OT - Infared Heaters (for editing tractor pics)

[SweetFeet]

Anybody used an infared heater in their home... especially an "off-brand" name?

Did it work well? Also, why do they use far less energy than a conventional type space heater?

Did it raise your electric bill much?

Considering one because the computer area of our living room is always cold in winter (need to keep warm while editing tractor & junkyard photos). We have hot water heat, but the only radiator is at the north end of the room. So thought maybe an infared heater is the way to go.

Brand called Power Heat at a farm store is on sale for $179 (regular price is $299)... whereas the Eden Pure brand is about $400 and is not on sale either.

Any thoughts regarding pros or cons of infared heaters? Thanks.

 

[Greg K]

There have been other posts on this and here is the basic facts. 1 watt of power creates the same amount of heat as another one watt of power. There should be no difference in heating ability. There are some other safety issues however and some heaters may be safer to operate than others. I am sure you will get more detailed explanations here in a few minutes.

 

[Greg K]

There have been other posts on this and here is the basic facts. 1 watt of power creates the same amount of heat as another one watt of power. There should be no difference in heating ability. There are some other safety issues however and some heaters may be safer to operate than others. I am sure you will get more detailed explanations here in a few minutes.

 

[Anonymous-0]

For what you spend on one and the power to run it, you could plumb another radiator to your area and have real heat without the extra cost... Just a thought, if your old man can fix a tractor, he can run another radiator. PEX and sharkbite fittings make it almost fun too.......

 

[Todd Hovick]

You just hit a nerve with this post, I have a Comfort Zone 1500 watt apart on my kitchen table, 110 volts on the # 1 & 3 bulbs, nothing on the other two, the phone number for support is only open M,W, & Friday and they won't return a call. Parts and tech support don't seem to be on the internet.

 

[Ken Combs]

It's true that a watt generates finite amount of heat,(1 watt + 3.4btu) what the watt heats is the difference.

a normal radiant heater heats the air. so when the air is heated you feel comfortable. It may run for a long while before that happens.

An infrared heats objects that block its' rays. So you feel warm even if the air is cool. BUT, you have to be in the direct path of the heater to feel the benefit.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Just a thought - do you have a reversable ceiling fan to circulate the existing designs warm air through out the room?

 

[SweetFeet]

Kornfused,

That is a thought, as we do not have a ceiling fan. But when is is subzero it never really gets warm in the living room. 9.5 feet at widest point and about 24 feet long. One radiator at the far north end. A cold north or westerly wind will freeze the living room - but thermostat is in the dining room. It is oddly done, only 2 radiators in the entire downstairs... but 4 upstairs. Should actually be the opposite way-since heat rises.

 

[SweetFeet]

Dave2,
Good thought, and husband does wiring, plumbing and carpentry work. But there is really no room to add a cast iron radiator due to stairs, closet and 2 doors nearby (computer is tucked into a corner where the stairs descend into room). It is an odd room; 9.5 feet at its widest point and abotu 24 feet long.

Unless one can tie a modern baseboard radiator into an old system with the big cast iron radiators. Might have to call a heating guy for recommendations before we spend any money on an infared heater.

 

[SweetFeet]

Todd,
That sounds frustrating.

 

[omahagreg]

Mom and Dad's computers are in the basement. They have a suspended grid ceiling down there. They put 2 infrared heaters that fit in the ceiling in place of a pad-one over each computer. They say they work nice, not sure if they noticed it on the meter!

 

[Walt Davies]

Cheapest way to heat the whole room is to install a ceiling fan. Run it 24/7 up in the winter down in the summer. You will notice the difference the very first day. And the cost is pennies a day.if at all noticible on your bill.
Walt

 

[Walt Davies]

Put one at each end of the room I have two in large dining living room.
Walt

 

[Kow Farmer]

SweetFeet,
My wife and I bought an Eden Pure electric heater a few years ago to help keep our over 100 year old farm house warmer. Well to make a long story short we got the new heater, the heating element was junk from the factory. We sent it back and the company replaced it. Tried using it again. It TRIPLED our electric bill in one month. I flipped out when I got the electric bill! My house is poorly insulated and ancient wiring also, but triple my electric bill! We paid $400 for the heater and gave it away after that. I have a fuel oil furnace, and yes that is outrageously expensive too. We are slowly remodeling our home every year. This year we we had more insulation installed, so hopefully that will help. I don't have any good thing to say about the Eden Pure heater after owning the one I had for only 2 months. Good luck to you.
Kow Farmer

 

[gene bender]

You can take the new radiators and cut them into shorter pieces then stack one on top . I got some used fin assy from a contractor cut them into 3ft pieces stacked three high then made a nice woden cover and faced it with expanding metal for a front they work just fine . I didnt have room for a long 6 ft unit thats why i made the shorter one. You can plumb it into the system in series and it will work just fine. I did use a piece of insulated board with foil on the side to reflect heat on the back. You can go to a contractor and probably get some used ones easy.

 

[Wheat Farmer]

I was going to buy an infared heater for my shop several years ago. Saw one at a large stock show booth with lots of people standing around. She was going to start it and show me how it worked. I didn't think the fire department would let that happen. Will a Infared heater heat's opjects and not the air.

 

[JDseller]

SweetFeet: I have used electric infrared heaters. They kind of work. They heat the objects in a room. So if you have your feet under the desk they will be cold. The long and short of it is that you need BTUs in the other end of your living room. It really does not make much difference what the source is.

I also like a heater that does not have a fan. It does not stir the dust up either. I have also had troubles with heaters with fans in them. The pet hair will plug them up or even become a fire hazard.

I like the oil filled electric register type heaters. We use several in my old house as the room lay out prevents good heat circulation. They do not get as hot as a radiant heater and they are a much more even heat. They will not get hot enough to really burn you or anything that touches them. You can touch them but not hold your hand on them. So they are safe with pets/kids around. Plus you have some where to "warm up" too. I have one right beside my desk and it keeps me toasty.

I have linked the the Delonghi brand heaters. I have had several different brands but this one seems to be the best bang for the buck. I use the 1500 watt ones that are thermostatted. They usually are under $75 in cost. I have some of them that are over ten years old. I have one in my shop office that is 15 or so years old.

You are only going to get so many BTUs per watt. The Eden Pure heaters are just all hype. They only produce the same heat as any other with the same BTU useage.

Delonghi Oil filled heaters.

 

[showcrop]

The room where you spend time sitting down in the evening needs to be your warmest. You will save a lot by heating that room more, and the rest of the house less. Adding baseboard to a cast iron system is no bid deal. My folks house had cast iron radiators with copper pipe in between. The only thought necessary is to have your zones properly sized. Our two story house has two zones of baseboard hydronic by oil. We supplement with a coal stove in the "evening" room. That room stays at about 72 while the rest is at about 64. comfort where we want it at low cost.

 

[Anonymous-0]

We have a Comfort Furnace infared heater that we have used the past two years. It has five infared tubes and you can program the temperature. We paid about $297.00 for it and what I like about it is I can replace the tubes myself where as Eden Pure you have to send it in to have tubes replaced. We use it to help heat our bedroom ( 210 sq.feet)which is on second story. We heat mostly with wood and stove is in basement so beadrooms stay between 65 and 68 degrees. This heater will bring temp up 71 degrees and will turn on about seven times during an 8 to 9 hour night at a cost of around a dollar a night.

 

[SweetFeet]

Walt,
Kornfused mentioned ceilings fans too. We actually could put two of them in - by replacing two existing ceiling lights at both ends of the room - we seldom use them (we prefer lamp light). Thanks.

 

[SweetFeet]

Kow Farmer,
Thanks, good to know that operational cost can be high. I did see info in one product review, where the person said the same thing - really high bill. Yet, I see a reply here where their cost was only about $1 per day. Will have to do some more research online.

We have decided that even if we do decide to get one - it will not be Eden Pure because of the high cost for the name brand.

 

[SweetFeet]

JD Seller,

Thanks for the link. Will check it out later today.

When just out of high school, I was a nanny and my boss had an oil filled electric radiator in her kitchen and it seemed to work real well. Though I have no idea what operating cost was... her husband was a physician, so cost was probably not an issue to them.

 

[SweetFeet]

showcrop,

Thanks for the tips.

Agreed, living room being warmest would be best and we do like the rest of the house cooler. Have never figured out why in the world they ever put 4 radiators upstairs, but only two in the entire downstairs...could be they had a wood cook stove in the kitchen years ago. House was built before 1920.

 

[36 Coupe]

Might cost less to add a radiator or a pellet stove.Dont be fooled by 3 and 400.00 electric heaters,they are BS.All are limited to 1500 watts because many outlets are wired with 14 wire.The outlet receptical should be rated at 20 amp and wire size checked.A friend was ill with cancer and asked me about using a quartz heater in his bedroom.I checked the outlet and found that a fool had fed the box with a piece of zip cord from another room.Zip cord is rated for 10 amps at best.A new line was run with #12 wire for the heater.I have replaced some 15 amp outlets and opened them up,amazed at how poorly they are made.If you use an electric heater have an electrician check the outlet befor you plug it in....

 

[SweetFeet]

d beatty,

Thanks for the info on the Comfort Heat brand.

The one we are looking at is a PowerHeat infared. A $1 operating cost would be great - but Kow Farmer said they experienced a real high cost, as did a product review I found online. So I am going to do a little more research before we decide which direction to head. Also want to verify if the PowerHeat replacement bulbs are available locally, as I don't want to have to send it in if one burns out.

 

[SweetFeet]

36 coupe,
Thanks for the advice. Probably not a bad idea to have an electrician check it out, as it is an old house.

 

[SweetFeet]

Gene B,
Thanks! Now that might work... husband could do that and build and enclosure that would be something like an end table. That just might be the ticket.

 

[jackinok]

check out the ones at harbor freight that hang on the wall,i used one in my one car garage before mama decided she needed another room,and it worked well.ran it for about three years with no problems whatsoever,but it wasnt real energy effecient. it did have a thermostat though so it wasnt real bad. Im total electric so couldnt really tell in winter wheather the cost went up to the heater in house,or this.but it worked real well.

 

[SweetFeet]

omahagreg,

Thanks for the info. Though I don't think the overhead style would work out in our living room.

How is the new granddaughter doing? Our grandson just weighed in at 10 pounds at his one month checkup - growing like a weed!

 

[Anonymous-0]

Sweetfeet the price of running one of these heater will depend on what your electric company charges you per kilowatt-hour. I took out a plan when I bought mine and the infared bulbs are free for the life of heater. If I need bulbs I have to call company and they send new bulbs.

 

[JDseller]

SweetFeet: All of the electric heaters are going to cost the same amount to use if they all are 1500 watts. It will not make any difference if they are an infrared, oil fill heater, or old convection heater. They all use 1500 watts when turned on. Most electric heaters are very efficient about producing heat. The ones that claim they are so much better than others are just snake oil. It is just like people talking about saving hundreds of dollars with one of them. They are just keeping the room they are in warm and letting the rest of the house stay cooler. So the furnace does not run as much. Any of the heaters would do the same thing.

In your case you just need more BTUs in a cold living room. It is going to cost you more regardless what type of heater you use. It is not going to cost you that much because a single heater is not going to break the bank. I would get a cheaper heater and try it first.

The fellow that says his only cost him a $1 each night also said it only kicked on 6-7 times. His low cost is for that reason not the type of heater.

My electric bill is the same in the winter as it is in the summer. So the heaters cost about the same as my AC units. I want to be cool in the summer and warm in the winter. So I don't worry about the cost that much. You are not going to get a $400 electric bill out of a single electric heater. I run four oil heaters. I have a well pump and 13 cattle waterers with heaters. Plus the shop and house. My electric bill is $350 a month year round.

All you would need to do is check that the receptacle you are going to use is 20-30 amp one. It is something your husband can do since it sounds like he does some wiring and such. Just get a good US made 30 amp receptacle and do not use an extension cord and you will be good to go.

Once again I would not be buying a high priced heater. You should not have to spend more than a 100 bucks on one that will heat just as good as a high priced one. The guts of an Eden pure heater are the same as a $75 heater. They just put it in a fancy wooden case and charge you four times what it is worth.

Also remember that any infrared heater quits putting out any heat when it kicks off. I do not like that. You are hot then cold, off or on all day long. I prefer a more even heat. That is the advantage of the oil filled heaters. Don't mean to be harpy but I have had radian heaters they suck. You are hot and cold all the time.If your five feet away and have your feet under the desk then they are cold and your body it hot. It is kind of like setting by a camp fire. Your front is warm and your butt is cold. LOL.

 

[SweetFeet]

jackinok,
Thanks, will relay all info from this thread to my husband.

 

[SweetFeet]

JDSeller,
The even heating of an oil radiator does sound nice. That is why we like the old cast iron radiators.

I will copy this entire thread for my husband to read. Thanks again.

 

[36 Coupe]

Power is 15 cents per KW here so the heater will use 22 cents for every hour it runs.Power was 2 cents per kw 50 years ago .My light bill was 6.00 per month back then.

 

[SweetFeet]

d beatty,
Thanks for additional info.

 

[36 Coupe]

Wife and I were at Sams club.They had an infrared heater going.I could feel heat about a foot from the element but if I lowered my hand 6 inches, no heat.I worked in a cedar mill where I drilled the wire hole in lamp posts.There was an infrared heater over head that felt warm until you stepped back 2 feet.A small infrared heater will be a waste of money.There are heating panels that fit under a desk that may work best.These 300 buck heaters are a rip off.A dairy used a 240 volt heater to heat the milk room.It raised the electric bill 30.00 in cold weather.