Review of Optimus H-7318 Portable 17-Inch Oscillating Tower Heater

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List Price: $59.99
Sale Price: $59.21
Today's Bonus: 1% Off

Winter only happens once a year and is separated by many months that dull the memories of the bad heaters you bought in winters past. For the winter season of 2010/2011, I purchased two different Optimus heaters for my house, the H-7328 and the H-7318.

I bought both units at the same time in October, so they sat in their unopened boxes well past the time you could return them. When winter came I set my brand new heaters up. The 7318 rattled so bad I could barely hear myself think. And within days the 7328 stopped oscillating and started to smell like burnt wiring. By February neither unit functioned, both thermostats apparently didn't work anymore so the unit that would actually provide heat would stay on forever, even if the unit fell face down on the carpet. YIKES, talk about dangerous.

So in March when I went to throw these units in the garage, on top of the pile of totally useless things I have bought in years past, I noticed something odd. I reached down and dug out three old heaters from the year before. Apparently I bought an Optimus H-5280, an H-3013 and an H-5230.

So in two years I have purchased no less than five Optimus heaters of which only one still works as advertised, which only goes to prove one thing, I AM A COMPLETE IDIOT, for ever buying an Optimus product. If they don't fail to work at all, then they stand a good chance of burning you alive while you sleep.

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Bought it from Sam's in Nov in prep for winter. First used it end of Dec and Jan 30th the ocillator died. I've made two phone calls only get recording stating they are open from 9 to 5 eastern and two emails. No response to anything as of yet......and not able to get it to move...grrrrrr.

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There seems to be poor thought in engineering all electric heaters. This one is in line with all the others, it has its good and bad points. Best not to be real interested in functions other than heat, at which this one is ok.

Pros: good heat output, oscillates, digital display, nice looking, 3 yr. warrenty, oscillation stops and starts

with the operation of the thermostat

Cons: hi and low heat are just that, heat, they aren't connected to the thermostat, turn it on and will run

forever I guess.

to use the thermostat you must get to auto and to do that you must touch either the up or down buttons and

presto you get auto. just set the desired temp and is shuts on and off like you would think a heater should.

don't expect even temp, it gets 2 degrees over set temp to shut off and 1 degree under set temp to turn back

on, that 3 degree swing is pretty noticable but most heaters are this way. I almost forgot, the auto only

functions with high heat, no choice there so if you want low heat you have no thermostat control

don't pick it up and move it or it resets itself to high heat, and the thermostat goes to 75, you will have

to go through the whole procedure to set another temp and get back to auto, this is a function of the tip

over switch I guess.

you have to lean way over to read the display, bad angle, to small, or just bad lighting, led's would be

better choice

who, now really, needs to have a remote control for a space heater

Seems to be a lot of cons but all heaters are pretty much the same in function. Doing it over I would get the

cheapest heater with a rotary switch and a rotary thermostat. Forget the digital display and remote control. Also

forget those $400.oo infrared heaters with nice wood cabinets. Physics is physics and E=ir still applies no matter

the price. 1500 watts is 1500 watts no matter what generates the heat. put a fan behind 15 100watt light bulbs

and you get the same amount of heat. This heater does what it was designed to do pretty well, but I think I could probably make one the way I would like it to function, just would cost to much to do.

Honest reviews on Optimus H-7318 Portable 17-Inch Oscillating Tower Heater

I love this heater! I've gone through several electric heaters that do not warm up a room fast enough. I have had this heater for over 2 years now and it finally broke. The caution light turns on and then it doesn't do anything. We think it may be the thermal fuse so we might head to Radio Shack and fix it ourselves. Anyway, this heater has traveled with me from 3 different houses and it lasted throughout. I also love the remote that comes with it. The oscillating feature was great and I loved how it turned on and heated up quickly. The digital temperature was easy to read and it turned off when the room would be at that temperature. Small heater with a lot of power! Definitely recommend this product. Just hope it doesn't break!

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This is a little workhorse. We have two of them now. We live in our 38 ft. fifth wheel trailer with 3 slide outs and the two of them seem to do the job very nicely. We have one at each end of the trailer.

Duraflame Stax Stackable Crackling 6-Pack 3.6LB Firelogs Review

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I love these. They are great for getting a fire roaring and help keep it going if your wood is a little damp or green. Big bonus is price and the fact that you don't have to lug them home from the store...they're delivered to your door with free shipping. Can't beat that!

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These logs are really, really great. Pricey, but great. The crackling is a real nice feature and if you put two in, you'll have a nice fire for about 3 hours. Stir it around a bit then and you'll get another 1/2. Soooooo convenient!

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I've tried a lot of different "fake" logs for my fire pit and these are, by far, the best. They light easily and there is little or no odor -which is not the case with many of the more popular brands out there. This makes the experience so much better when you are inhaling fumes which smell noxious.

Highly recommend these. I've ordered and re-ordered!

Honest reviews on Duraflame Stax Stackable Crackling 6-Pack 3.6LB Firelogs

Love these. Stax light easily and burn clean, with very little ash at the end. Last approximately 2 1/2 hours. I use these in an outside fire pit and have no complaints.

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Last for a couple of hours using a couple of blocks. Gives off nice heat, and the reviews on amazon were very accurate. Not the cheapest source of fire fuel, but easy to use, and provides a very enjoyable outdoor flame.

Best Electric Insert Fireplace Deals

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We are happy with our purchase. Fireplace looks very real, works great. Overall we are satisfied. Recommend it to anyone who is tired of dealing with the mess of wood fireplace!

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This fireplace insert is NOT an infrared quartz as the title on the item indicates! It is just a basic electric fireplace! Google the model number and you will see it is not infrared. Just got one delivered and now I have to return it since I wanted the infrared quartz'

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Did not like their communication source ( email ) i think it would woked better with a ph call product still bent

Cheap Holmes HQH307 Tower Quartz Heater

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I have this radiant heater and 2 similar models. They are all noisy for about 15 seconds when they turn on. I suggest running it on low in small rooms so it does not cycle on and off. I buy this type of heater for 2 reasons. 1. I find that forced air heaters dry out the air, which irritates by allergies. 2. The biggest reason is that my cats LOVE laying in front of these heaters for hours. The heater gives off a glow which feels like you are sitting in the sun. I have been using them for years without any safety issues, just use common sense.

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This unit does a good job heating up my small office (measuring about 10'x12') rather quickly, and its thermal control keeps the room in a comfortable temperature by turning the unit on and off automatically. The unit radiates heat over a pretty large area (with a small fan helping push the hot air out front). This means that it probably will do a good job keeping you warm in a larger space as well, as long as it's placed closeby.

My only complaint is the noise. The unit makes a rather loud rattling noise when its heating elements turn on, which lasts about 10-15 seconds. The fan is reasonably quiet in the low setting, but can be distracting when on high. I certainly wouldn't put one of these in the bedroom.

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I really like the Holmes HQH307 quartz heater. I use it to warm up my master bathroom in the morning. I turn it on before I hop in the shower. By the time I get out of the shower, the bathroom is toasty warm and I can stand in front of the heater while drying off.

I went through several other heaters over a three year period before settling on this one. I've used two different ceramic heaters, one was a low cube and one was a tower. Neither one of those put out as much heat as I wanted yet they consumed a lot of electricity. Then I tried a parabolic heater. It was much more efficient, but the beam of heat was too narrow. It would heat a portion of my body too much and the rest not enough. It wouldn't heat the room at all.

I've had my HQH307 for about three months which is long enough to verify that it doesn't cost as much to use as the ceramic heaters did, yet it puts out a lot more heat. The internal fan is powerful, but it's also pretty loud. For my purpose in the bathroom, that's not a problem. The fan setup is well designed: It pulls air in from the top and pushes it out the front between the heating elements which heats up the whole bathroom rather easily. The heating elements rattle a bit during the first few seconds of warming up, but that is standard on quarts heaters. The rattle goes away almost immediately.

The lifting handle molded into the back of the case is in a good location and stays cool. Don't mistake the bar across the front for a handle because it gets HOT!! It's just there to keep the front of the heater off the floor in case of a tip-over. I like the manual controls on the top of the heater. One turns the heater to low or high and the other adjusts the variable temperature control. Simple and foolproof.

The Holmes HQH307 quartz heater is a great value and I recommend it without hesitation.

NOTE: I also own a Holmes HQH319U quartz heater which is about $20 more. It has the same housing and heating elements, but the fan is quieter and the controls are digital. You might consider it if you want a powerful and efficient heater that's not as loud.

Honest reviews on Holmes HQH307 Tower Quartz Heater

After having purchased (and returned) a handul of different heating units, I purchased this unit last year from Wal-Mart for around $50. My original intention was to locate an inexpensive space heater that would heat a medium sized room and, at the least, heat me but I continued to find units that didn't live up to their marketing slogans, including the oft praised mica boards. Having almost given up, I decided to limit my scope to something that would at least heat my general direction. This heater is perfect for just such a cause (whereas the other heaters couldn't even do that well; in fact, I spent all night waiting for the mica board to do SOMETHING and was sorely disappointed).

PROS:

Heats up FAST. Consistent. Definitely warms you. Pleasing glow. Auto shutoff for overheat or tipping. PERFECT for a single or two-person family.

CONS:

Limited heating area point and blast with this one, don't expect the entire room to feel heated. If the room is SMALLER, it can do that job, but a living room may feel lacking.

Loud You may not mind the sound of this unit but if you're working on something requiring acute attention, this may bug you. In fact, the unit isn't that loud and I personally find it to have a pleasing hum, but some reviewers claim it's as loud as a race track I'm sure they're being facetious.

I gave it three stars because it can't heat up a medium sized room. However, for its price, and for the consistently pleasing temperature it maintains, I would HIGHLY recommend this heater, ESPECIALLY for single and two-person households.

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For the money this is a great heater. The heat is radiant and penetrating and provides more deep-down warmth to a room than does a ceramic heater. I like the glow, which reminds me of a woodburning stove.

The initial rattle is nothing to be concerned about and it does go away in seconds. However, I had a lesser, continuing rattle when the heater was sitting on a carpeted floor. I took a thin cutting board with an extremely hard plastic surface to set the heater on on top of the carpet. That cured it! I was careful to keep an eye on it and make sure that the cutting board was not getting warm, starting to melt, etc. The cutting board was not impacted at all. In fact, it stayed surprisingly cool despite the heat being put out, even on a high setting.

The manual controls do not bother me. There is no digital temperature reading, which does not matter to me either. I don't think the thermostats on economical heaters are that accurate anyway. The thermostat does facilitate cycling on and off throughout the night while I am sleeping, which is what I am really after.

If I do hear it running in the night, I briefly think "aah, heat" and go back to sleep. If I do notice the glow, I briefly think "aah, nightlight" and go back to sleep.

There are more elaborate heaters out there for more money, but for what I have spent I am getting good, penetrating heat, and thanks to my cutting board it is rattle-free in a carpeted room.

Eco-heater 602 High-Efficiency Electric Panel Whole-Room Heater Reviews

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List Price: $119.95
Sale Price: $114.95
Today's Bonus: 4% Off

It was love at first sight, A great looking heater, producing oodles of heat even in upstate New York, and using 1/3 of the wattage of my baseboard heaters what's not to love? I picked up six of them and mounted them on various walls around the house.

The honeymoon ended after 18 months. The heater in my bedroom started singing a tuneful but dolorous melody whenever it turned on. A few weeks of that and it sang no more. Curious, I removed it from its wall mounting and discovered large, deep cracks on the surface of its backside. Even more curious, I started removing some of the other heaters. Though only three had scary cracks, all showed some signs of cracking. It did not seem to matter whether they had been mounted on interior or exterior walls. They cracked. I wish the manufacturer had gone to Corning for the ceramic!

Fire hazard, I said to myself.

Divorce was inevitable.

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As we try to turn back the temps at night, so we dont heat a 2,000 sq ft house, while we sleep under the covers...I have 2 kids which dont always stay under the covers!

So I used the typical space heaters for a while, ugly as the are, and at 750 or 1500 watts, they kept the room temps up just fine.

Along comes this wall unit, at 400 watts. It attaches to the wall, can be painted to match the room, plugs into any outlet, and one can heat a small room by itself.

While I do not recommend these for primary heating, because they take too long to warm up, I HIGHLY recommend them for seconardy zone heating for bedrooms.

Connecting two of more per room, and you probably could use them for primary heating and *could* take the place of base board heaters. But 2 or 3 panels would take up a lot of space and not look good, thus I do not recommend replacing baseboard heaters with these panels.

These are on simple switches out of the box, there is no thermostat. I have found the Lux WIN100 Smart Temp Fully Programmable Thermostat to be the ultimate solution. Set the times you want the heater on and off, set the temps you want, plug it in, then plug in the heater...and your done for the season.

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My house is heated by a propane fireplace. With the cost of propane rising dramatically, I bought three of these heaters last year and used them all winter. I heated my full 1200 square foot living area with those three heaters at an approximate cost of $1 per day. I can't recommend these highly enough. And if you have children or pets, they are very safe--they do get hot, but not hot enough to burn you. Plus, they are totally quiet.

I have recommended these heaters to friends and neighbors.

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In a word...Hooray. Low energy consumption (400 watts), no tipping over, easy to install, nice toasty heat, this heater has many benefits. My home is heated by a centrally located fireplace (so I'm already a fan of radiant heat) and I use this heater to keep a bedroom warm. Installed this about 1 week ago and so far so good. As promised on the packaging, it really does only take 10 minutes to install.

The only downside is that the panel itself does get reasonably hot, it's true that it's safe enough that you can touch it and not get burnt, but you won't want too do that. I was going to install in a kids room, but had second thoughts after giving it a test run. Also it would have been great for the manufacturer to include information re: direct wire installation or use of a thermostat. ..but these are really minor points compared to having a great heat source that is safely out of the way, mounted to the wall, and efficient.

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I bought this heater to install in the nursery so the baby's room would stay warmer overnight while the rest of the house went down to 60 degrees. The house has attic insulation, but no wall insulation, and there are storm windows.

The good about the heater: It is unobtrusive. We have it installed on an interior wall out of the way. It is easy to install; it took about 10 minutes. It keeps the baby's room warmer than the rest of the house. I also like the fact that it uses less power than a standard heater. Not only is it cheaper to run, I have fewer concerns about overloading circuits. I like the fact that it has a paintable surface, although I haven't decided if I am going to paint it. I have heard that painting radiators reduces their efficiency and I don't know if that applies to this heater.

The less than good: We have had this heater on in a rather small room (10 by 10) with a hot water radiator system, and over night it only seems to bring the temperature about 5 degrees above the temperature in the rest of the house. Based on other reviews of this heater and others, I ordered the plug in thermostat. I think I will return it because I won't ever need to turn off the heat because it is too hot. Also, the passive heating means that it takes a while for the heater to have any impact on the temperature of the room. I turn it on at 6 pm so that the room will be comfortable when the central heat goes down to 60 degrees at 10 pm. My final concern is that the heater says it can be mounted at any height, but that it works best closest to the ground -6 to 18 inches above the baseboard. I was hoping to install it higher so my baby wouldn't accidentally burn himself on it. Since heat rises, I should have realized this flaw in my logic.

I don't think this is a bad product, it just isn't as good as I wanted it to be for $150.

Buy Quantum 300 Watt Hardside Waterbed Heater California King Queen

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List Price: $99.00
Sale Price: $54.95
Today's Bonus: 44% Off

I originally bought this heater to replace an old style on and off heater which failed after about 15 years.

This heater was much better at regulating the temperature than the old one. It keeps the bed the same temperature.

That is, until it failed. I bought it less than 8 months ago, and it can no longer heat the bed over 80 degrees.

Having the heater for your waterbed fail is a huge inconvenience. I'd rather have a heater which causes the bed to have wider temperature swings, but is reliable vs a heater with tighter temp control which needs to be replaced more often.

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I bought this heater in Oct. 2010, it is now May 2011. The heater is not adequately heating after just 6 months of use. Now I have to try and have it repaired or replaced. I'm very disappointed, to say the least.

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This product worked great until it failed in less than a year! Now I have to enpty the bed and replace this one, what a pain.

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Have to replace a second one of these in less then three years. These are just a joke. Getting a Blue Magic heater.

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First one didn't work, got an RMA. Second one died in just over a year. Next time I won't go with the cheapest.

Kozy World KWP112 10,000-BTU Vent-Free LP-Gas Infrared Wall Heater Review

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List Price: $109.00
Sale Price: $99.74
Today's Bonus: 8% Off

Moved into a small 50's chalet in northern Michigan last fall and after being warned by the previous owner that i should get a woodstove to cure the cold feel of the place, i found this enexpensive radiant heater and ordered it. I knew that a ventless heater could cause water vapor issues and hoped for the best. Windows can be a bit foggy on cold nights but not a serious worry with a ceiling fan to move air. The forced air furnace seldomly turns on now with the heater on low setting so im sure the heating bill will be minimal. The house is now a steady 68 F Too cold for some but just right for me. Nicely built unit with no frills and a function first look but it's a wall heater not a fireplace. Great economy for tough times.

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I bought this cabin for my 700 sq ft cabin at my hunting camp. It has kept my cabin warm on nights where the temperature got below 20 degrees. Heater always iginites and warms up quickly. I give this heater a good recommendation.

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The heater was easy to install. It has two settings with great output. The heater arrived quickly. Very happy with the product.

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Just what I expected, I now have 5 of these in my cabin and they are the greatest for those cold mornings when you don't really need to start the wood stove, or to heat a room up quickly.

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this heater does definitely heat up our little 250 sq. ft. cabin, but having an average winter in zone 6 (2013, Southern Illinois) we went through at least one, if not two, 20 lb propane tanks a week! this adds up pretty quick, didn't really save money using this versus electric very inefficient [also couldn't find any way to adjust this as any kind of usage setting on the heater itself]. the last day of a tank's use, when the propane was getting low, you could really smell the propane coming through too not pleasant at all! definitely wouldn't buy another, and will probably sell this one the first chance i get...

Best Southern Enterprises Portable Indoor/Outdoor Fireplace Deals

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List Price: $218.00
Sale Price: $102.42
Today's Bonus: 53% Off

I love my litte cottage but it has no fireplace and only electric heat. That fact did not bother me until a couple of years ago when my neighborhood was without power for a week following a severe winter storm. Both me and my house survived the ordeal (thankfully no broken pipes despite temperatures in the 20's) but I swore I would be ready for the next one. And so the hunt for an altnerante heat source for emergencies began. I considered a wood stove but as someone who grew up with a wood stove I can tell you that despite the stylishly charming photos in the magazines they have their draw backs: they are messy, often burn too hot, expensive, and in my case they take up space my little cottage just did not have. Plus where do I store the fire wood?

This item was the perfect alternative.

First off, the antique bronze finish looks terrific, it looks both classic and modern at the same time. But let me tell you about the warmth. The flame heats up the metal and the metal radiates heat in every direction -fast! I definitely recommend a portable fireplace. I was surprised just how much heat this thing puts out. You can use it in fireplace mode with the gel fuel or put candles in it for every day use. The fuel is affordable but not cheap. Figure 2 cans at $2.50 each for a 3 hour burn. I use it occasionally for those times during the holidays when I want the charm of an open fire. Plus when the power goes out again I will be ready.

The gel fuel burns with more moisture in the air so don't be surpised if your windows steam up. This gets 5 stars in my book!

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SEI Portable Indoor/Outdoor Fireplace

This really will give you some warmth if you live in an apartment or condo or small space. The fire really crackles and sounds like a real burning fireplace. Cool idea.

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I have to say it's nice looking, lightweight and does its job. I don't think it gives off quite as much heat as I'd like and it doesn't last very long, about two hours, with two cans. (But that's more of a complaint about the fuel, which is expensive by the way.) The unit is overpriced for what it is since it just houses the cans and flames. Maybe its metal case does help with the movement of heat but really it is just a metal case with cute glass windows and two wells for holding cans. I would really be impressed if it was priced more reasonably like $40.

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The concept of alcohol-gel indoor fireplaces was a revelation for me, living in a small apartment without a fireplace. It enlivens the atmosphere while providing a small amount of heat. This model was very reasonably priced compared to others I saw, but I agree with another reviewer that it's ultimately an overpriced piece of metal. Still, other models were more expensive, so I feel it was worth it.

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After installing a larger three burner version in a friend's condo (see my review of SEI Black Arch Top Wall Mount Gel Fuel Fireplace) I wanted one for our place, and liked the fact that this one could be moved around to different rooms. Couldn't be happier!

Hint: It is not necessary to use the included adhesive mounting tape for the glass panels, as they will not come out unless the entire unit is inverted. Leaving them loose allows for easier cleaning down the road.