Friedrich PH14B 13500 btu - 115 volt - 9.5 EER ZoneAire series Review

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List Price: $849.00
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I purchased this because it has the ability to heat and cool and dehumidify using a heat pump. I plan to use it as a very powerful dehumidifier that I can use to occasionally heat / cool my basement. I got the portable unit so I could unhook it and take it to other homes to help with dehumidifying carpets after steam cleaning and flooding.

I was hoping that the unit could be permanently installed and that I would never have to deal with the hoses again but it turns out that for the functions to work correctly you need to connect the hoses differently.

For each mode there are different ways to hook up the hoses in the back.

a. For air conditioning mode both hoses are attached to the window adapter plate.

b. For fan mode it doesn't matter how the hoses are connected.

c. For dehumidify mode both hoses are removed from the unit and you need to install the provided covers on the window adapter plate.

d. For heating mode you should disconnect the input hose and put the provided cover over the window adapter plate. I think that if the temperature outside doesn't get below 50 degrees that you could leave the input hose attached and that the unit would perform well.

As a result of these hose hookups the efficiencies gained by having 2 hoses only apply to the cooling mode. The heating mode will only use one hose and as a result create negative pressure in your home and pull colder outside air into structure if the home gets drafty it might be a good idea to open the lowest window in an unused room (basement) in the home a little bit to counter-act this pressure.

Where I live the temperatures fluctuate a lot so I can see myself switching the hoses around frequently in the spring and fall.

The hoses that run from the back of the unit to the window are about 5 inches in diameter and with the appropriate 5 to 6 inch adapter you can hook it up to longer pieces of 6 inch flexible HVAC tubing.

Here is where it gets interesting for use as a tool... This is a very powerful unit. When you put the unit in a 70 degree room and put it in Heating mode the exhaust hose pumps out air that is about 42 degrees. And when you put it in that same 70 degree room and turn on Cooling mode the exhaust hose puts out air that is about 140 degrees. If you connect HVAC tubing to the exhaust pipe you suddenly have the ability to focus a huge amount of very hot or very cold air on a specific spot or space.

The heat function does generate some condensation. there is a pump and a small tube to help remove the condensation. This pump works best if the unit is on a completely level surface. This is a great feature that keeps you from having to constantly drain the unit while it is in heating mode.

When it arrived it was obvious that it had been handled roughly, the box was dented on the bottom, one of the casters on the bottom was broken and two screws inside were broken off and rolling around in the base of the unit. I think this was the delivery company's fault and since none of the screws seemed to be in critical locations and I had an extra caster I decided to just let it be and I fixed it on my own. There are stress marks in the plastic on the bottom of the unit but it does not leak. I did not complain or try to contact anyone yet. I simply don't have time to deal with this and I just see this sort of damage as result of having big products shipped. I did have to disassemble the unit to retrieve the broken screws and it looked to me as if everything inside was thoughtfully laid out and connected.

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This is a portable A/C-Dehumidifier-Heater unit. The description says 13,500 BTU. The box it came in says 14,000 BTU in cooling and 11,000 BTU in heating.

It has the much needed double vents so that both air in and air out come from outside. Units that do not have two vents pull hot humid air in through your home's walls causing a lose in efficiency. The ducting and window inserts are sound. They are not airtight, but that can be fixed with insulation foam.

The unit itself has a digital thermostat that is controlled by the display and buttons on top of the unit or by the included remote. All parts feel solid and high quality.

So far it is doing a nice job of keeping my entire 800 sq ft condo at around 77 degrees despite Houston, TX heat and humidity. I will update when I test out its heating capability.

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I'm giving this 4 stars because I'm not impressed with the amount of heat it produces when in that mode. That said, the air conditioning part is the BEST! Once you figure out its thermostat is about 5 degrees above the real temperature in the room, it cools my 20' x 20' bedroom in less than 5 minutes. Waiting for the next electric bill, but I don't think this uses that many kilowatts. Actually, I really don't care being cool in this add-on room is worth any price. Now if only the heater worked better...I'll stick to my present heater that does the job and is inexpensive to run.

Honest reviews on Friedrich PH14B 13500 btu - 115 volt - 9.5 EER ZoneAire series

Great quality! The only thing it doesn't have is a removable condensation bucket. But for the Cooling and heating mode you don't need one. So you only need to hook up a hose for the dehumidifier. Works great cools my 750 sqft apt.

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This is a product I'd love to like. I'm using it as a heat pump in mild Northern California weather, replacing electric baseboard heating. It puts out a good amount of heat and will probably be far more efficient than the baseboards. The second unit I received seems to be off by a few degrees on its thermostat, but I can live with that. It's noisy, but given the amount of air it has to move through a narrow duct in order to transfer heat efficiently, I can't really complain about that.

After one December's usage, it seems to have saved about 250 kWh over the electric baseboard, which means it will pay for itself in a year or less at PGE Tier 3 prices.

It has one of the dumbest user interfaces I've ever encountered -I actually sent one back before realizing I hadn't understood what was happening. Not only will it not heat beyond 77 degrees -it silently deactivates the temperature adjustments once the temperature has reached 77 degrees. Combined with what's either a badly calibrated thermostat, or a design that subjects the thermostat to the local heat in the unit, we've run it up to 77 just to get to 70 in the room.

Incidentally, I've got to praise Amazon's second line customer support. I ran into the problem about 35 days after purchase. An Amazon email droid refused to accept a return, but a really nice human being on the phone understood my problem and arranged an exchange. It was excellent, intelligent and understanding customer service that probably saved Amazon a customer.

Sunpentown Portable Handheld Elec. Heater SH-113FB Reviews

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This hand warmer works well enough. Only reason for not giving it a 5 star rating is that it only works on the "high" setting for about 7 hours & the "low" setting does not get warm enough to make a difference. Otherwise, great product.

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The device is smaller than I expected but packs a hot punch. Works great on cool days but I barely notice it when its colder out. It's kind of like a rechargeable "warm hands" if you've ever used those disposable hand warmers.

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This heater really works! However, if you're in extreme cold temperatures, 2 of these would probably be more sufficient because 1 doesn't keep you very warm. There are a couple of things that I wasn't too happy about:

1. When I unpacked this heater from the box, it came with the unit and charger, but NO operating manual.

2. This unit has a high and low setting. But, you have to experiment by how hot it gets because without any manual, you don't know if it's on high or low.

But, regardless of the 2 points above, it works well and I use it when needed in cold atmospheres! I know friends of mine have been very impressed and come to me when they "need warmed up" haha

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I purchased this hand warmer thinking it would keep my hands warm it has two settings one that 100° in the other supposed to be 113° even at 113° if you're outside at a temperature of say 40° in the hands will still be cold it's put together the cosmetically fine operation features are really fancy it just doesn't get warm enough to keep your hands warm so beware

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These seem like a good idea however the break down rate pushes the cost up with disposeables if you only use them once a week or so . There are many dual side warmers available now too . Switch on these is one of their weak points and if it goes their worthless .

Reviews of Secura 3-Tier Stainless Steel Food Steamer, w/ Steam360 technology

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List Price: $99.99
Sale Price: $69.99
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Update on February 13, 2013. This steamer is amazing and the most used appliance in our kitchen. I steam whole grains in it, reheat food, cook vegetables it's a true winner and highly recommended.

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I was waiting for more of you to review this steamer but then I was too curious to wait. We have really loved our Oster steamer but we are severly uncomfortable with the plastic components. I have been looking for over a year for another steamer that is BPA free/plastic free. The steamer arrived yesterday and we tried it out right away. I filled it with warm/hot tap water, and it steamed beautifully. The stainless steel bowls are neat. We bought this as an "intermediary" device until more healthy steamers come on the market. They could have added a few things to make this steamer perfect: water tank for 90 min. steaming; ability to add water while steaming; timer that allows steaming at future time; Keeping warm component basically stuff that I liked about our Oster steamer. Also, while the water basket is stainless steel, there is a hard plastic component that goes around the heating element I have no idea what plastic it is or whether it is BPA free and if BPA could leak into the steam and contaminate our food. I hope not.

A very cool advantage of this steamer, besides the stainless steel bowls, is that each basket gets its own steam so e.g. the thai dumpling steam does not flavor the broccoli. Also the stainless steel bowls are easy to wash. Our Oster plastic bowls were hard to clean around the steam holes and the plastic took on weird colors that would not come off.

Update: okay, we are sold we love this steamer; it steams really fast (it is powerful), I made rice and it worked out perfectly (I tried to make rice with the Oster once it was a met mess) in the time they indicated (brown rice, 50 min), and I realize that I can now season my food. With the Oster, only the rice bowl was solid, everything else you could not add anything to it. Today I made the rice, when it was almost done, I added a second level for veggies seasoned with herbs and olive oil just wonderful. Our old rice-cooker is gong to good will. I think this is all we need.

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The single best thing about this steamer is that there's no need to worry about plastics (even plastics marketed as BPA-free may leach chemicals that mimic estrogen). I looked high and low on Amazon and this is pretty much the only electric steamer not made out of plastic. FYI, I purchased the 9-quart version (9" diameter, 2.5" deep pans). While we're happy to have the larger one for the steaming capacity, it's a bit hard to find storage space when it's not in use.

Pros:

* No plastics (the "hard plastic heating element" mentioned in the other reviews looks and feel like ceramic to me which is a common material for heating elements).

* The insert pans are optional, so if you have items that are taller than 2.5", you can add another layer and leave out the pan.

* Heats up pretty quickly, and steams all three layers well.

* Simple operation (mechanical dial to set the steam duration).

* Easy to clean, including the water reservoir. The various parts are all stainless steel and can be cleaned easily in the dish washer or with some Bar Keepers Friend. If you don't use distilled water, the water reservoir will end up with scaling, but that can be cleaned easily by heating it with a little distilled white vinegar. There are no hidden or hard to reach bits where mold or nasty mysterious stuff can grow.

* Makes great rice. I'd get rid of our dedicated rice maker except our fancy rice maker has advanced timing features (like setting it in the morning so that it finishes 30 minutes before "dinner time").

* Automatic shutoff safety feature if it runs out of water.

Cons:

* The stainless steel pans are pretty thin and looks cheap (definitely not nice 18/10 stainless steel). If you let water sit in the pans, you will get rust stains (fairly easy to clean off, but you will get them).

* The included chrome plated wire rack rusted pretty badly after just a few uses (replaced with a silicone steaming insert).

* Some sort of machine oil coated all the stainless steel parts. Even after washing everything in hot water and soap, the first couple of times we ran the steamer, some sort of black, oily stuff dripped into the pans. I recommend running the steamer without anything in it a few times until this no longer happens.

* No advanced timer functions. While the simple mechanical dial works great, it would be nice to be able to have the steamer start in some hours as opposed to immediately.

* Takes up lots of storage space. WYSIWYG the layers don't collapse in some clever way for storage.

* Seems expensive for what it is. It's the most expensive electric steamer on Amazon by far. For the cost, it feels like they could have used better stainless steel.

Having said all that, it's pretty much the only electric steamer that's guaranteed to not have any BPA / chemical leaching issues. So until other stainless steel or glass electric steamers become available, this is pretty much the only game in town if the plastics issue is important to you. I'm happy with the steamer overall. It does what it's supposed to. But hopefully, eventually there'll be more plastic free steamers with higher quality components and advanced timing features.

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The best thing I love about this food steamer is ... needless to say, Stainless Steel. The steam baskets are all made of stainless steel, the housing is stainless steel and the water tank is stainless steel!! My previous food steamer, while still functioning, are all plastic, even the water reservoir. Well, I am pretty sure they are safe to use and the manufacturers probably claim the contamination level is well below limit. But have they considered how many other different sources we are in contact with plastics and other contamination. When come in food, it is better to be safe than sorry, and stainless steel is proven to be safe. This is why we bought this stainless steel food steamer. We love steamed vegi, but not comfortable to use our old plastic steamer.

This new stainless steel steamer have not let us down. It is actually more powerful and steams faster. Filling with warm tap water, it steams within 20 secs, pretty amazing. Cold tap water takes a bit longer to boil.

And I love the design too. Apparently the structure is more complicated than ordinary steamer, with more parts. But only the steam basket needs washing after cooking, which is very easy to clean by hand washing. My old steamer baskets have many small holes at the bottom and you know it is a pain to clean all those tiny holes.

My experience with this food steamer is very positive. I will recommend this product.

Honest reviews on Secura 3-Tier Stainless Steel Food Steamer, w/ Steam360 technology

This was a gift from my husband as I had asked for one.

It looks real nice, although the steel/platic bottom combination confuses me.

Things I like about the product:

Basket bottoms are solid, so little food like corn does not drop through like other 'vented' baskets.

You can marinade items and keep the juice in the basket.

The baskets are seperate from the steam rings, they just slot in. Makes for cleaning the baskets rather easy. This also means you can remove a basket but stack the vent rings to accommidate something larger.

The steam vents are located at the top of each ring level, so if you want to cook fish, the steam travels through the vents on the outside, not through the food keeping flavours apart.

The baskets are large, which is great for our 4 person family. You can make an entire dinner from it with decent servings for all.

It has a super large water resevoir approx 6 cups or more. So anything that requires super long steaming does not require a refill.

Things I do not like about the product:

It leaks steam at each level, which can burn if you are not paying attention and want to peek inside to check food.

There is no visiable water level viewing which means taking off all of the levels if you do need to add more water durning cooking.

There is a base plate that sits between the white base and the first level that catches the excess water, this is very shallow with a lip approx 1/4" high and requires being by the sink to take off.

The base does not have a water resevoir insert so draining the excess water from that requires dangling the white unit over the sink to empty, which also means you can only clean out the base with a cloth or sponge wipe.

It came with two inserts in the base, does not state what the purpose of these inserts are in the instructions. One is stainless and the other plastic, they kinda seat over the heating filliment, I assume as a protector. I am clueless on this one.

The baskets do not sit (nest) inside of each other so you need storage space approx the size of the unit to store this. I had to designate a cupboard just for this item.

All in all.. I have to give this a 50/50. The size and holeless baskets are nice, but the impractical cleaning and storage turn me off this.

Not the best review as I am on the fence with this product. However I hope some of the information helps in you making an ultimate decision either way.

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This steamer is more than what I could have asked for. On top of that I had to contact customer service just to make sure that it was steaming in proper timing and they responded within the same day and offered to ship out a new one if something was wrong. I kept the original one I had because nothing was wrong after all. Its great to be able to cook three different items at once and with only prep needed. Once done just set the time and wait for it to be done. Brown rice takes about 60-65 minutes; 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water. Vegetables take about 20-25 minutes (brocolli, carrots, potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes and sugar snap peas). It start steaming right away and the tree independent bowls are really great for not mixing flavors. Overall I would recommend and I am pleased with this purchase.

Best TIGER PVHB30U/WATER HEATER/3LTR/ELECT.PUMP Deals

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We purchased this for our newborn to warm up her bottles for feeding. It's been great and the hot water cuts the waiting time in half compared to letting the sink water get hot before being able to warm up the bottle. It's a lifesaver especially for those middle of the night feedings!

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Tayama EBH-01 Electric Heating Lunch Box Reviews

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List Price: $59.99
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I am loving my heating lunch box! I am eating food every day, not sandwiches anymore!! It is useful! The size is very good!

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I am very glad I bought this lunch box.I have no access to a microwave at work and now I can heat up my food and have my dinner hot or warm.I like my food hot so I plug it in for 50 to 60 minutes and it gets hot just like I want.This is a great lunch box.

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I purchased this for my daughter and she loves it! She works in retail and doesn't have access to a microwave so this is perfect. She plugs it in when she gets to work & by lunch time her meal is warm. Would definitely recommend!

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This is my little on the go pot! Love it Love it...This comes in so handy especially when I can cook my own lunch and take it to work...I don't have to leave the office!!

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I like this heating lunch box, esp. since it works on 110v AC. It takes awhile, but that is really no problem.

Discount Duraflame DFI020ARU Electric Fireplace Insert w/ Heater

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List Price: $199.99
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I was a little worried about ordering this because I'd read a couple reviews that didn't think the fire looked real enough in their fireplace that was never used with a real fire. BUT, ours had been used a few times and had the black on the inside back.....so when the "fire" from this electric log set projects on ours with the black stuff...it looks GREAT! The heat is very adjustable or can be turned off completely, leaving on just the "flames". I actually think this looks better in person than in the pictures. And, most importantly, NO CLEAN UP! ;)

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I like this better than burning wood. It is not perfect, however. First, my fireplace is smallish, and this barely fits. Despite what other reviews say, it does not have a "crackle" sound. It does look fake, but after a few minutes you forget that it is. If you have the heat function on, it is very efficient at heating. It does, however, cause problems. It shorted out my living room power because I had it, the TV, a lamp, and my iron on at the same time. So, if you use the heat function, it must be when you are limiting other electric devices.

I got it for a much lower price than it is currently being offered at. I'm not sure I would pay more than $100 for it. Still, it saves on wood/wax logs so it might be worth it to some.

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The Duraflame Electric fireplace insert is a perfect solution for those who enjoy the ambience and warmth of a fireplace or Franklin stove but wish to avoid the negatives of wood fires. First, I chose to purchase this product for only $129.99 through Kotula's, also represented on Amazon with free shipping. I researched the specifics of the product as advertised by both sellers and found that they are identical. I live on an Island and the product arrived within one week of placing my order. My husband took it out of the box, placed it in our antique Franklin stove, took less than 5 minutes to review basic directions and "tahdah!" the warm glow of a fire provided the perfect touch for a fireside chat with friends.

We have a Dimplex insert in our living room fireplace, which we have enjoyed for a year. I've been looking for a smaller unit for our Franklin stove and was thrilled to find the Duraflame. The Dimplex was more expensive and I did not expect the Duraflame to have the same level of quality but I am more than pleasantly surprised. The cord on the Duraflame is heavy duty with a serious plug. I haven't measured it but Kotula's noted that it is a 6 foot cord. The Dimplex has a metal back on which the flames reflect but the Duraflame is free standing and reflects on the back wall of the Franklin's fire box. The effect is excellent. The quality of the logs in both units is similar. The blower on the Duraflame does have a louder hum. This doesn't bother me. The temperature in the room was too warm after 20 minutes or so of having the blower on, so we turned off the heat and just enjoyed the fire. The remote on the Duraflame is more advanced with the settings on the remote. The Dimplex is just an off/on remote and you have to turn the heat off/on on the unit, which some might find inconvenient.

I have uploaded a video of the Duraflame in action but the crackling sound is a recording of a friend's bonfire. The only sound you'll hear from the Duraflame is a whir of the blower motor.

I would definitely recommend the Duraflame electric fireplace insert, despite the sound of the blower. Once you're involved with conversation, reading, a movie or a board game, you won't notice the sound.

Honest reviews on Duraflame DFI020ARU Electric Fireplace Insert w/ Heater

Okay,

Call me a nerd. I really researched the various fireplace inserts available.

It was between the Duraflame 20" insert and the Dimplex 23" model 10 insert.

I chose the Duraflame because my fireplace is small and its a perfect fit.

I gotta tell ya, when you get back at a distance it does look real.

I tried the remote out and I can control the flame size and lower the

brightness of the logs which makes the fire appear like its slowly dying out.

I can even shut off the flame and leave the logs glowing.

Looks amazingly cool when I shut the glass doors to the fireplace.

The heat is awesome and the remote allows you to turn it off and on at will.

The logs make a slight crackling sound that is identical to a burning fire. Not

obnoxiously loud but in the background every now and then it crackles.

I had a Dimplex wood burner a couple of years ago and the flame burned out it one year.

I do think Dimplex makes a more real appearing fire with burning logs but its twice the

price and you can't control the heat from the remote.

The only concern I have with either the Dimplex or the Duraflame is how long the

unit will last.

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I was so satisfied with this purchase! After reading the reviews, I almost changed my mind and was not going to purchase it. Boy, am I glad I did! This fit into my existing fireplace perfectly and the reflections on the firebrick was so real-like! I forget that it is electric and not a real fire. Much safer and cleaner to use. Very cozy! Fast service as well!