Lasko Designer Series Review

The only attribute that we could establish that separates this model from the rest is its distinct look and design. Considering its display of unrestrained mediocrity during our review, we are hesitant to recommend the Lasko Designer Series to anyone except for those who want a space heater that doesn't look like one.

Performance Comparison

Personal Heat

Unfortunately, we have quite a few gripes with the overall performance of this model. First and foremost, it doesn't do well in larger spaces such as a living room. Our panel of judges found that the channel of air produced by the Designer Series felt more like a cold breeze than a blanket of warmth and that it isn't very good at projecting air of any temperature over any sort of substantial distance.

Thanks to its small footprint and tall shape, the Designer Series fits quite nicely in tight places. It isn't the strongest model as far as pumping out heat goes, but if the oscillation feature is engaged, it does a good job of heating small areas — such as underneath a desk.

Convenience

During our assessments, convenience was the strongest aspect of the Designer Series. It has an oscillation setting that helps to distribute heat throughout an area more effectively than models lacking this feature. This Lasko has a digital thermostat and remote control, which are straightforward to use. The symbols that indicate the function of the buttons on the remote — and the heater itself — are intuitive and easy to understand.

The Lasko also lacks the option to use the blower as a room temperature fan without the heating element turned on. This means that this model will be useless during warm months and will need to be stored, or it will just be a waste of space. We love that the Designer has a thermostat from 60 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, but the settings jump up in increments of five degrees. We prefer models that allow you to choose the temperature by the exact degree, which offers the maximum amount of comfort.

Small Room Heating

We conducted a series of measured tests to obtain some more objective data. We ran one experiment to determine how much temperature change each heater could produce in a small room in one hour. For the small room test, we started with a temperature of 64.7 degrees Fahrenheit in a 161 square foot room and ran the Designer for an hour at its highest setting. Sixty minutes later, the Lasko had brought the room's temperature up to 74.1 degrees for a total gain of 9.4 degrees.

Power Consumption

To project the cost of running the heaters, we began by looking up the national average price of a kilowatt per hour (kWh), which was 13 cents at the time of this review. We then hooked each model up to a wattmeter and ran them at their highest setting for an hour to see how much power they consumed. After an hour, we measured that the Designer used 1.3 kilowatts of energy. Using this figure and the average kWh price, we calculated that it would cost $1.71 to run this heater over 10 hours or $51.30 for 10 hours per day for 30 days.

Should You Buy the Lasko Designer Series?

The primary reason we'd recommend you buy the Lasko Designer Series is for its looks. It offers a few bells and whistles — such as a remote, an oscillation setting, and a digital display — but its overall performance is not one we would recommend.

What Other Space Heaters Should You Consider?