Advertising Lies.....

[bountyhunter]

You may have seen the full page ads in your newspapers about the "Paul Harvey Recommended" new magic heaters made by Edenpure.... they claim they are so much more efficient, they don't dry the air, they magically warm all parts of the room, save you 50% in energy costs, yadda, yadda, yadda...... and they charge about $500 for these suckers.

They are 750W/1500W space heaters which use a quartz infra-red emitting bulb that shines on copper tubes with a little fan blowing air through the tubes.

Well, I have a couple of engineering degrees and knew immediately it was bogus: watts are the same no matter how you generate them and 750W (even 1500W) will not quickly or even adequately heat the average room. And the fact that they shine the light on a tube and then blow air through it doesn't change the actual heat being put into the space.

But, I was surprised when I did a web search...... surprised at how awful this company is. I expected to find some whining about how it didn't really heat very well and how overpriced it was. I found that and a ton of complaints about how the units went belly up after a few weeks and then took months to get fixed.

Stay away from these clowns..... they are not your garden variety thieves, they are genuine scam artists. I expect the lawsuits from various state's attorney generals to be filed in short order.

Edited February 5, 2008 by bountyhunter

[John Dunn]

My somewhat elderly in-laws were interested in these things because a friend had purchased one and recommended it to them. They told my wife about it, so my wife wanted to get one, too. So my wife shows me the ad...I laugh because the snake oil meter is just pegged by the ad. I was floored by the claim that it could reduce heating bills by 50%. My wife immediately accused me of jumping to conclusions, said there was no way I could know it was crap just by looking at the ad.

Long story short, I went to their website, found that the 50% heating bill savings were possible if you turned the heat in your house down to 50 degrees and lugged the space heater into whichever room you were going to be in. Consumer reports did a test of 20 or so space heaters and I think they finished dead last. I showed the compiled data to my wife, she called the inlaws who then got a 60 dollar space heater, and everyone was happy.

Wife still thinks I'm too suspicious....but then I don't buy hair-loss products, male enhancement pills, diet pills or secret get-rich-quick seminars, either. Cynical bastard.

[SiG Lady]

One of the most efficient "space heaters" I've ever used is these little metal radiator-looking, oil-filled electric heater things. I paid about $40 for mine many years ago (and it's still working fine) and it has multiple heat settings... and you can run it on super-low and it heats the immediate area (if not an entire small room) really well and quickly. Turn it up to a slightly higher setting and you'll want to peel off your clothes. What can I say... these gadgets are worth every penny, are reliable and safe and use hardly any electricity compared to many other gadgets.

[ima45dv8]

I hate this. I remember when Paul Harvey's endorsement of a product was a good indicator of it's substantial value.

Everything changes, I guess.

[hitman]

I might as well be first.

That story is worthless with out photos Sig and I dont mean of the heater.

I will now go sit in the cornner

[SiG Lady]

Hint: I seldom turn the heater up above the "low" settings. Sorry.

[DMS42]

I might as well be first.

That story is worthless with out photos Sig and I dont mean of the heater.

I will now go sit in the cornner

You took the words right out of my mouth. And I'll join you in another corner.

I don't suppose that we could talk Siggy into turning up the heat.

[bountyhunter]

My somewhat elderly in-laws were interested in these things because a friend had purchased one and recommended it to them. They told my wife about it, so my wife wanted to get one, too. So my wife shows me the ad...I laugh because the snake oil meter is just pegged by the ad. I was floored by the claim that it could reduce heating bills by 50%. My wife immediately accused me of jumping to conclusions, said there was no way I could know it was crap just by looking at the ad.

Long story short, I went to their website, found that the 50% heating bill savings were possible if you turned the heat in your house down to 50 degrees and lugged the space heater into whichever room you were going to be in. Consumer reports did a test of 20 or so space heaters and I think they finished dead last. I showed the compiled data to my wife, she called the inlaws who then got a 60 dollar space heater, and everyone was happy.

Wife still thinks I'm too suspicious....but then I don't buy hair-loss products, male enhancement pills, diet pills or secret get-rich-quick seminars, either. Cynical bastard.

That's why I put up this post: most people are not suspicious enough. The web search I did turned up literally thousands of angry posts about being ripped off. These guys have scammed a ton of people.

[bountyhunter]

One of the most efficient "space heaters" I've ever used is these little metal radiator-looking, oil-filled electric heater things. I paid about $40 for mine many years ago (and it's still working fine) and it has multiple heat settings... and you can run it on super-low and it heats the immediate area (if not an entire small room) really well and quickly. Turn it up to a slightly higher setting and you'll want to peel off your clothes. What can I say... these gadgets are worth every penny, are reliable and safe and use hardly any electricity compared to many other gadgets.

I have a quartz tower heater I used for a while that was good too, but be advised:

The amount of heat you get for your dollar with ANY electric heater is much less than with gas. Space heater's only save money if you shut off the furnace, let your house freeze, and heat only the room you are in.

Edited February 5, 2008 by bountyhunter

[bountyhunter]

I might as well be first.

That story is worthless with out photos Sig and I dont mean of the heater.

I will now go sit in the cornner

Lots of pictures here, I have no idea how to post them.

http://www.edenpurestore.com/

Here is a site with customer reviews:

http://www.infomercialratings.com/product/..._heater_reviews

Edited February 5, 2008 by bountyhunter

[bountyhunter]

Hint: I seldom turn the heater up above the "low" settings. Sorry.

Yeah, I used to have a girlfriend like that.....

[SiG Lady]

Obviously, I wasn't that girl-friend.

Oh, and I see the corner of the room is getting crowded all of a sudden.

If I lived where DMS42 lived right now, I'd REALLY have to turn up the heat. It's been COLD east of the Cascades, to say the least!!!

"...if you shut off the furnace, let your house freeze, and heat only the room you are in."

I've been living like this for decades, dammit. I know the drill. And there's no natural gas service to the apartment complex, so I'm stuck with squeezing the most out of our electric service. On the other hand, electric rates in some parts of the Northwest are slightly lower than most anywhere else... though there's been a bit of inflation creep over the past 15 years. Things could be worse.

[bountyhunter]

"...if you shut off the furnace, let your house freeze, and heat only the room you are in."

I've been living like this for decades, dammit. I know the drill. And there's no natural gas service to the apartment complex, so I'm stuck with squeezing the most out of our electric service. On the other hand, electric rates in some parts of the Northwest are slightly lower than most anywhere else... though there's been a bit of inflation creep over the past 15 years. Things could be worse.

We just spent about $3K to have a small gas free-standing stove installed in the den where we watch TV. The main furnace is set at 60 and only gets turned on 4 hours a day (6P - 10P). All vents to every room except the kitchen and front room are closed.

We are really trying to scrimp on the energy bills... still way too high.

[sslav]

One of the most efficient "space heaters" I've ever used is these little metal radiator-looking, oil-filled electric heater things. I paid about $40 for mine many years ago (and it's still working fine) and it has multiple heat settings... and you can run it on super-low and it heats the immediate area (if not an entire small room) really well and quickly. Turn it up to a slightly higher setting and you'll want to peel off your clothes. What can I say... these gadgets are worth every penny, are reliable and safe and use hardly any electricity compared to many other gadgets.

I love those things. I own two. They do a great job and do seem to last forever.

Slav

[murkish]

I am kind of confused about this "space heater" thing y'all are talking about. Is this some sort of solution to this global warming thing?

And then someone else mentioned heating the room you are in. I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that. We are doing everything we can to get the room we are in cooler than the outside.

[CenTX]

We just spent about $3K to have a small gas free-standing stove installed in the den where we watch TV. The main furnace is set at 60 and only gets turned on 4 hours a day (6P - 10P). All vents to every room except the kitchen and front room are closed.

We are really trying to scrimp on the energy bills... still way too high.

If you have not consider it, you might check out "Vampire Electricity". That's all the power wasted by all the things in your house that are in standby mode and/or have clocks or indicator lights. These include most televisions, microwaves, computer monitors, printers, etc. The article said 5 to 25% of a bill could be vampire.

"Satellite TV systems and some DVD players, for example, each cost about $9 a year for standby power; an energy-thirsty TV can cost more than $10 a year. The vampire appliance bill becomes significant when audio systems, garage-door openers, clock radios, phone/answering machines, microwave ovens and standard ovens are included.

The standby power of a computer monitor, however, only costs about $3 a year when the computer is shut down nights and weekends. However, if the computer's "sleep" function is used, the power costs $41 a year for those nights and weekends -- almost as much as the $57 a year it costs to run the computer just on weekdays."

You can read the whole article at:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/...20926065912.htm

Or Google "vampire electricty" for lots of articles

[bountyhunter]

I am kind of confused about this "space heater" thing y'all are talking about. Is this some sort of solution to this global warming thing?

And then someone else mentioned heating the room you are in. I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that. We are doing everything we can to get the room we are in cooler than the outside.

About two months from now our weather will toggle from the extreme of "unbelievably cold" to "insufferably hot" and we will be running the AC again just like you guys.