Opinions on electric heaters like Eden pure etc

[MeLikeUmFire]

Dont know if this is the right forum for this question. Just wondering peoples opinions on the electric heaters like the edenpure Quartz infrared heater or the like. Are they worth all the hype? My house is a 2 story colonial (not open at all). Thinking if I cant heat my whole house (with insert in family room on 1st floor) maybe I could put one of these "more efficient" claiming units in my hallway upstairs. EdenPure claims it will heat 1000 sq ft.

 

[begreen]

Don't waste your money, this is marketing hype. Electric heaters by design are 100% efficient. These heaters are in no way more efficient than a $10 basic resistance heater. Yes, they may be safer, but that can be achieved easily with many heaters in the under $70 range. As far as the sq ftg. again, just hype. It totally depends on the temps outside and how well insulated the space is. Look to oil-filled radiators or the like for an alternative.

 

[seige101]

BeGreen got it dead on. Electric heat is 100%. The only thing the fancier units do is make your wallet lighter.

 

[Highbeam]

The biggest opportunity you will have to waste money is by buying an overly expensive electric heater based on efficiency. ALL electric heaters are 100% efficient. There is no magic to any of these heaters including the edenpure that will magically make more heat from the same electricity. Almost all of the plug in electric heaters are capped at 1500 watts since that is what a typical household circuit can give.

So the only considerations you have are quality and features. You will be hard pressed to beat the silence and dependability of the oil filled electric heaters that look like old fashioned radiators and cost like 40$ at walmart. No fans to get dirty, make noise, or blow dust, and the things don't get so searing hot that you risk burns from touching them.

More folks will come along and add more. I have to run now. Don't fall for gimicks!

 

[jharkin]

There is nothing more to add. Highbeam nailed it 100%.

 

[Retreadsme]

As a previous owner/user of an infrared heater similar to the EdenPure brand, but different name; my experience was that my oil filled radiator type space heaters are just as efficient/effective as the $479.95 Cherry finished heater was. Thank goodness the cherry veneer split in numerous places on the top within the warrantee period and I was inspired enough to return it before the end of the $$-back guarantee period expired. It was a moment of weakness that I forgot exactly what Highbeam has conveyed. My advice - oil filled space heaters, spend the remainder on wood or a new chainsaw if one is needed. Just my experience, others may have gotten a better seat on the plane.

 

[woodjack]

I too, like the oil filled radiators best. They don't heat as fast as other types of electric heaters, but it's a more comfortable, steady heat. This winter I'm experimenting with one in each bedroom, bathroom and furnace room. So far, the heat is great on the near lowest setting. Still waiting to see my electric bill. I'm hoping it will be less than running my oil furnace, plus cleaner and more comfortable.

I don't think one heater will heat four bedrooms unless your house is super duper insulated.

 

[Danno77]

I like the oil filled the best, but I have a few of the small fan forced thermostat ones that I really like because of their size and price. If you want silent and long lasting you can't beat those oil filled ones. If you want cheap, VERY small, and don't mind the noise get the small ones. If you want something you don't want to drag out every winter then get some electric baseboard heaters.

 

[Green Energy]

Highbeam covered it very well. All electricity is 100% converted into heat on all electric heaters. No where else for it to go.

There is some difference with a radiant heater versus a convection heater. Radiant heaters will heat the objects within the line of sight rather than relying on heating the air as their primary means of heat transfer. So radiant heaters have their applications, think warehouse or areas near doors that are opening and there are locations where employees work or customers wait. So they are good spot heaters in areas where the ambient temp around the spot is not going to be heated to a comfortable temp. But this is typically not found in a residential environment except for maybe the heat lamp for the shower drying area, or maybe a work bench in a unheated garage.

 

[Titus]

The biggest opportunity you will have to waste money is by buying an overly expensive electric heater based on efficiency. ALL electric heaters are 100% efficient.
...
Don't fall for gimicks!

Thank you!!

Too many people are hoodwinked into thinking there is some special magic to these ridiculously expensive heaters.

It's the patented "cured copper" tubes that makes it work so well. ;-P

Buy the "Amish mantle" and we'll give you the heater!! See how hard these people are working for you? :gulp:
(broken image removed)

 

[pdboilermaker]

All of the plug in heaters are the same. They heat up to 1500 watts which is what is allowed by codes. A $10 1500 watt heater uses the same amount of electricity and puts off the same amount of heat as a $500 one. Just to give you an idea, an electric heater running 24/7 for a month in Indiana costs you $75.00/month

 

[chrisasst]

I like the oil filled the best, but I have a few of the small fan forced thermostat ones that I really like because of their size and price. If you want silent and long lasting you can't beat those oil filled ones. If you want cheap, VERY small, and don't mind the noise get the small ones. If you want something you don't want to drag out every winter then get some electric baseboard heaters.

What is the electric use like on these oiled filled heaters? Last year I got a dimplex unit.

I plugged it into a watt reader this month. So far after 284 hours, it says it has cost me $12. Which in my opinion is outrageous.

So how much does one of these cost to run...

 

[Danno77]

oil will be less, ONLY because it's not running a fan and also because it isn't running the extra wattage for the fake fire light and motion.

 

[woodjack]

It sounds like you are saying that all electric heaters provide the same amount of heat. From a scientific perspective thats true, but practically speaking, it seems to me that different designs yield different comfort levels of warmth. Electric heater designs are not all the same. Although 100% of the electrical energy is converted into heat with any heat source, even a light bulb, that does not take into account the method that the heat is transferred throughout the room.

 

[woodjack]

What exactly do you guys mean by 100% efficiency? It sounds like you are saying that all electric heaters provide the same amount of heat. Different designs results in different real heat output.

 

[Wood Duck]

What exactly do you guys mean by 100% efficiency? It sounds like you are saying that all electric heaters provide the same amount of heat. Different designs results in different real heat output.

Efficiency is measured as the percentage of the available BTUs you paid for that is turned into heat in the house. With oil, for example, some of the heat in the oil goes out the flue as hot air, some small part of the energy remains in the small amount of smoke discharged, and part of the energy fails to make it from the place where oil is burned to the house. So, the efficency of an oil burner is less than 100%. With electric heat, you only pay for the electricity that is used up in the heater, and this electricity is all turned into heat inside the room, so there is no delivery loss. Different heaters may put out more or less heat, but each one is 100% efficient.

 

[fossil]

OK, dudes & dudettes, I merged the OP's two threads on different forums on the same subject into this one here, and cleaned it up a bit. Rick

 

[DannMarr]

I own one of those iHeaters. It will not heat up a whole house, or a large open area either. It does work well in a small bedroom with low ceilings or as a supplement to an existing heating source. The advantage of these units is, they are safer around children and pets. The disadvantage of these units is, way too expensive.

 

[smstrb]

Here's an article that gives a good evaluation of the Edenpure heater.
http://alternative-heating-info.com/quartz_infrared_heater.html

 

[Gooserider]

Here's an article that gives a good evaluation of the Edenpure heater.
http://alternative-heating-info.com/quartz_infrared_heater.html

Not bad, but I'd take it with a fairly large grain of salt - I was decidedly underwhelmed by the quality of info on the site on other pages, some stuff was very questionable to dangerously wrong (like the implication that you could burn wood in a B-vent gas fireplace insert), other stuff was very questionable (recommending the use of OWB's and EPA exempt wood stoves), and most of the rest was really basic level... Seems to me like the site is one of the many that have exposing people to advertising as their main reason for existing...

Gooserider

 

[basswidow]

My in-law's got an eden pure and raved to us about it. So last year - we got one. We didn't pay full price, they're plenty out there used - because they don't live up to the hype and claims and people CL and ebay them.

I'll say this: it draws alot of electricity (trips the breaker at times), it's safe to touch (safe for kids), the thermotstat sucks and it beeps when it comes on and off (can't sleep with one in your room) Loud. It does not heat the SF it claims at all. The $ 39 oil filled radiator's out perform the eden pure hands down - and they are quiet.

I would not recommend the Eden Pure - unless it's to someone you don't like.

 

[Highbeam]

100% efficient. The fan that blows through the resistance element takes watts, true, but even those watts are all converted to heat. The electric energy cannot disappear.

For funzies you can consider every appliance in your house to be a heater. The fridge, the TV, the lamps, etc. Everything that plugs in to the wall and burns up power and does not have a place to dump the energy outdoors (like hot water down the sewer)will be dumping the energy into your living space as heat.