# Anyone here have experience with infrared heaters?



## jdempsey (Jan 6, 2012)

My sis called tonight asking about space heaters to warm her medium sized living room. I told her to try A vornado. But all she has on her mind is the eden pure knockoffs. like a duraflame,lifesmart etc. How good do they heat.

 I have no experience with infrared types. She is worried the electric bill will skyrocket if she uses it 15 hrs a day. Its electric. Of course its not the cheapest. So What do you guys think?


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## Winslow2010 (Jan 6, 2012)

I use a few Lasko Ceramic heaters to supplement my pellet stove. I have the units that have the digital thermostat and remote control.  They do a great job in the remote areas of the house.  

I like them because: 
1) cool touch (safe for kids)
2) digital thermostat (program to kick in at strategic points)
3) remote control (so you can stay in bed or on the couch)
4) you can put them against the wall (intake is on front or bottom and back is cool)
5) you can get them at Sam's Club for a very reasonable price ($59-$65 but they sell out by mid-winter). 

http://www.laskoproducts.com/?page_id=122 

I do live in West Virginia where our electricity runs less than $0.09 per KWH so they are not too expensive to run.  I have used several of them of 4-5 years with no issues. I do blow them out with an air compressor when I pack them away each spring.


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## Don2222 (Jan 6, 2012)

jdempsey said:
			
		

> My sis called tonight asking about space heaters to warm her medium sized living room. I told her to try A vornado. But all she has on her mind is the eden pure knockoffs. like a duraflame,lifesmart etc. How good do they heat.
> 
> I have no experience with infrared types. She is worried the electric bill will skyrocket if she uses it 15 hrs a day. Its electric. Of course its not the cheapest. So What do you guys think?



I tried a couple of electric heaters. A tall quartz heater with a fan and a horizontal coil heater with a fan. To me it is very dry heat and really takes time to warm a room. I am using a Kerosene heater currently in my shed with the pure clear color Klene-Heat Kerosene that I get at the gas station for $4.59 per gallon. I like it, it heats the 10x10 shed to 75 degrees f in no time and feels very warm.

Pic of Kerosene heater at Home Depot


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## Tony K (Jan 6, 2012)

jdempsey said:
			
		

> My sis called tonight asking about space heaters to warm her medium sized living room. I told her to try A vornado. But all she has on her mind is the eden pure knockoffs. like a duraflame,lifesmart etc. How good do they heat.
> 
> I have no experience with infrared types. She is worried the electric bill will skyrocket if she uses it 15 hrs a day. Its electric. Of course its not the cheapest. So What do you guys think?



I just purchased one of these to try seeing as they do give you a 60 day no hazzle trial. I plan on using it in the living room to get rid of the chill so as to not turn on the furnace to heat the entire house for the one room we are in. The one I got heats up to 1000 sq ft, Edengen3 I believe it was. This past week has been cold here in Ct and I must say it did the job with ease getting living room to 70 only halfway turned up. It will turn on and off based on what temp range you desire or you can let it rip. Waiting to see how much it will up the electric bill, will know in a few weeks. They are decent looking units and do not get hot to the touch, on casters so easily moved around especially for the elderly. My future plan is to install a enviro omega pellet stove upstairs so this is temporary and hope the savings in oil helps me save $$ to buy the omega. Checked oil yesterday and it was $3.53 a gallon "cash" $3.58 otherwise.


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## rickwai (Jan 6, 2012)

W/ the electric heaters they are all equal in effeicency. What you are paying extra for is the bells and whistles. the lasko wiill heat just as well as the eden pure or the "amish heater".  These are a max of 1500 watts i think so for easy figuring a medium setting would be about 1000 watts which is 1kw which is how you are billed from power company. Take the amount you write the check to power company and divide by the kw used and that is how much it cost you to run the heater per hour on a medium setting.


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## semipro (Jan 6, 2012)

rickwai said:
			
		

> W/ the electric heaters they are all equal in effeicency. What you are paying extra for is the bells and whistles. the lasko wiill heat just as well as the eden pure or the "amish heater".  These are a max of 1500 watts i think so for easy figuring a medium setting would be about 1000 watts which is 1kw which is how you are billed from power company. Take the amount you write the check to power company and divide by the kw used and that is how much it cost you to run the heater per hour on a medium setting.



Rick has it right.  All electric heaters are about equally efficient.  You pay extra for controls, timers, and pretty cabinets.  

Anyone buying the more expensive ones should be aware of what they're paying for because its not increased efficiency.


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## jharkin (Jan 6, 2012)

They aren't just _about_ the same - they are the same.  If its not a heat pump its a resistance heater. Every single one puts out EXACTLY 3.413 BTUs per watt. Every unit that is made for a 120v outlet is limted at 1500 watts because that is the max continuous load the NEC allows on a single 15A outlet (1500w/120v = 12.5A). Same reason most hairdryers and toasters are rated at 1500w.

So every single electric space heater sold puts out about 5000 BTU. period. As noted the only difference is in safety features, etc.


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## semipro (Jan 6, 2012)

jharkin said:
			
		

> They aren't just _about_ the same - they are the same.  If its not a heat pump its a resistance heater. Every single one puts out EXACTLY 3.413 BTUs per watt. Every unit that is made for a 120v outlet is limted at 1500 watts because that is the max continuous load the NEC allows on a single 15A outlet (1500w/120v = 12.5A). Same reason most hairdryers and toasters are rated at 1500w.
> 
> So every single electric space heater sold puts out about 5000 BTU. period. As noted the only difference is in safety features, etc.




Well, sort of.  

Some of the energy may be transformed into forms other than heat, such as non far infrared electromagnetic radiation (including visible light), electricity through electromagnetic induction, vibrational (mechanical) energy, etc.

As an example, magnetic radiation from the heater could be inducting to rebar in the concrete the heater is sitting on, creating electrical current resulting in galvanic corrosion (work performed through chemical conversion).  

I know its splitting hairs but that's why I said "about".


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## pyper (Jan 6, 2012)

All of them are rated at 1500W, but some use less. Produce less heat too, obviously. But if you plug a variety of "1500W" space heaters into a watt meter, you'll see a range of values.

For my money, the best kind of electric space heater is the oil filled radiator. They run silent, are safe to touch (the element is completely encased), and small to store. About $35. My MIL had one of those expensive infrared heaters. Took up a lot of space and made noise. As others have said, no more heat per watt either, so really nothing to gain for all the money.


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## Gary_602z (Jan 6, 2012)

Depending on where you live you will probably pay .15_.20 cents a hour of run time .  Not cheap to run,but handy if you want to heat a small room.

Gary


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## Pallet Pete (Jan 11, 2012)

My wife ordered a infrared heater a few years back and we use it in the back of our house as the heat from our old stove had a hard time reaching there. It was horribly expensive to run the electric jumped almost 200 dollars just for the heater that was supposed to cost pennies a day. This being said my sister in law uses 3 of them to heat a 1800 sq ft home and pays about 160 a month for a 3 which is much better ! What i am getting at is they are very good in the right circumstances however if you lack insulation or have a drafty home they can run the bill up very fast as they wonâ€™t shut off. Infrared heats objects to warm the room/house up if the house is drafty it wonâ€™t be able to warm the room up and will constantly run which is very expensive.

Good luck 
Pete


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