Reviews, 4.5 stars

http://reviews.walmart.com/1336/12338800/sunbeam-tower-quartz-heater-reviews/reviews.htm

axphw1 wrote:Can I use it warm my underwear while I shower?

(NOTHING beats warm underwear)

What about dying sperm?

bubbachuck wrote:How much increase in my electricity bill would I be looking at assuming it gets a few hours of use every other day?

It says:
Wattage: 1500W (+5% - 10%)

Not sure what the number with +5%-10%? Does that mean 1500W is a minimum?

Roughly you will burn a quarter ($0.25) per hour

Wattage: 1500W (+5% - 10%): Wattage will be between 1350 and 1575 watts.

cvargo1 wrote:how safe would this be to have with a wild puppy in the house.

if it's a smart puppy, it will only get burnt once.

bubbachuck wrote:How much increase in my electricity bill would I be looking at assuming it gets a few hours of use every other day?

It says:
Wattage: 1500W (+5% - 10%)

Not sure what the number with +5%-10%? Does that mean 1500W is a minimum?

If you run this heater for an hour you will have purchased 1.5 kilowatt-hours of energy from your utility company. Prices for a kWh vary around the country but a reasonable estimate of 15 cents per kWh, all taxes included, means 22 cents per hour of operation IF THE HEATER RUNS CONSTANTLY w/o cycling on and off as it most likely will.

wheresmyburrito wrote:if it's a smart puppy, it will only get burnt once.

Another Einstein.

I'm in for one...living on lake Michigan gets realllllly cold from about the end of Nov thru April.
For 30 bucks, wont be a huge loss if it isn't
"totally freaking awesome"

mohavemarv wrote:If you run this heater for an hour you will have purchased 1.5 kilowatt-hours of energy from your utility company. Prices for a kWh vary around the country but a reasonable estimate of 15 cents per kWh, all taxes included, means 22 cents per hour of operation IF THE HEATER RUNS CONSTANTLY w/o cycling on and off as it most likely will.

Thanks for the math. Cheaper to heat just the room I am in.

irish1313 wrote:Thanks for the math. Cheaper to heat just the room I am in.

I suppose with multiple w00t accounts I could buy 20 of these to match the output of my 100000 BTU oil furnace which needs updating. If I carefully place these heaters in all rooms(NO, I don't have a 20 room house!) and on different15 amp circuits, don't mind switching things on/off or setting 20 'thermostats', I could heat electrically for a capital investment of about $600 (plus some added circuits!) as opposed to $3000 for a new oil furnace. The $2400 saved would get consumed paying more for energy in the electric form than in the form of fuel oil.

oh, I so want to get one of these... brrrrrr... it's cold outside.

NoSup4U wrote:Is this the kind of heater that makes popping noises all night as it heats up and cools down?

It's very silent save the soft whir of the fan.

llamabox wrote:Will this toast marshmallows?

sure...right after it sets your curtains on fire;-)

How is infrared different from other types of heaters? Doesn't IR heat the contents of a room or something?

What a funny coincidence. Minutes before the site updated with this heater, guess what my fiance and I pulled out of the closet and turned on after all summer?

We've had this heater for two years, and it's been outstanding.

The "thermostat" feature isn't as useful as it sounds, though. You're supposed to turn the thermostat all the way up when you turn the heater on. Then when the heater has completely "warmed up" (it'll suddenly get quieter and dimmer when it's ready), you can move the thermostat lower. Then the heater will switch on and off automatically based on that calibration.

The two different modes on the other knob are wattage control, I think. The first setting is pretty comfortable, although if you need to heat a cold room quickly, the second setting is blazing.

Also... my cat loves to lounge in front of it.

I have owned this model for a little over 6 years now. Only issues I have had are age related. The Quartz coils are starting to dim as they wear out and the low setting resister burned out after about 5 years of use. It is otherwise still holding strong giving off a lot of heat. The tip over cut off switch is very sensitive and reacts quickly to being tipped or bumped. I am tempted to buy one to replace my aging heater so I can have a low setting again. Running at high makes me nervous at night when I sleep since it does radiate a lot of heat. It very much feels like sitting in front of a fireplace on high.

SimpilotMN wrote:How is infrared different from other types of heaters? Doesn't IR heat the contents of a room or something?

I'm not an expert, but I think that all (working) heaters heat up the contents of the room they are in, to one degree or another.

MichXelle wrote:Good deal overall.

The one at Walmart is NEW with 1 year warranty.

SimpilotMN wrote:How is infrared different from other types of heaters? Doesn't IR heat the contents of a room or something?

A forced hot air furnace delivers heat energy to various rooms by convection ... a 'current' of warm stuff from point A to point B. The 'stuff' is the heated air with point A being the furnace. Radiant heat is, as the name implies, a form of radiation that travels relatively unimpeded through the air without hardly warming the air and as you said heats the contents of the room that are in its path; i.e., furniture, people, etc.

NoSup4U wrote:Is this the kind of heater that makes popping noises all night as it heats up and cools down?

I'm guessing you're thinking of oil heaters, which as the name would suggest have oil in them that moves around as it heats and cools, and if you ever move it, it gets air bubbles with then make popping noises. I'd guess this one wouldn't although if you're relying on the thermostat function it might make a very faint click (probably drowned out by the fan) as the thermostat turns on and off.

ThunderThighs wrote:Could you elaborate?

It works great. Much better than heaters that blow air. It can keep a 10'x20' room heated easily. Thermostat can be adjusted to just what you want. This type is alot better than the 'digital' ones with 4-5 different temperature settings.

If you're thinking about picking one of these up for the bedroom keep in mind that it puts out a bright orange glow. It can be disappointing to wake up thinking the aliens have landed only to find it's the heater.

I have the same heater, which was great, until one side of the double heater element stopped working. I am still running off of only one heater element. I don't know why it got messed up, but the second heating element has worked for over 3 years.

cvargo1 wrote:how safe would this be to have with a wild puppy in the house.

After my experiences with Callaghan the Giant Puppy, my wild 100 lb. Rottweiler mix puppy, I don't think that it would be very safe to have this heater in use in the same house. Of course, I've also found that it's not safe to have him around other heaters, DVDs, futons, sheetrock walls, decks, wood floors, vinyl floors, extension cords, toes, feet, hands, legs, lips, cheeks, other dogs if they don't like to play, or wooden furniture. ESPECIALLY wood furniture.

But I wouldn't trade this giant bundle of love named Callaghan for the world. Or what's left of it after he gets done with it.

mohavemarv wrote:A forced hot air furnace delivers heat energy to various rooms by convection ... a 'current' of warm stuff from point A to point B. The 'stuff' is the heated air with point A being the furnace. Radiant heat is, as the name implies, a form of radiation that travels relatively unimpeded through the air without hardly warming the air and as you said heats the contents of the room that are in its path; i.e., furniture, people, etc.

Thanks, that makes sense. I'm in for one.

cvargo1 wrote:how safe would this be to have with a wild puppy in the house.

seriously, is this safe for a very wild PUG pup??

mohavemarv wrote:I suppose with multiple w00t accounts I could buy 20 of these to match the output of my 100000 BTU oil furnace which needs updating. If I carefully place these heaters in all rooms(NO, I don't have a 20 room house!) and on different15 amp circuits, don't mind switching things on/off or setting 20 'thermostats', I could heat electrically for a capital investment of about $600 (plus some added circuits!) as opposed to $3000 for a new oil furnace. The $2400 saved would get consumed paying more for energy in the electric form than in the form of fuel oil.

Where the hell do you live, Saudi Arabia? At $4+ a gallon, fuel oil is a hell of a lot more expensive than electricity, especially if you only turn them on in the rooms you're in.

stimpy wrote:After my experiences with Callaghan the Giant Puppy, my wild 100 lb. Rottweiler mix puppy, I don't think that it would be very safe to have this heater in use in the same house.

Actually it is fairly safe. You can touch the safety grill and not get burned if you pull away fast enough. The screen being a light shade of grey does not get as hot as you might think as it reflects much of the radiant heat. At one time I had accidentally dropped a pillow up against it while sleeping. Although the pillow case did melt in one corner, it did not catch fire. Scared the crap out of me to wake up and find my pillow singed like that. Needless to say I never set it that close to my bed again.

I'd rather have something that would turn my room into a frozen wasteland.

As a firefighter, I never recommend space heaters, ever, period. Give me all the safety features you want, but that won't help you when you put something flammable too close to it. I have extinguished many fires caused by these types of devices. If you must use one, please use it wisely, and make sure your smoke detectors are in working order. Here is a fact sheet from the NFPA regarding all heating equipment related fires.

http://goo.gl/3h4Va

What size room does it heat? Approximate square footage, wasn't in the description.

I actually own one of these. I was not lucky enough to get it from Woot at this great discounted price but I am still happy with mine. I used it all last winter and just got it out again to use this winter.
We use it in an area of about 700 sq ft and it keeps us nice and warm.
The noise level is very low in these units.
If you need a good space heater, I doubt you can find a better deal than this.

dchauran wrote:Where the hell do you live, Saudi Arabia? At $4+ a gallon, fuel oil is a hell of a lot more expensive than electricity, especially if you only turn them on in the rooms you're in.

Vermont, 9 miles from the Canadian Provence of Quebec. We have very few options in much of New England and the vast majority of citizens use fuel oil; last price check was $3.40 per gallon.
Even at this price it is cheaper(40-60% cheaper) than electricity. Electricity is generated from other natural sources and the conversion to electricity results in quite a bit of waste; see the Laws of Thermodynamics in any general physics book, especially the second law. Nature, not underperforming engineers, disallows 100% conversions. Heck, some of our companies are using cow manure as a fuel to generate a few kWh of electricity and now we are having those God-awful UNGREEN wind turbines forced on us by the Feds.

mRosi6600 wrote:As a firefighter, I never recommend space heaters, ever, period. Give me all the safety features you want, but that won't help you when you put something flammable too close to it. I have extinguished many fires caused by these types of devices. If you must use one, please use it wisely, and make sure your smoke detectors are in working order. Here is a fact sheet from the NFPA regarding all heating equipment related fires.

http://goo.gl/3h4Va

The only reason I'm using them is because I can't always afford to buy oil, very expensive

mohavemarv wrote:Vermont, 9 miles from the Canadian Provence of Quebec. We have very few options in much of New England and the vast majority of citizens use fuel oil; last price check was $3.40 per gallon.
Even at this price it is cheaper(40-60% cheaper) than electricity. Electricity is generated from other natural sources and the conversion to electricity results in quite a bit of waste; see the Laws of Thermodynamics in any general physics book, especially the second law. Nature, not underperforming engineers, disallows 100% conversions. Heck, some of our companies are using cow manure as a fuel to generate a few kWh of electricity and now we are having those God-awful UNGREEN wind turbines forced on us by the Feds.

If I had the money to be green I would, sometimes you don't have a choice, other than to use the cheapest option.

james1027 wrote:I actually own one of these. I was not lucky enough to get it from Woot at this great discounted price but I am still happy with mine. I used it all last winter and just got it out again to use this winter.
We use it in an area of about 700 sq ft and it keeps us nice and warm.
The noise level is very low in these units.
If you need a good space heater, I doubt you can find a better deal than this.

Thanks for the info, I'm buying one :]

Dear Refurb Haters,

Why cry about a refurbished heater? A heater is on of the simplest electrical devices you can buy. Please stop whining.

My work is done here.

This has been brought to you by Wooters for common sense. (WFCS)

jezuzfreek wrote:Dear Refurb Haters,

Why cry about a refurbished heater? A heater is on of the simplest electrical devices you can buy. Please stop whining.

My work is done here.

This has been brought to you by Wooters for common sense. (WFCS)

You are, of course, CORRECT. It is highly probable that most of these being sold as other than brand new were returned due to buyers remorse or were a display heater at a brick and mortar store. Just do be careful as our firefighter said in an earlier Post; nothing lasts forever without degrading and even the plug you put in the wall wears out and can overheat (Not Good) especially if it is yanked out by the cord instead of a hand directly on the plug. It should go w/o saying but I'll say it anyway, DO NOT USE EXTENSION CORDS with these high amp heaters.

Interesting that on the first real cold night we have here woot puts heaters up for sale...hmmm. MUCH better timing than tents in October or t-shirts in September. I've been looking for an excuse to use my coupon--In for 2!

I'm thinking of picking this up for the garage when I want to relax a couple of times a week with a cigar or pipe but its in the 20's outside.

argymusashi wrote:[G]uess what my fiance and I pulled out of the closet and turned on after all summer?

The mind boggles with possibilities!