A lot of people are researching space heaters due to the massive ad campaign running nationwide by the marketers of the Heat Surge space heater. We thought we’d provide a couple of alternatives to those wishing to spend less, or those seeking a heater with good reviews and highly rated design.
If you’re dead-set on getting a flueless electric fireplace fireplacedirect.com has a lot of options. Choices range from the very expensive (it’s all about the mantel), to Heat Surge comparable smaller, or movable units. Remember, any 1,440 btu electric heater will give off the same amount of heat (they heat a 200 to 600 square ft. room). Make sure you fully evaluate the range of settings, fan capability and if they have an adjustable thermostat to keep the temperature where you like it.
We find the site ConsumerSearch to be a good aggregator of product reviews. Here are a couple of more inexpensive space heaters that will get the job done if heat, not esthetics, is the primary issue. Their recommendations:
- DeLonghi SafeHeat Micathermic HHP1500 – if you have a modern decor and are looking for a convection heater, which is highly rated for its: slim profile, silent operation, reliable performance and light weight. Uses the mineral, mica, as its heating element, has two heat settings and can be wall mounted. $ 149.99 @ amazon.com
If you’re looking for a less expensive option, the Holmes HQH319-U Quartz Tower Heater with 1-Touch Electronic Thermostat may be a good choice. This model is a radiant heater best designed for small spaces. Radiant heaters heat objects directly in-front of them in a room. It has two quartz heating elements and like most space heaters, 750 and 1,500-watt settings. $59.99 @ sears.com
When shopping for a space heater remember that almost all heaters provide a maximum of 1,500-watts and 5,120 btu’s. This is the maximum amount of wattage allowed through a typical household outlet. Remember to put your space heater safely away from drapes and flammable objects and fabrics. And place it under a window or other cold air or draft producing source to warm cold air as it enters the room. Unvented propane or kerosene heaters should never be used in the home.
Remember that space heaters are not an economical replacement for insulation — weather-stripping and thermostats that can give you control over the various zones / rooms of your home. The savings a space heater provides to the homeowner is only when you can augment the heat of the room you are in, while lowering the thermostats in the rest of the house. Electricity is still an expensive and inefficient way to heat a home.
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I agree, but the imaginative flame went out and the two bulbs are ok. now what ?
Here is another alternative for space heat. The Kandle Heeter tm Candle Holder — it converts the thermal energy of a candle flame into dry radiant space heat. If you like to burn candles, why wouldn’t you want to get the maximum heat? This year we have also developed an “electric candle” based on a 60 watt quartz halogen lamp. It uses the same radiator assembly, and if the lights should go out, then you can always put a candle under it. http://www.heatstick.com
We like our Heat Surge warming our living room, but the imaginery flame has stopped flaming even though it’s still throwing heat.
I’ve written them but no reply on how to fix
the illusionary flame. Helen
My flames quit a couple of times. No problem. I read directions and it said to turn off heat surge and unplug it for 10 min. It resets the flames.I run mine 24/7 and use my propane furnace very little. I turned it off completely and if I need more heat I run furnace to take the chill off then turn it off again. It is a good investment for ME. Not for everyone.
Does anyone know anything about EdenPure Heaters?
We bought a Eden Pure Heater last year. It worked for three weeks and quit. We only got a portion of our money refunded. Our neighbors bought four of the heaters and they all quit within weeks also. They are not what they are advertised.
Amish use HeatSurge at home???
Amish don’t use electric !!
It is really ripped off!!!!!
I like the ECO-heater from WARMZONE.com
This unit only uses 400 watts and works great! I put a couple around my house that were cold and painted them to match my walls. Check them out on Warmzone’s website.www.warmzone.com
I bought the Amish heat surge heater with mantle. It is nice quality but small. It doesn’t heat as well as a regular electric heater and it is quite noisy. Flames look real and it does heat but if I had known it didn’t heat that well, I would not have bought it. If you are just looking for something for a fireplace look, then this is great.
Has anyone heard of the “charmglow heaters”?
I saw them last year for around $300, but can’t seem to find them this year. did they discontinue them, I read VERY good reviews (5 stars) from everyone who had them. Maybe they worked TOO good and were inexpensive, so they were squashed by the competition?? anyone have any info on them?
You can find the CharmGlow heaters at Home Depot.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Navigation?id=453&jspStoreDir=hdus&catalogId=10053&marketID=401&locStoreNum=8125&N=453%2B90401&langId=-1&linktype=brand&storeId=10051&ddkey=THDSiteMap
My dad bought my husband and me one of the EdenPure space heaters about 2 years ago and it was great! It cut our propane gas bill quite a bit. We ran the space heater constantly and it was awesome for a long time. We never had any problems with it until the end of Feb this year. So, my husband tried to figure out what was wrong with it and we have called and tried to get replacement parts for it but haven’t been able to do so. That’s the only negative thing we’ve experienced.
We’re an established company with millions of
satisfied customers whose focus is to exceed customer expectations.
To accomplish this, along with other successful methods,
we’ve set up a Web site to share the facts about our company at http://heatsurge.wordpress.com
to address any questions or concerns you may have.
Chris Pugh
Heat Surge
Heat Surge started their own blog to extend their marketing reach and get people off forums like this, where they might be exposed to a broad range of product experiences, both good and bad. Just more marketing. Many companies now have blogs to drive additional traffic to their products.
Plug in 110-120 volt ac, Quartz radiant heaters have been around since the early 1930’s. My room mate bought a small one for $2.50 in 1946. It was quite cozy to sit in front of , but electricity is not a cheap heat source for a normal room !!
Can be good for supplemental heat but costs a lot extra. Need 240 volt ac (not plug in 120v ac) to have economical electric heat.
In So Central MO, in a 2600 sqft 2 story house, when natural gas went sky high, I closed off all but the LR/Kitchen/dining area, set the thermostat on 50 & economically heated all winter with 2 very small ceramic Windmere electric space heaters. That was 8 yrs ago & they still work. I might mention that there were south facing windows which really helped on sunny days. I have had most savings from double paned glass, storm windows, or interior plastic over windows.
Amish people don’t use electricity. Amish people don’t know what an Amish Heat Surge is, and that company is a rip off. It’s a real expensive price to pay for a very cheap heater.
spend your money elsewhere. Give it away to charity, or burn it to keep you warm. Heat surge? Send it to the attorney general.
I bought 5 eden pure heaters for christmas last year,2007. Mid December 0f 08 some of the bulbs burnt out in 4 units. I called company where I bought them only to find out , all 5 are out of warranty as of Nov 08. Bulbs @ 16.95 apiece does not make this a good buy. They do heat, but wait till you want parts. They are not worth the money. Don’t bother calling the manufacturer, total runaround.
I’m from Penna. Amish will not have telephones (not all do not maintain this practice.) On Amish man had a family emergency….went to a non-Amish hone to have medics called. He said he could nor have a phone…..but he could use some one elses. Go figure.
Duh Kelly, the Amish make the mantles, not the heaters.
I love my Heat Surge Fireplaces. I’ve had them for almost a year and the flames are fine. I suppose the light bulbs could go, but they haven’t. They only reason I have 2 is because they were a gift. One would suffice for sure, because the wheels are sturdy and very functional, even rolling well on carpet. When I run on the low setting and keep other rooms closed off, the heat hardly comes on. I keep the thermost at about 60, which is chilly, but it’s toasty near the fireplace. When I close my bedroom door at night, and turn the rest of the house down to 45,most nights, that room stays in the 70s! My radiators are cold most of the time. I’m sure I saved a great deal of money, last year. Oil is still pricey, and I can run one on low for about 90 dollars a month. That’s PSNH in New Hampshire. Oh, and at night, the flame looks very real. I had a wood stove with a window, for many years, and this is just as pretty. Also, the wood cabinet is very handsome.
RIP OFF! I went to Walgreens last week and bought a holmes heater fan for 30 bucks. Got a 10 dollar rebate, so I paid $20. That means for the price of just one Heat Surge fireplace I could buy 13 portable heater fans and 1 VHS or DVD of a fireplace scene. Then I could heat every room in my house for what it costs to put this piece of junk in just one room. (Plus I could still have a cheesy, fake fireplace, yippee.) People are such suckers. Who would buy this? I live in Liberty, MO and Jamesport is just a little bit NE of me. There is an Amish flea market there. They are the largest Amish community in our state. They have never heard of the Heat Surge. Not only that, but almost everyone knows that it is practically a sin for an Amish person to be photographed. And horribly rude to try to photograph one. When they started showing videos of ‘Amish’ men making the mantles I just laughed. I hope that is enough to prove to anyone with common sense that this is a scam and a fraud. Only an idiot would spend more than $50 for this piece of ‘imitation amish’ crap!
When I called the Heat Surge customer care line
to ask about my now not working “flameshow” the phone rang about a thousand times before somebody
finally picked up the phone.I started to explain
my problem and I was interrupted with a curt
“We Amish don’t use the telephones,English”
Then he hung up.
EdenPure heaters have an archilles heel, the hot lead, in series, is crimped onto both ends of the heating element. The leads fall out of the crimp leaving an incomplete circuit and a non-functioning heater. In addition there is a safety issue as the hot lead is now loose and can have serious ramifications. Parts replacement is next to impossible unless the whole unit is shipped back to them. I do not recommend this product.
I meant it was a gift… and I love it…. very nice I have been wanted one for so long I wouldnt spend that much on me..It looks so real
All of these products are essentially the same!!
They all use electrical heating elements to produce heat. This is well-known to be the most inefficient and expensive way to heat a home. No new technologies are used. Any product that claims other wise is sure to be a rip off.
Most of these electric space heaters use ~1500 watts @120 volts, this can only produce ~5000 BTUs of heat any way you slice it its about 3.33 BTUs per watt.
You could plug in 38, 40watt light bulbs in your room and it would work the exact same!
So do you think that leaving 38 additional lights on all the time is going to save you money, I think not.
I’m tired off these scams targeting the public with physically impossible claims.
The only way they will ever save money is if you use a space heater of any type to heat just one small space and turn off the whole house system but this is impractical in almost every situation.
I can’t say it enough all electric heaters are essentially the same and they are the most expensive way to heat a home.
Electric resistance heaters (what the Heat Surge is) are very expensive for heating your home; oil, natural gas, or a heat pump are much cheaper ways to heat your home. The Heat Surge is just a glorified resistance heater, something that you can buy unadorned for $20.
thanks i was going to buy one of these heat surge heaters and try and save on my gas bill but after reading this i have changed my mind i sure am glad i looked this up i haven’t really the money to waste so thanks again everyone.
I ordered a Heat Surge heater recently. So far no complaints. My 6 year old son loves it. We use the fireplace until the room temperature is around 70 degrees. The room has maintained the same degree for hours. It is nice to sit in the living room and look at the flames, makes everything seem very cozy.
Reading the comments above I must say there are some unreasonable people. Now I don’t have one of these fireplaces and I have no connection with the company. I just saw the infomercial and wanted to do a bit of research for my home office which has always been a bit cold. I have a small space heater which works fine but I’m not crazy about how it looks. I always felt a fireplace would look nice in that room. I have not ordered this product. I may some day or I may buy a different brand.
1. The Amish are made up of different factions and beliefs. Some are more stringent in their beliefs than others. Some allow photographs, some don’t. Some use phones, some don’t. You would think that at some point we would learn to stop making blanket pronouncements about groups and recognize that all groups are made up of individuals.
2. Mantels are expensive. Look at the link provided by this site for fireplacedirect.com. It shows comparable electric fireplaces, everyone of which is more expensive than the Heat Surge. I don’t understand how offering a comparable product for less is a ripoff. Sure, you could buy a heater without a mantel and it would cost less but how is that a comparable product?
3. Yes, electric heating is more expensive than natural gas, but not everybody has that option. It seems a bit rude and self involved to assume everybody else is in your exact situation and then to call them idiots for making different decisions that fit their situation.
4. Even if you have natural gas heating you could save money depending on your situation. I have an electronic thermostat that keeps my house at a constant temperature. But one room is a bit colder. (It’s furthest from the furnace, has more windows, etc.) I could bump up the heat in the whole house but that would be expensive and make the rest of the house uncomfortably warm. If I want that room a bit warmer it’s more cost effective for me to use a small heater in the room I’m in.
5. I do have some concerns with the customer service based on the complaints that people have posted. It seems that if you get a good one you’re probably set, but if you get one with problems it’s a pain to get it corrected.
After reading these opinions i will not be buying the heatsurge. I would like to thank all of you who have shared your experience and opinion with this ripoff of a product.
I bought an EdenPure heater 2 years ago. It worked for a short time and quit. Called the company and was told to ship it back. They paid for the shipping. When I got it back it worked fine for the rest of the winter. Next winter I got it out and it worked for about a week and that was it. Would never recommend this product. I have gone back to my Presto Heat Dish. Keeps me warmer than the EdenPure and didn’t cost a fortune.
Thank You! one and all for the comments I too had been giving serious thought of buying a heatsurge my son said I should check and see what I could read from others and I am now sure I will not be spending good money on a product that I was not too sure of to begin with.Thanks again.
I believe its a scam. The company doesn’t want you to know the wattage and very little info is posted on the website. Guess they think people will believe anything they hear on TV. “Get 4 real… people!” How many order this for the cabinet ONLY?
My father bought two Heat Surge units. We laffed at him for that; he admitted he must’ve been not thinking. I tried one out, looked at the specs–and knew right away–TOTALLY not necessary to pay so much!! I have two lilttle ceramic heaters— same specs, same amount of heat, and much, MUCH less expensive!
A friend of mine has a heater that looks like a radiator and loves it. She got it at the Tractor Store.
My name is Tracy Myers of Santa Rosa, CA. Like I just wanted to say that I totally love my CZ Infrared 1500 plastic heater. It’s the bomb, yo. Check it, I was like so cold before…even though I like totally live in Cali…I was still like freezing all the time. You try keepin’ up with the styles in the mags and still stay warm. It’s like so a challenge, ya know? So like, I was cruising the net blog scene and scoped all the awesome reviews this CZ Infrared heater was rockin’, and I like said to myself, I need one of those for my pad. So I like ordered one & it came totally quick, yo….and they were so understanding at that Earth-something company….totally cool. They were like totally patient and answered all my questions, yo. So totally the bomb that after I received my heater and needed help understanding how to use it, cuz like who really has time to like read that user-manual thingy, they were so totally down to help me understand every setting and the do’s & don’ts of using my heater, yo. The heater like totally hooked up my pad with this even, comfortable heat that allows me to chill in my threads with no worries, for real. I like totally promoted to all my peeps who like sportin’ the mad trends and wanna stay toasty and chill in their own pads. So like totally check the mad skills this heater has at keepin’ a girl comfy, yo.
I just love my ‘CZ Infrared’ heater! It is by far the best on the market. It puts out 5600 BTU’s of heat, the bulbs are rated for 20,000 hours and it comes with a 3 year warranty without having to pay extra for it. The customer service staff are quite helpfull and you can change parts (if necessary) simply easily and quickly since you don’t have to ship it off to the factory and then wait for its return.
I really don’t care what anyone says. I love my
CZ Infrared heater. It works great for us.
I read all the coment`s and want to thank all that took the time to write.
I was unsure about the heat surge and now feel
better informed, Think I`ll put this Item on hold….
Judy
Hey! My ‘CZ Infrared’ heater works just fine thank you very much.
Why pay to heat the whole house when the CZ Infrared heater can keep the zone you are living in warm. BTW they are having a season end online coupon special for an additional $50.00 off on a NEW heater at http://www.czifrared.com.
Normally I would respond with ‘Yeah, yeah we’ve heard it all before’, but we have found our CZ Infrared heater to be a good product. It has a 30 day guaranty so you can be sure it is right for you.