REVIEW – Winter is here! Temperatures are dropping below freezing at night! That can only mean one thing: It’s entirely too cold in my bathroom when I want to take a shower in the morning. I’m hoping that the solution to my cold problem is Gladle’s new space heater.
What is it?
The Gladle space heater is a portable, ceramic space heater with a thermostat and tip-over protection. Gladle is a trademark of Changchun City ChengJi Technology, a distributor of phones and tablets based in Shenzhen, China.
What’s in the box?
- The space heater
- A user manual (with 6 pages of English instruction)
Hardware specs
- Heat settings: low (900w) and high (1500w)
- Max temperature: 122°F
- Noise level: 50dB
- Weight: 3.5 pounds
- Dimensions: 8.6 inches W x 6.8 H x 4.7 D
Design and features
The Gladle is a surprisingly small, rounded box that features a bright, cheerful blue color. It’s constructed entirely of plastic, except for the front grill, which is metal. The right and left side each have a twistable knob, one for turning on the fan and the other for setting the temperature. The back has the fan housing, and the bottom has the kill switch. It’s a very simple design that is perfectly suited for a simple gadget.
Installation and setup
There’s really nothing to set up. All I had to do was pull the Gladle from its packing material and plug it in. I also read through the manual, though this heater is simple enough to use without it. If you’ve never owned one before, I would recommend that you read through the two pages of safety instructions. If you misuse this gadget, you risk burning your house down or electrocuting yourself.
Performance
On the right side of the Gladle is a silver knob with four settings:
- Off – This turns off the heater.
- Fan – This turns on the fan without running the heater. I don’t know why I would ever need this feature, as the fan isn’t really powerful enough to use as a fan for cooling.
- Low – This turns on the lower heat setting, which uses 900w.
- High – This turns on the higher heat setting, which uses 1500w.
Honestly, I can’t tell any difference between low and high setting. The fan is the same, and the amount of outgoing heat is (apparently) the same. Perhaps on high it gets hot faster, but I’m really sure; the manual doesn’t provide any clues.
UPDATE (19 Jan 2021) – If you jump to the 1:50 mark of this YouTube video, you’ll see that this reviewer has a temperature sensor and can actually measure the difference between low and high. Even though I could not discern any difference with my hand, there is a difference.
On the left side is another knob that sets the thermostat. The further clockwise that I rotate it, the higher the temperature at which my bathroom will be kept.
The back of the heater is the fan housing.
The Gladle comes with three safety features. The first feature is the kill switch, or what the manual calls the tip-over switch, a small piece of black plastic on the bottom that moves up and down. When set on a firm surface, like a counter, the switch presses in and allows the heater to be turned on. Whenever I pick the heater up or tip it in any direction, the switch pops and instantly disables the heater. This switch should minimize the chances of causing a fire or electrocution, should you (or your pet) accidentally tip over the heater.
The second feature is the pilot light, the small red LED on the front top that lights up when the heater is on. For most people, this won’t be necessary, as the sound of the fan running will be a better indication. For those who are hearing impaired, however, it’s the perfect way to know at a glance if the heater is still on. The third feature is the thermal fuse. This fuse will automatically turn off the heater if it ever reaches too high of a temperature. If this happens, the manual recommends that you unplug the heater and call the agent for service. Hopefully this will never happen, as the Gladle meets UL standard 1278, a standard for electric room heaters.
Speaking of overheating, this is probably a good time to mention one rather important detail: There doesn’t seem to be any way to contact support about this product or to get assistance with a warranty. The Gladle website is in Chinese, and neither the user manual nor their Amazon page provide any contact information. Perhaps this information will be forthcoming in the future, but for now caveat emptor is the rule of the day.
In my testing, I found that the Gladle worked great. I always set it to high, and it always warmed my bathroom quickly. Our master bathroom is about 90 square feet, and it heats the room to a comfortable temperature in about five minutes and to too hot by 10 minutes. Of course, these numbers will vary for the size of your room and your personal definition of “comfortable” and “hot,” but it’s still useful to know that it can warm up a decent-sized room fairly quickly.
What I like
- Simple, cheerful design
- Safety features
- Quick heat
What I’d change
- Create a website and provide support information
Final thoughts
The Gladle is a small but effective ceramic space heater for small rooms. I like its bright blue color, and I like its safety features even more. It’s been a welcome addition to our bathroom on these cold winter mornings. If, however, you value good support from a company, you’ll probably want to pass on this gadget, as there’s no way to contact them (in English) at this time. If you’re not worried about the risk of losing $22, then feel free to give the Gladle a try.
Price: $21.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Gladle.
