Infrared Heater Suggestions

[Que]

I was at the home and garden show and my wife saw the iHeater and wanted to take one home. I told her we would take a stroll around the show and talk about it. As we were leaving, she reminded me that we didn't go back to that booth.

My wife and daughter make me feel like the grinch because I like to keep the thermostat on 68 degrees. They are only comfortable at 72 degrees or higher, but I would prefer keeping it lower in order to reduce the bill. The problem is, I would do anything for my girls and the thermostat is mostly kept at 72 degrees.

For those of you that use the infrared heaters, what do you think about them? Any brands you would suggest purchasing? I'm not looking for a magic box to save money or anything, just a safe and reliable heater that can heat a large room, comfortably.

 

[45-70]

I've owned a Solar Comfort heater for about 10 years and use it throughout the heating season. It heats a couple of rooms and keeps the forced air electric furnace from running so much. These use 4 each 375 watt screw in infrared bulbs which makes the maintenance pretty easy. Link

On edit I forgot to add that they are made in Lexana, Ks. U.S.A.

 

[chocktaw2]

I like our Eden Pure

 

[Rookie]

How large of a room?

 

[Hoosierdood]

We have an EdenPure Gen3 1000 for our main floor. We have a 2500 sq ft bi-level house, and keep the downstairs thermostat at 68. We haven't even turned on the heat on the main floor yet. We just use the EdenPure and it heats the entire main floor. I have the thermostat on the EdenPure set on medium, and it keeps the main floor at a steady 71-72 degrees. It doesn't run all the time either. I haven't seen a huge difference in our electric bill, but we have definitely saved on gas. You can get these new for around $300, but can get them used if you look around.

 

[acersbull]

I have had an Eden Pure for about 3 years and have had no complaints with it. Deffinately like that it's cool to the touch and you dont have to worry about little ones around it.

 

[LEaSH]

68 degrees!?

You must be a very wealthy man.

 

[bobbittle]

68 degrees!?

You must be a very wealthy man.

Mine's on 62 currently. :P

 

[Que]

How large of a room?

Well, about 1,000 sq ft.

 

[jeremy]

Well, about 1,000 sq ft.

Really?!
I have lived in Houses smaller than that...

 

[db1959]

How much does it cost to use an infrared heater compared to a gas heater?

 

[cburnworth]

I love my edenpure. Also as a side note to it, my son knocked a pillow off the bed and somehow it managed to land partially on the heater. all it did to the plastic casing was warp it nothing to the pillow other than being very warm. I also recommend closing the doors to rooms your not using & closing the vents in them also. I have put up a couple of curtains to seperate the 2 main parts of the house. The heater currently sits in my daughters room in the coldest part of the house. it doesn't kick on that often & it is set to about 65. my furnace is kept @ 68 at night & 73 during the day(but I usually manually set it to 70.
Also if your not home during the day drop it to mid or lower 60's & then raise it when people start getting home.

 

[Rookie]

Well, about 1,000 sq ft.

1,000 square feet? Just have your butler build a fire in the diamond encrusted fire place!

 

[Que]

Well, it's an open floor plan, so I can't just estimate one area. Besides, all the advertising I see indicates they can warm 1,000 square feet.

 

[INMIline]

I never heard of one until this thread. Sounds like something I could really use. I found a Edenpure Gen3 for $150.

Does it cut down your heating bill to make up for the electric increase?

 

[Hoosierdood]

I never heard of one until this thread. Sounds like something I could really use. I found a Edenpure Gen3 for $150.

Does it cut down your heating bill to make up for the electric increase?

It only costs me about $30 or less per month to run it during the coldest months. Haven't figured out the savings on the gas bill yet.

 

[45fan]

My experience with the edenpure reflects what hosierdood says. They are pretty cheap to operate, and do a great job of knocking the chill off even a larger room.
As a side note to the edenpure, we started out with an off brand heater of similar design purchased at big R, and we were perfectly happy with it. My wifes grandmother gave us the edenoure, so the other was relegated to keeping the laundry/reloading area warm during the winter months.
Does it save money? This year our regular furnace wasnt even fired up until the first week of November, and even then it didnt run very often. I do supplement with a wood furnace, but it has only been used for maybe a week so far this winter.