Heaters Revealed

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.

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

For quite a long time one of my friends had been appreciative of the Comfort Zone Infrared Heater and one day I decided to check for myself what’s so great about this heater. We have had a long discussion of the product and I sum of the features that really impressed me.

This friend of mine has had reasons to be happy about his possession. At the outset, it lowers your energy bills while effectively heating the surroundings. For a given area the Comfort Zone Infrared Heater uses less power than the conventional heaters. It’s not only the conventional heaters that lag far behind this heater; even the other models of similar capacity with the same technology consume about 14% more power than the Comfort Zone. This make has a rated capacity of 20.000 working hours of operation.

A very healthy feature of infra red heaters is that the temperature is evenly controlled to avoid burning of oxygen and water content present in the surrounding air. As a result, there is no loss of water content in the air around the room and humidity levels are maintained. That surely saves the users from developing a dry skin and avoids irritation in the eyes that one experiences at times on leaving a heater on for a long time. As there is no burning of any kind you breathe a better quality of air. As a matter of fact it imparts the feeling of being in a warm blanket.

The Comfort Zone, like any other infra red heating device employs a different principle of heat transfer that results to having an effective and efficient heating. It doesn’t allow the temperature to rise to the point of causing fire. So, you are able to sleep comfortably with this device on, without the fear of any fire being caused.

The Infrared Heater has many built-in features that include a fully electronic thermostat, a delayed start function and an entirely functional remote control. This combination of thermostat and remote is so well matched that you can control the room temperature even by one single degree, precisely to the level you feel most comfortable with.

Though my friend has not faced any problems with the functioning of the Comfort Zone, he feels comfortable at the back of his mind as the manufacturer has an outstanding Nationwide Service Plan.

It leaves little doubt in mind that the Comfort Zone, with its economics of effective operation and healthier breathing surroundings, coupled with zero maintenance, makes it an ideal choice for any homeowner.

The ever increasing bills of electricity and oil prompted me to explore the possibilities of using some energy-saving devices to have a control on the amount of bills for energy, and it zeroed down to an infrared heater. I got impressed by the efficiency of such heaters that provide steady distribution of heat that helps save energy costs.

I decided for EdenPure infrared heater because of the reputation that they enjoy and a wide range on offer. I am happy to add here that I have no regrets of my decision.

The EdenPure characteristically offers an even distribution of heat. This is helpful in effectively heating the total surroundings of any room. I keep it in the middle of my living room and in no time the whole room gets warmed up when set to “high heat” setting. The equipment offers comfortable heating for the simple reason that the patented heating element of EdenPure burns no oxygen present in the atmosphere. The resultant feeling is like the warmth of a blanket.

A very useful feature of EdenPure is that it allows you to have a concentration of heat in a particular area. For instance, you could adjust it to lower heat setting and adjust it to point towards a particular chair, when alone in the room. That saves a lot of energy and thus lowers the bill. As the unit is provided with a trolley, it can conveniently be moved to any part of the room to get the desired effect.

The most important technical feature of EdenPure is the safety of operation that it offers.
This is very important, especially when you have children and pets at home. Though I continued using electric heaters with heating coils for long, I always had an uncomfortable feeling of having a fire at the back of my mind. But that’s not so anymore since EdenPure arrived on the scene. It’s just warm to human touch, even while operating on full power. My wife, who takes care of the children at home, remains very relieved as there is no fear of a child getting burns on accidentally getting in touch with this heater. Of course, your pets would get drawn towards it because of the warmth, but remain safe even if their body gets in direct contact with it.

Before I wrap it up, let me admit that it has been a great experience to have EdenPure at home. It evenly heats the place and really helps to cut down on energy bills, true to its ads. It’s a worthwhile investment as it ultimately pays for itself by cutting down your expense on electricity. If you have been considering of having an efficient cost saving heating equipment for your home, you wouldn’t get a better option than an EdenPure.