You reckon our Aussie Spring is the right time to review a room heater? Actually, yes! The Stiebel Eltron CON20 is specifically earmarked for use in spring and autumn seasons or as a “standalone” heating system – even though it is wall mounted. So, as Spring kicks on, it’s the perfect time to see how it performs.

Stiebel Eltron Australia were kind enough to send us a unit to test and the CON20 Premium has some interesting features, not found in similar priced units.

 

Stiebel Eltron is a brand name that doesn’t come easily to mind when you’re considering electric room heaters. And, yet, the German top brand is nearly 100 years old and very well known in the commercial sector. Granted, they didn’t start out with room heaters but with water heaters and, later, heat pumps. And Stiebel Eltron has been in Australia for over a quarter of a century.

The company started production of convection heaters in the mid-sixties and the CON20 is representative of the latest development. The CON20 Premium moniker indicates it is a 2000 Watt unit, with the CON10 and CON30 bracketing the series. All of these units are wall mounted and come with Aussie plugs (the CON30 needs to be hardwired).

 

First Things First

Why would you consider a convection heater over other types, like oil heaters?

Convection heaters get a room warm very fast, even if not fan-assisted. It is an even, pleasant heat distribution whilst the units themselves are safe to touch. (If you have exploring little kiddies around, this can be a great option.) When they are thermostat controlled, they will be very energy efficient.
And they are rather inexpensive to buy. For instance, this CON20 Premium model retails at AUD$499.

Being wall mounted means it’s not occupying any floor space which also makes vacuuming easier. But you lose a bit of flexibility in being able to wheel around a unit on castors.

So you need to carefully consider placement of the unit. In our case we had two options: in a hallway where it would heat some adjacent areas as well or in the master bedroom.

The hallway install meant we also had to put in an additional power point as the power cord is rather short, at only 1 metre long. We did not have that issue in our bedroom.

Installation is easy. The unit comes with an H-shaped bracket which also serves as a template for the 4 holes you need to drill. After affixing the bracket, you can hook the unit onto the bracket and secure it with a couple of locking screws.

The CON20 is a beautifully crafted appliance. Well-engineered and well-built. It didn’t surprise me that the CON Premium range is a winner of the prestigious Red Dot Design Award. So, no need to hide it away!

Let’s Explore the Features

From the list of official features, I’m highlighting a few that I found important and added another aspect I found also very essential.

  • German made, elegant design with even and quiet heat distribution.
  • Digital controller with backlit LCD display.
  • Energy efficient with functions like open window detection.
  • Warranty 5 year full parts and labour
  • And here’s my essential feature: Safe heat for small children and adjustable childproofing.

Most of these features need no further explanation, except the digital controller.

You don’t need to check the manual to be able to use the controller. But if you do, you can learn about some of the extra functionality that’s built in. Such as the various timers so that you can program the whole week. Or just use the 120 minute timer. Or activate the open window detection.

You wouldn’t necessarily worry here in Oz about the inbuilt frost protection, set at 7 °C. Elsewhere in our northern climes it can be a lifesaver…

The display is easy to read and backlit when you are interacting with it. Temps can be adjusted from +5 to +30 °C in 0.5 °C increments.

 

Our Findings

In our weeks of testing out the Stiebel Eltron CON20 Premium Wall Heater we found the unit a welcome and pleasant addition to our home. It has less noise and fan airflow than our AC inverter, less muss and dust than our wood heater and less smell than our oil heaters.

It just does its job unobtrusively. In the beginning I often checked whether it was still running as it is absolutely silent and no bright red LED light to show it’s even on. I like that.

The CON20 is not a heater for big rooms but perfect for small to medium sized areas to heat. It’s a great design without drawing attention to itself.

The Stiebel Eltron wall heaters are inexpensive to buy and will last you a lifetime, we reckon. The 5 year warranty is just an indication of the confidence the German company has in this product.

And did I mention it’s a safe unit for toddlers to be around?

Highly Recommended!

Check out the Stiebel Electron product page here to find out more and where you can buy the unit.

 

Technical Data

 

Model number CON 10 Premium CON 20 Premium CON 30 Premium
Output 1.0kW 2.0kW 3.0kW
Current 4.3A 8.7A 13.0A
Connection 1/N/PE ~ 230V 50Hz
Temperature adjustment 5 – 30 °C
IP rating IP24
Width 470mm 780mm 1090mm
Height 470mm 470mm 470mm
Depth 126mm 126mm 126mm
Weight 5.9kg 9.3kg 12.6kg
Installation Wall mounted
Colour Alpine white.