De’Longhi Dragon Oil Filled Radiator Heater TRD40615T

I was looking for a safe heater for bedrooms. Our home has no upstairs heat currently and we needed something for each room. Since two of the rooms are kids rooms, I wanted something as safe as possible, and while no space heater is 100% safe, I believe the DeLonghi TRD40415T gets very close.

I was a bit wary of radiant heat – how good can that be exactly, with no blower or fan? I recalled days of my own youth relying on hot water radiators to heat the house. Suffice to say, this DeLonghi unit is light years ahead of that technology – granted both radiant heat, but just as rotary phones and iPhones are both “telephones”, its hardly the same thing. I was very surprised by both the heat output and feel of the radiant heat – it rises mostly from the top and although I know better, you could be fooled into believing it has a fan – but it doesn’t. On Medium, the unit noticeably raised the temperature of a 16 X 16 basement room from chilly to comfortable in around 2 hours. On high, the unit easily pushed the room to overly warm, toasty even. I imagine a High setting would cut the time to “comfortable” by about a third. The unit is easy to operate and settings are mostly intuitive. The only potentially confusing part might be the timer, but only if you have never used a mechanical timer like this before, and once you figure it out, its very easy. The timer is also infinitely flexible, enabling you to set multiple on and off periods. I have the heater kick on at 5am, then off at 8am – so heating the room for morning, then it remains off until 6pm and heats until 8:30pm – so heating the room again before bed.

The unit is mostly silent – it may click and tap once or twice upon initial startup, but it is not overly noticeable and seems to diminish with use. Otherwise, the only sound is the timer running, and you can only hear that with your ear directly on the unit – which is a bad idea anyway….The unit does get hot to the touch, particularly on top. On Medium, you may get a 3-5 second count before you must remove your finger from the sides or front, on High, I didn’t even attempt to touch it. The sides are somewhat cooler, but no so much that they would not burn with prolonged contact. Ultimately, this is a heater, if therefor must get hot somewhere. The advantages are that there is no exposed heating element, no loud fan, little to no chance of catching something on fire due to a brief accidental contact and burns are unlikely to occur unless handled improperly – you’d sort of have to try burn yourself. The trade-off is a slower heat transfer versus a fan driven heater and the unit is heavy – although the weight does somewhat deter inappropriate positioning and helps resist accidental tip-over and similar accidents.

I run the units on medium to maximize safety while still putting out enough heat. Although no space heater should really be left unattended, I feel confident that this unit’s passive radiant heat and quiet uncomplicated operation, make it a much more reliably safe option versus other space heating alternatives.

This is my second purchase of this item. The first one was purchased about 2 years ago (‘2021) and has worked very well. I wanted a second unit to help heat a large room in combination with the original unit. Upon receiving the package, the box was in great condition; however, after opening the box I noticed the heater itself was unfortunately dented on the side. I decided to keep the unit instead of rolling the dice to try and get one in better condition.

The smell on these heaters is quite off putting and can linger for some time. I set mine up outdoors on the patio and let it burn off for about 8 hours on high. This reduced the smell but didn’t eliminate it completely. Even after using the unit for several weeks, I can still detect the smell from the new unit.

All in all, these heaters are some of the best you can get. The price on my original unit was $101 in 2021. This second unit was $128 in 2023. This was the lowest price I could find it. I would like another unit but cannot justify the expenditure at the +25% increase in price. Many other reviewers indicated receiving a damaged unit in recent months. I highly recommend this style of heater over others as it is more efficient and safer, especially around children or pets. The two in combination work very well to heat a large room over 800 square feet.

very nice, but it has a little bit bump!

Hasta ahora todo bien trae un timbre y lo ajustamos para que prenda a ciertas horas del día, desprende un olor un poco molesto espero que con el uso se vaya, a la potencia máxima calienta mi recamara de 35 m2 en menos de una hora, se pone muy caliente a potencia máxima debo mover lo con el pie y como tiene ruedas no hay problema, no hace ruido de repente unos como pequeños tronidos pero nada que te despierte de noche