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Experts have warned people this popular $55 Kmart appliance is not worth buying.

The popular Kmart oil heater has been savaged in a review, released this week by Australia’s peak consumer research body, Choice.

The review was so bad that Choice testers actually expressed their commiserations to anyone who purchased the absolute “dud” that is the Anko 11 Fin Oil Heater, for $55.

“It’s pretty much a warm doorstop, you don’t really want to buy it,” testing director Matthew Steen said.

Choice tests roughly 20 new heaters, released onto the Australia market each year, and deliver a comprehensive report on their effectiveness for consumers.

worst heater

But according to this week’s findings, the Kmart electric oil heater is “one of the worst performing heaters Choice has tested in years.”

With an overall score of just 48%, the Kmart Anko HD904-11 tied for last place in our latest electric heaters test.

There’s not much to praise about the heater says Choice, although it was one of the cheapest to run – costing just $141 for 500 hours of winter use. Then again, with a measly heating score of 38%, that’s probably because it doesn’t really do much.

“This is one of the most poorly performing electric heaters I’ve seen in my time at CHOICE,” says Matthew Steen, director of testing and reviews at CHOICE.

“You’ll be left waiting a long time for any noticeable heat – over 57 minutes to raise our test room by 5°C – and it didn’t even manage to reach a 10°C rise.”

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  • Sometimes its better to spend a little more and get products that are more fuel economical which saves money over the long run.

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  • I’ll have to check out the scores of all those tested because I intended to go buy a new heater this weekend and I most likely would have gotten it from Kmart! Lucky I saw this :-)

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  • I only buy well known brands of electric products. Sounds like it would be a waste of money because it wouldn’t produce much heat which would mean you’d use more electricity having it run for longer.

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  • Kmart appliance really aren’t the best.
    Ive ended up spending a tad extra at Bunnings for a heater and it works really well, so much variety to suit everyone’s budget too.
    Their return/fault policy is amazing

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  • Kmart’s things are mostly bad quality unless you are buying branded items like Lego.

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  • I love Kmart, and do own a few of their electrical products but I would never purchase a heater from there. Ill be sharing this review win the hope that it will save people money.

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  • There’s a lot of things I love from Kmart, but I stay away from electrical appliances.

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  • Good to know. Wouldn’t have bought such an item from Kmart, but well worth being informed.

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  • Thsnks good to know

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  • Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  • I don’t find this surprising. I bought a kettle recently from Kmart. It is so loud that we have to pause the DVD player in the adjacent lounge room as we can’t hear the TV over it.

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  • I am not a fan of buying any electrics from Kmart

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  • I would never entertain small heaters of any sort – a large heater that heats many rooms at once is the way to go these days – preferably gas as it’s slightly cheaper but far more efficient.

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  • Oh no that’s bad

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  • $55 for a door stop, oh dear. Won’t be investing in one of those.

    Reply

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