safety shutoffs the CPSC asks for.
- Best oil-filled radiator heaterQuiet heat for a bedroom, sized by room, with a pick that has a timer.
- Best UL-listed space heaterSafety marks checked in the lab directory, not just on the listing.
- Is my space heater recalled?Every CPSC electric heater recall since 2024, with how to claim.
- Best garage heaterElectric and propane picks by garage size, with the cost per hour and the wiring each needs.
- Best electric blanketHeated blankets, mattress pads and throws with a safety mark and auto shut-off, checked against CPSC recalls.
- Best electric fireplace insertMeasure your fireplace opening, then pick an insert that fits it.
- What a space heater costs to runThe cost per hour in your state, and when it beats turning up the furnace.
- Heated blanket or space heater?What one night costs with each, and which is safer.
- Hard freeze coming?What to do tonight so your pipes don't burst, and what to buy.
Clean the air
- Best air purifierPicks sized by the certified clean-air rate (CADR), not the room size on the box.
- Air purifier for allergiesRanked by the certified pollen test.
- ENERGY STAR air purifierCertified yearly power use and cost, by room size.
- Air purifier under $100Certified room size and no ozone, for the lowest price.
- Air purifier for petsDander, hair and odor, with the yearly filter cost.
- Air purifier for smokeWildfire smoke picks by room size, plus the EPA's box-fan option.
- Air purifier for a bedroomQuiet picks sized to run all night.
- Air purifier for large roomsThe biggest certified rooms, and the cheapest to run.
- Winix models comparedEvery certified Winix, and which ones are the same machine.
- Levoit models comparedEvery Levoit with its certified room size and power use.
- Coway models comparedEvery Airmega sold on Amazon, and which one to skip.
- Is the Winix C710 worth it?What it is certified for, and its twin on Amazon.
Furnace and purifier filters
- Best furnace filter for your sizePick the size printed on your old filter and see the lowest price per filter at MERV 8, 11 and 13.
- What MERV rating do I need?MERV 8, 11 and 13 in plain words, and the airflow tradeoff.
- Best 4-inch furnace filterWhat fits your Aprilaire, Honeywell or Lennox cabinet, and what it costs a year.
- Filtrete vs Nordic PurePrice per filter by size, and which has the least airflow resistance.
- Off-brand air purifier filtersGenuine vs copy filters for best-selling purifiers: part numbers, cost per year and what tests found.
Humidity
- Best humidifierFor dry air, static and cracked lips, checked against each box's own stated output.
- Humidifier for a large roomSized by how much water it puts out in a day, not the box.
- Best dehumidifierChecked against the ENERGY STAR list, with the yearly running cost.
- Basement dehumidifierDamp basements and crawl spaces, with pump lift and running cost.
- What size dehumidifier do I need?The certified pints your space needs.
Heating and cooling systems
- Best mini-splitDuctless heating and cooling, room by room, to install yourself or with an installer.
- Best DIY mini-splitKits with pre-charged lines, and which brands are not really DIY.
- Heat pump or furnace?Which costs less to run in your state.
- Best gas furnaceEvery residential gas furnace ranked by AFUE, the share of fuel that becomes heat.
- Best central air conditionerRanked by SEER2, the number that sets your summer bill.
- Best cold-climate heat pumpRanked by how much heat it still makes at 5°F.
- Best smart thermostatENERGY STAR certified picks, checked for your wiring.
- Small window air conditionerFor a bedroom or office, ranked by certified efficiency.
- Water heatersEvery type with its certified efficiency and yearly running cost.
Gas furnaces by size: 40,000 BTU · 60,000 BTU · 80,000 BTU · 100,000 BTU · 120,000 BTU
Mini-splits by size: 12,000 BTU · 18,000 BTU · 24,000 BTU · 36,000 BTU
How we pick: every efficiency and capacity figure comes from the AHRI Directory, ENERGY STAR or AHAM, and every price from Amazon on the day the page was built. Where no one certifies a product, such as space heaters, we say so and use the listing's own words. No star ratings, no paid placement. Methodology · Written by Erin Rose · 13,455 certified products listed.