Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Quartz Infrared Heaters

Any comments?

Looks to me that they are a fad. Without my books in front of me, comparing heat vs elect used, and COST OF HEATER, its almost a ripoff.

2300 BTU rating, enoguh to heat 300 sq feet? I dont' know but it wouldn't be even close enough to cool same....

Is there anything other than a gimmick to these heaters? And then you can buy a regular heater for 200 or 250 bucks (or more) less than the gimmick, the savings isn't there is it?

Thanks, Jeff

A rating of 2300 BTUs suggests a 220 volt appliance, so hopefully it would go where there is an appropriate circuit.

To my mind there are better ways of heating an area, depending on the area to be addressed.

Where are you trying to provide heat?

If a garage I would go with a gas heater. If a living area, try a couple of 120 volt convection heaters, as they circulate the warm air efficiently.

A 220 vac appliance operates more efficiently, wattage wise, than a 120 vac, but if the appliance does not distribute the heat efficiently all gains are lost. To me the quartz heaters leave something to be desired. YMMV.

The thing you have to watch out for with radiant heaters is the fire risk. You have to be careful what its pointed at.

I think the current technology oil-filled heaters are a good thing. I use one in my bedroom at night, since my heat pump is old and weak. Its much more comfortable than having the heat pump system blow cool air on me all night.

I have what I think they call a parabolic heater, has to be pointed at you as it does not heat the air, just the objects in front of it, the wife likes them.

I was wondering if those oil filled heaters would work for keeping inside my fifth wheel through this winter, I have a ceramic heater in there now.
But maybe oil would be better.

I think a couple of them would. It doesn't get anywhere near as cold down here in Alabama but it does get into the teens a couple of times a winter. I've used an oil filled radiant heater in my motorhome for 3-4 years. Be sure to open the cabinet doors, though. In fact, I use two of them in my mobile home and have not turned the heat pump on yet. Of course, it's only gotten barely into the 20's twice so far but I've remained comfortable. Don't know how much electricity they consume but it has to be less than a heat pump.

I use one of these in my basement shop and it's worked very well

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=44590&cat=1,43456,43465

If it's in the 30's outside the basement is usually in the mid-fifties and this will bring it up to the mid-upper sixties which is comfortable to work in and OK for the glues and solvents I work with. Since it's only on when I'm down there I have seen no effect on my electric bill (even though I've left it on all night a couple times)

We use electric heaters. The idea is that it warms you up and not the room.

My wife has a radiant one in front of her TV chair. Its says 'Holmes' on it and its free standing with a small fan in it and two heat levels from 115V.

I have an oil filled electric radiator behind me here at the computer. I am back against the back door to the porch here. The radiator I have makes no noise not that I could hear it if it did.

I use them in the basement in the winter and at the camp. All in all we are big electric heater fans.

Our electric bill in the CT house went down from $220 to $110 a month when we got rid of the electric domestic hot water heater and now heat the water with the oil fired hot water boiler. Of course that means we burn more oil. The power company sent us a rebate for being so good at conservation.

FYI
Its my father in law, being sucked in by this sale flier, edenpure.com IIRC. He wants to heat the living room. We are rarely below freezing, about like Mickey.

Cost of oil heater vs this and then electrical consumption, and replacing quartz bulbs, I simply thought that without snooping and calculating, someone would have input.

I just don't see it being work 300+ dollars. Room he wants to heat is something less than 300 sq feet.

Currently he has space heaters and or LP wall heater.

I too was looking at those endenpure quartz heaters, but I want to get some info first from people who actually are using them to see if they are as great as they advertise, or if its another TV scam.

Slow

I suspect after conversations with my FIL, a very tight, old farmer with some strange ways, that he'll buy one because I have access to a meter to see how much juice it uses, and he can compare elect burned and heat made, and have a a60 day no questions asked money back warranty and a sale price.

I"ll post back here if he does it and how it seems to work.

I'm thinking BS, but I used to think Bose was BS too. Don't have bose but have heard it, it ain't bad...

Jeff

As I may have mentioned before a radiant heater directed at someone in the room will heat them. Thus they will feel warm. Thats the idea of it and not to heat the air in the room. Just the person.

Solar Comfort by Sun Cloud makes a very good heater, far better than Eden Pure or anyone else. They use four 375 watt infared heat lamps to heat a steel heat exchanger. Useing infared does not warm the air so does not take moisture out. We have two of them and are very well satisfied. Can't be beat.

I have a Quartz heater in my room right now. This is NOT a new one either. This thing not only is older than me (18), but is also older than my older brother (26). It still works just fine, but has no knob no more and I have a Vise-Grip on the metal stud where the knob used to be. My only advice is BE CAREFUL WITH THESE THINGS!! They heat very quick and and can easily ignite combustible material in front of it. Recently I was using it just to heat up my small room and I was wearing shorts and chatting on my laptop and didn't even notice it giving my legs a 1st degree burn.

But yeah, they're pretty good at heating small areas. I don't recommend using them in large rooms because they eat up a ton of power.