Heaters Revealed

Having small heaters is almost a necessity. They come handy in case the main heating system develops any problems and also for the rooms that are not used very often.

You get a very wide range of electric heater to choose from, each offering its advantages and some limitations too.
Ceramic heaters and fan heaters being mall are very lightweight. These are quite powerful too as they can quickly heat larger areas.
Infra-red heaters, acting as a source of glowing heat are comfortable. Their radiant heat keeps the hands and feet warm.
Small sized electric stove not only keeps you warm, it surely transforms the room and becomes its focal point.

Ceramic heaters are distinguished by their small size. They offer very effective heating but their outer surface remains cool so there is no fear of burning yourself. They comprise of a heating element contained in a ceramic plate and aluminum baffles. The baffles get heated by ceramic and the heat is blown out through a fan.

Ceramic Heater with Thermostat

The best product in this category is made by Lasko. It’s twice the height of a coffee mug, and weighing just four pounds, it can rest on table or on the floor.

Though small in size, it is designed to give an output of 1500 watts. A thermostat is provided to help control temperature of the room.
It comes with a warranty of three years, and that gives you a comfortable feeling.

Remote Controlled Ceramic Heater

This device is also reasonably small, yet powerful. The outstanding feature of this model is its oscillating base that evenly distributes heat in your room. It also has a remote control that allows you to switch it on or off and for adjustment of temperature. It’s nearly thirteen inches in height and weighs about the same as Lasko, no more than four pounds. It’s designed to give a maximum power of fifteen hundred watts.

Oscillating Tower Heater

Costing just about thirty dollars, it is one of the most popular oscillating ceramic heaters. It suffices to quickly heat a room of medium size. Its operation is quieter than other smaller models. Just over sixteen inches in height, it is appropriate for use on a tabletop. It comes with a thermostat with a maximum rating of 1500 watts.

Best Fan Heaters

Fan heaters are generally larger than ceramic heaters. Their bigger fan can be used in summers for keeping the room cool. Because of a bigger fan they can heat a room much faster than most other space heaters.

Fan Heater from Delonghi

A portable fan heater including a frost guard is helpful for those areas of the house that may not require heat all the while but at the same time you wouldn’t like the temperature fall below zero. This type of heater helps saving plenty of money by preventing pipes from getting frozen and offering protection to plants in your green house.

Oscillating Heater Fan

Holmes offers a heater with an oscillating fan that’s possibly more effective than the static DeLonghi mentioned above if used in a room where you spend a lot of your time, say an office room. The distribution of heat is very even and there’s no need for moving the heater to get uniform distribution of heat.

Optimus Radiant Heater

The big advantage of infrared heaters is that they heat up quickly and remain very silent in their operation. When it gets too cold and you wish to heat your numb feet and hands, you will welcome such heaters. The design of Optimus includes two bars, each with an output of 400 watts. The operation of controls is the simplest one could imagine having. Its weight of just one and a half pounds makes its shifting to any place very convenient.

Its size of 4”X14” is thirteen inches tall. For its safe operation it requires a space of about two feet on its front and a couple of inches on its back and sides.

Small Stoves

Electric stoves incorporate a fan on top of the heating element, just like the fan heaters and ceramic heaters. These can be used to heat larger areas. Dimplex provides a very affordable option if you don’t like to use ceramic or fan heaters for whatever reasons.
You’ll surely appreciate its effective flame display. Well, it’s not like any real stove with burning logs, but you’ll be prompted to pull your chair to watch its hypnotic glow. Standing two feet tall, it measures 11’X20” and weighs about 32 pound. That makes it difficult to move it around like so many other heaters already described above. Though meant to heat rooms of about 400 square feet, it looks capable of heating larger ones too.

Oil Filled Radiators

This kind of a heater has a heating element within the radiator that heats oil to a harmless temperature that causes no burns. As the heating element never comes in contact with air, the quality of air remains unaffected as there is no dust as a result of burning.

From Delonghi

Oil filled radiators are most suited for small and medium sized rooms provided with good insulation. Their operation is noiseless and design smart enough to heat the room faster than you could expect. The only limitation is that they take longer to heat a room, compared to a heater working with a fan on.

The advantage is that these heaters won’t affect the quality of air like most other heaters. These are safe for use in bedroom and you can be sure not to have a sore throat or dry eyes. These are very safe to use. Even if they fall down accidentally, they get switched off automatically and the parts never got so hot as to burn you or anything else around them.

If you are already using a kerosene heater or are considering buying a portable heater, you would like to ensure using them in the correct manner, for lighting or extinguishing your kerosene heater in an incorrect manner can cause problems like deposits of soot and unpleasant odors, and that is a very frustrating experience indeed, making you have second thoughts if it were the right decision to go for this device!

DuraHeat Kerosene Heater Models

When looking for a kerosene heater for domestic use, you need to ensure that you are buying the right kind of heater which should solve the purpose you intend buying it for. If you are going to use it for heating your garage, you need to procure one with a higher BTU (British thermal unit), the measure of heat energy. On the other hand, if you intend using it for heating your home and thus reduce energy expense, you should be buying one with a lower BTU, compared to the one required for your garage. I have a DuraHeat kerosene heater of 23,000 BTU and that suffices to heat the whole house.

How to Properly Use a DuraHeat Kerosene Heater

A big concern for the users of a kerosene heater is the strong unpleasant smell of kerosene fumes that are emitted while you are filling it with kerosene and also while you ignite or extinguish the same. The ideal way to avoid all three problems is to carry the respective activities out in the open. You should be performing all three activities outside the garage or home at a well ventilated place.

Filling Your Kerosene Heater

Here are the instructions for using DuraHeat DH2304 Model. You may check the instructions provided by the manufacturers of other models.

Make sure that the kerosene used for the purpose is always clear like water, and nothing short of that.
1. Heater should always be filled in a well ventilated place, as already mentioned. Insist on using a funnel for filling so that spilling is eliminated altogether. If kerosene is spilled, you’ll continue to be affected by its smell for a long time. Perhaps, you would have already noticed that cats like that flavor! So, be watchful of that.
2. Having thus filled the heater, allow the fuel to get settled for a while before you ignite the heater. If you are filling a new heater for the first use, it’s important to follow the instructions that come along with the heater. It takes a bit longer for the new wick to get soaked in kerosene. Accidental spills, if any, should be wiped clean promptly to avoid strong odor of oil.

Lighting Your Kerosene Heater

DuraHeat models generally have an electronic ignition that uses batteries, meaning you don’t need electric current or matches for lighting the heater. It’s a very simple and straight procedure. But ignore the precaution of lighting it in a well ventilated or open space.

1. Open the little door, just under the heater window; press on the ignition handle positioned at the base. You will find a tiny coil that glows red right away.
2. Next, rotate the wick knob under that opening so that the wick goes up to meet the coil. Within a few seconds of their touching the ignition takes place.
3. Release the ignition handle and you’ll see a metal cylinder dropping down to block the flame. The cylinder has a spring like piece attached to it, known as pigtail burner handle. Grasp the handle and move it from side to side, thus ensuring that the cylinder properly fits in its place. Otherwise it could cause smoke.
4. Close that tiny door and allow it burn for a few minutes before you bring it indoors.

Extinguishing Your Kerosene Heater

While the heater is still working, bring it out to an adequately ventilated area. It’ll be good and desirable to take it to your garage or outside on a patio or deck, otherwise the house gets filled up with smoke and bad odor.

1. Tightly hold the wick knob. Push the shutoff knob down.
2. Gradually rotate the wick knob so that wick is lowered and the flame gets extinguished. It’s important to grip the wick knob while pressing down the shut off knob; else the wick will simply drop down, releasing odor and smoke.
3. Even after you have lowered the wick to its minimum level, the flame will continue for a while. Just ensure that it’s extinguished completely.

Safety Recommendations

* Always use only 1-K Kerosene that’s clear like water.
* Don’t ever undertake filling of heater indoors.
* Fill the heater only when it’s completely extinguished and is not hot.
* Always light and extinguish the heater indoors.
* Never leave the heater unattended.

It’s imperative to have a carbon monoxide detector in working order in the room where the heater is kept.

The interesting feature of a micathermic heater is that it occupies less space but warms up the area quickly. That’s because such heaters make more use of convection heating than reflective heating, allowing them to heat up the area faster than the traditional oil heaters.

Most micathermic heaters are provided with a control enabling the user to adjust the temperature for keeping the room warm when it’s cold outside. You can achieve considerable saving in energy bills by turning down the thermostat after the room has been heated and by programming the heater to warm up only the areas under use.

In this case, size is not important really, as it corresponds to the design of the micathermic radiator. Most heaters are available as flat panel systems. Heaters with higher levels of power are usually larger in area. A surface area of about 600 square inches more than suffices for heating nearly all spaces speedily and effectively.

At times you can get micathermic units in tower shape also, making it somewhat difficult to estimate the area. Numerous heaters are frequently wall-mounted, making them ideally suited for smaller places.

When looking for a heater for very congested areas, it will be good to buy a wall-mounted model rather than a free standing flat panel or even a tower shaped model that occupies lot more space.

It may be added here that micathermic heaters with a built in arrangement for high or low settings of temperatures are more expensive than the models that have just one standard setting. One should opt for a micathermic heater with controls for time and temperature. These two features help saving a lot of expense as you can program the heater to warm the room for certain predetermined hours.

Once you start using such a heater you’ll appreciate how efficiently and economically its operation is. Some models of these heaters are available with remote control too, enabling you to make the adjustments from a distance without having to leave your seat or bed. However, for smaller rooms one can do away with remote.

If you were looking for a heater to keep your room warm during cold chilly nights you wouldn’t ignore the DeLonghi DCH1030 Ceramic Heater with Adjustable Thermostat, which is perfectly designed to keep warm your living room or bedroom. This heater is good enough for warming a small apartment. When the temperature becomes too low during winters, you need not necessarily turn high the thermostat. You could save on your utility bills by incorporating a moderately priced heater.

The DeLonghi DCH1030 Ceramic Heater with Adjustable Thermostat comes with an easy to use temperature control knob. It offers adjustment for two temperatures. You can turn the knob to “high” when the nights get chilly or keep it “low” when enjoying with family and getting relaxed at home and would need just a bit of heat to keep the chill out. The automatic frost-preventing mode provided with this heater is very handy. It automatically keeps the room temperature above a freezing level. It has another useful built in feature in the form of thermal cut off function, which automatically turns off the heater if it begins to overheat. There is also a visual indication thru a light to let you know if the heater is on or off. The ceramic heater can easily be shifted from one room to another.

Here are the main features of this heater:
-Two heat settings- high (1500 watts) and low (825 watts)
-Adjustable thermostat
-Fan only mode that circulates only air around the room
-Power indicator light to confirm if the unit is on or off
-Automatic cutoff on unit getting overheated
-Compact 6 by 8 by 9 inches size with 1 year limited warranty

The small size of ceramic heater delivers sufficient quantity of heat. Its output is more than other units twice its size. Why invest more in a larger unit as this moderately priced compact heater delivers all the heat you may need!

Diesel heaters are getting popular heating arrangement amongst campers these days. They perform efficiently and the fuel can conveniently be transported, thus encouraging for campers to go off the beaten track and camp in places that have no electricity or alternative sources of energy. Though the trend has so far not caught up with homeowners, the patronage of diesel portable heaters is certainly going up by the day.

An important advantage of using diesel as a medium over propane is its very easy and ready availability. The other important consideration is safety. This kind of heating is much safer to use than propane heaters because there is no emission of dangerous carbon monoxide. That’s the most important factor, especially considering that propane heaters have been know to be the cause of fatalities suffered by campers.

Diesel is highly explosive and inflammable when exposed to fire or even extreme temperatures. But these heaters are provided with a sealed furnace section for its storage, leaving no way out for dangerous fumes or burning diesel. The heated air transfers heat to the outside surfaces of this sealed section and thus spreads it out to the camper or room. They are designed to facilitate continuous movement of air so that the cold air that needs to be heated keeps coming in contact with the heated furnace and then continuously gets circulated in the area that needs heating.

The installation of diesel fuel heaters may necessitate help, unless you are somewhat of an expert. You can get detailed instructions for its installation on the Internet. Yet, it does require rather good handyman skills for a perfect installation. A heater bearing a reputed brand could cost anywhere from around $1500 to $2000. And, installation could set you back by another $500. Though cheaper alternatives are available, when it comes to handling diesel, it’s best to spend some extra amount and be on the safer side.

The benefit of having one is the kind of freedom you enjoy on the road, allowing you to camp at any place you deem fit. And, that’s what makes it worth considering!

If you are considering replacement of an old radiator, one of the options for you is to include is an electric panel heater that provides radiant heat. Such heaters have safety features, are efficient and reliable to use.

At some point of time it becomes necessary to improve the heating system at home. Often, he choice is restricted to renovation of old radiators or having a central heater. Rather than replacing one or two old radiators it is worthwhile to have a new electric panel heater that offers easy installation. You just need to fix brackets on a wall, next to an electrical outlet, house the unit onto those, and then plug it in before you switch it on. These units heat the area thru convection, thus warming up the area quickly.

Apart from offering easy installation, these heaters are energy efficient and come with an electronic thermostat so that temperature remains stable and you won’t have to adjust the temperature every now and then. The optional features include a twenty-four hour digital timer and a run back timer. Some may have a single-zone, pilot-wire program while others have a four-zone wall pilot wire and mains connected signaling multi-heaters programmer that allows the user to have a total control of heating system.

These are well-designed units and you may have an electric panel heater housed in a durable steel casing with temperature resistant thermoplastic components. They hardly require any maintenance and last for a long time. These are available in different capacities ranging from 500W-.50kW to 2000W-2.0kW, enabling you to have one that suits your requirements.

A very helpful feature of an electric panel heater is its near noiseless operation, unlike the noises and whispers of old traditional radiators. These are compact sheathed units that hang on the wall and quietly heat the area. Some of them are made splash proof with IPX4 rating, enabling their use even in wet areas like bathrooms. That means they can be housed in any room that has a power outlet.

You get these noiseless energy efficient heaters in many styles to match the décor of any room. One such style is akin to traditional radiator styling but has subtler curves
in a white finish with smooth modern looks. Then, there is another model with an elegant glass finish on the front and offers a choice of black or white color. Its sophisticated looks make it suitable for many room styles.

In due course, any heating system would need to be upgraded or replaced. An energy efficient heating device like an electric panel heater with aesthetic looks makes a very good choice for homeowners. While offering quick and noiseless heating they successfully maintain the required temperature.

Most of the heaters work on the basic principles of heating through conduction, convection or radiation or a combination of any of these. These systems primarily heat the medium thru which they pass, which in most of the cases is air present around. But, infrared heaters work differently in the sense that they heat the objects straight away, without heating the medium.

You may understand it as a kind of light that can’t be seen but it generates heat that can be felt. Its wavelengths are longer than that of light but shorter than radio waves. The primary construction of an infrared heater comprises of a tungsten wire element enclosed in a clear tube of quartz crystal. When we pass an electric current thru the tungsten wire, it gets heated up, but the quartz crystal entraps this heat inside the tube. That further raises the temperature of the wire and it starts emitting heat in the form of infrared rays.

It is very interesting to learn that all the objects, human beings included, are constantly emitting infra red rays, though of insignificant value, but the quantum of light emitted by quartz is much larger. On coming in contact with some object on the way, it transfers a part of its energy to that object, which gets heated in the process. Yes, you are right in concluding that if there is no hindrance in the form of an object on its way, this light simply passes thru the air. Infrared heaters are often provided with a mirrored coating at the back that allows them to remain focused in a particular direction.

Why you need Infrared Quartz Heater?

Infrared quartz heaters keep you comfortably warm during extreme winters and rainy days of autumn. These can be used in any area, including outdoor patios, where the temperature is below the comfort level.

Quite often I’m questioned which of the two heaters, the Comfort Zone, or the EdenPure is better. Well, both have continued to be in the market and shall remain there as neither can really outdo the other in all aspects. Yet, both have a few differences that need considered when buying one.

The Comfort Zone Infrared Heater delivers better results than the EdenPure as far as heat diffusion and operating lifetime is concerned. This is provided with a new stainless steel diffuser that is 14% more efficient than the competitive makes. The unique infrared heating technology employed by these heaters gives them longer life and the manufacturers claim these to have a life span of 20,000 hours. The EdenPure, on the other hand, uses infrared bulbs that are rated for 5000 hours of working life.

A common feature of both, the comfort zone and the EdenPure is the use of similar type of heat exchanger. Both make use of solid copper heat exchanger to enhance the absorption of infrared heat. Heat exchanger forms an essential part of any infrared heater as it transforms the infrared waves to a bandwidth of 9-10 microns, an optimum level for maximum absorption of heat. The process is called copper ionization.

The quality of heat delivered by The Comfort Zone is healthier, because it does not burn oxygen available in the atmosphere of the room. Therefore, the humidity of air around you is maintained and you won’t experience that dryness, which often accompanies the use of any heater. The Comfort Zone provides comfortable warmth that remains consistent from floor to ceiling.

Both the makes are provided with remote and thermostat, and a fan for dispersal of heat. The design of Comfort Zone Infrared Heaters incorporates a Dual DC fan, the operation of which is very quiet, a feature often found lacking in other makes but very desirable for any domestic device.

On comparing the prices one finds that the Comfort Zone is more expensive, with the most expensive models priced for $400 to $500. However, top of the line models from EdenPure cost 300-400 dollars. The lower end models of both the companies sell for 300-350 dollars.

To sum it all, both the makes are good for domestic applications. However, one should weigh the options and make a calculated decision. Though The Comfort Zone sells at a higher price, it offers better functionality. But, ultimately quality takes priority while deciding for a durable domestic appliance as it takes away the pains of maintenance and repairs.

I’m quite happy in having an online account with Consumer Reports and always review the same before buying any appliance for domestic use. Consumer Reports guided all the purchase of my dryer, space heater, washer and lawn mover and I have no regrets, whatsoever. Yet, at times while sticking to the objective measures, they tend to go wrong when problems arise outside the objective measures. Personally, I feel that somewhere their judgment of the Honeywell HZ-519 electric convection space heater was not so prudent when they compared it with the DeLonghi HHP 1500, which did not earn a very high rating.

Problem 1: Physical Dimensions

You’ll observe that the HZ-519 is a long and thin device. Such objects are delicate; requiring odd shaped shipping boxes. Just like me, another Amazon reviewer too realized that such items get bent in the middle while in transit and you are delivered a piece that has ugly bends in the metal. In my case the Amazon merchant compensated me to the tune of $24, rather than taking it back. Further, its cord is mounted on the right side, and if your plug-in happens to be on the left side, you may find the cord length just short of the point? On the other hand the solid HHP 1500 is square-shaped and comes in a standard sized box with a cord long enough to be fitted into a left or a right-sided plug-in point.

Problem 2: Temperature Control

Consumer reports award high marks to HZ-519 due provision of a digital temperature control and a timer. These are nice functions for a single use: set the desired temperature to be maintained and the time for heating, all thru pressing of a couple of buttons. But, the HHP 1500 has no arrangements or adjustment of temperature. You just turn it on and it takes its time to heat the room and tries to maintain it at the same temperature, but you can’t know the temperature. You may have to try a couple of settings over the first few nights to discover the most comfortable temperature for you. And, once you have realized that temperature, you are thru with it for long. While using the DeLonghi, you flick the top knob on; with the Honeywell you need to press the power button, press the “Temp/Timer” and select a temperature, hit a few more arrow keys for automatic turning off the unit, meaning more button presses for every operation. It doesn’t record the last setting; there is no memory unit. Well, there is a timer. It’s nice to have it as long as you don’t intend setting the temperature in a dark room in the middle of the night. (There are revised versions of this heater that come with a display backlight and a remote control that facilitates the operation)

Problem 3: Being Nice to Your Fuses

The HHP 1500 comes with two power settings, one drawing about 7 Amps, while the other consumes about 13 Amps, which may go up to 15Amps when there are spikes during voltage fluctuations and that causes a warning beep on Kill-a-Watt. The HZ-519 has only one mode that draws about 11 Amps. Normally a household circuit is rated for 15 Amps. So, two rooms drawing power from the same circuit may have one each of HHP 1500 and be operated at 7Amps rating. It will take slightly longer for the rooms to get heated, being operated at 7Amps. But, imagine having two HZ-519s in the same two rooms, and pop goes the circuit breaker!

Problem 4: Noise

As a consequence of the shipping episode, my HZ-519 arrived with twisted metal but it remains rather noisy during its operation, whereas the HHP 1500 is with zero noise.

Problem 5: Flexibility of Placement

The HZ-519 can only be fixed on the wall, whereas HHP-1500 can be fixed on the wall or dragged to the middle of a room

Energy Usage

That’s not a big issue in this case. The per night expense of running the HZ-519 in one bedroom comes to about one dollar, its consumption being about 6Kwh. But, that keeps the room temperature at comfortable level, compared to the rest of the house that remains chilly, though the HHP 1500 too consumes the same amount of power. Personally I would be pleased with nice warm blankets but it is good to have it for keeping kids warm, as they would kick out the covers.

Safety

Of course, the HZ-519 has additional safety features including an automatic switch off in case it gets knocked over, but you have to decide your priorities.

In Conclusion

Incase you are considering to have new electric convection space heater for the coming season, go ahead with DeLonghi. I insist on “coming season” so that you buy it during summer at discounted price before cold weather sets in when the prices are revised upwards. Late November, I paid just $80 for a DeLonghi and now in mid-January they are asking for $160 for the same heater.

In case you are looking for portable small heater, you can ill afford to overlook The Lasko 754200 Ceramic Heater. Very conveniently it sits on your table or could be adjusted in a corner of the room. It offers the versatility of being used as a small heater for the bathroom or even for heating a large living room.

The Lasko 754200 is provided with three settings: low setting of 900 watts, a high setting with 1500 watts and of course just the fan setting to circulate air without any heat. It comes with a thermostat enabling adjustments of temperature to suit personal comfort levels. And, above all, it is safe or use even if you have children and pets at home, because it is designed to include an overheat protection mechanism.

Some of the other facilities provided in this space heater include a quite operation and easy cleaning. Just use the brush attachment of your vacuum on its grills to get rid of the dirt that gets built up in the heater. Likewise, use a clean cloth to wipe off the external ceramic part of the heater. The manufacturers offer a three-year warranty period for this UL-listed ceramic heater that is quite compact in size. Here are the main features of the Lasko Ceramic Space Heater.

- It comes with a thermostat, enabling adjustments of temperatures to suit personal comfort-level

- Three settings are provided; high setting at 1500 watts, low setting of 900 watts and just a fan operation for circulation of air without any heating

- It has manual controls

- The ceramic element is self-regulating

- It offers a near noiseless operation

- Provision of an overheat protection system makes it use so safe

- It can conveniently be shifted because of the handle provided

- It measures just 7-2/5 x 6-3/5 x 10 inches

- It is covered by a three-year warranty