Like many of you, I received a convincing brochure about a cutting edge space heater that will pay for itself in one winter season with it's savings in electricity.
Like you, I was skeptical. I live in an older poorly insulated house so the benefits listed in the Edenpure and SunTwin brochure looked enticing.
The story was that some guy accidently laid a piece of cured copper near a heat sorce, then noticed that the cured copper continued to give off a soothing even heat even after the other heat source was extinquished. This man got his inventor cap on and decided to create a self contained portable heater with his new discovery.
He added quartz heating lamps inside a box that pointed to cured copper plates that would absorb their radient heat, then a fan would blow air past those plates, thus creating an even heat source with better efficiency thus saving the consumer money.
Is this true? I studied it a few days and read other people's thoughts on the product on the net and decided to go ahead and buy a couple of them because I like space heaters that direct a concentration of heat in my direction like when I'm in my office chair. I don't like to heat the whole house if I don't have to. I get cold feet in the winter so I like to be able to direct my heat in a precise way.
I bought one for $450 that carried the name SunTwin. This heater is super quiet and creates a cozy flow of lovely warm air. This heater is encased in a beautiful chassis of hardwood like furniture and it had wheels to slide it to where I wanted it's heat. It also has a handheld remote controlled thermostat.
The shocking surprise: the portable heater gave all the benefits short one, I couldn't back up their claims of energy cost savings. In fact, my electricity bill went up 15% from the previous year, even though we are having a mild winter in South Carolina in January of 2008. I can in no way support that this unit will pay for itself in one season. Sometimes, I only ran these Edenpure and SunTwin heaters without kicking in my whole house heat pump.
I will say that I like the heaters for other reasons. They are quiet, especially the SunTwin that is encased in wood, like furniture. The smaller Edenpure, that is boxed in plastic is almost twice as loud, but that works out fine for my bedroom creating white noise while I sleep. The other one, I keep in the den and it really fits in the decor.
The positive claims that I can support are that it gives a soft warm heat that over time will fill up a room with an even heat as compared to space heaters whose coils glow red hot and force out super hot air that rises to the ceiling immediately.
When I point the heaters directly at me, they don't make me yawn with sleepiness like ceramic and resistance heaters do that I buy at Wal-Mart. The theory is that the common heaters that glow red hot actually destroy oxygen in the air so that you immediately get sleepy in front of traditional space heaters. I do agree with this.
Another big selling point is their safety. I never have a fear with these SunTwin and Edenpure heaters causing a fire. In fact, I can pick them up anywhere and not get burned. The heating elements are deep within so not even a pet or child could knock them over to create a fire as far as I can see. I love that since I have 3 pets inside my house and I have always feared a fire with traditional space heaters that glow with red coils.
So, my evaluation of these SunTwin and Edenpure quartz heaters with cured copper internal plates is mostly positive, but I don't think they will pay for themselves as claimed in one season, but they do provide a beautiful comforting heat source. Even though I didn't save money, I do enjoy their heat. The heat they provide is a more even soft safe heat that doesn't make me sleepy when I sit close to them. In fact, I have one blowing at my back as I type this in my office in January.
I think the closest thing to the type of heat that these unique heaters are the oil filled radiator heaters that you can get at Wal-Mart. The reason I say that it that they don't burn the air with red glowing coils and they softly heat the room over a period of time through convection.
Bottom line for me on Edenpure and SunTwin quartz heaters- they produce a wonderful quality of heat and are considerably safer to use, especially around pets, but they have a 750 watt rating right on the smaller one and a 1500 watt rating on the SunTwin, so they probably won't pay for themselves in one season. So, if the safety features and the even heating without making you sleepy are worth it to you, then you'll love these space heaters. If you're just trying to save money, then I'd think twice.
2009 - a Year Later-
Now, I'm into my second season with the Edenpure and Sun Twin heaters. I still enjoy the quality of heat with both of them. They have proven safe and my cat sleeps on top of both of them often so they seem to be safer than those $30 to $60 ceramic space heaters that I used to use. Neither of these two heaters would be easy to knock over. I dare say that I don't believe either will ever get knocked over in my lifetime.
I still don't see any energy savings.
The larger Sun Twin for about $450 remains my favorite, but I started the season shipping it back to the company that sold it to me for repairs. I asked them specifically to replace the thermostat and said I'd even pay for it. The heater only had about 20 more days left to it's warranty when they mailed me a shipping label which they paid for. I went to UPS and shipped it off and about a week later it was returned to me. The invoice said free repair. The action they took was oiling the fan because it had a slow fan. I was ticked off! Why does a fan need oiling after one season anyway? Also, if it didn't fix the problem, the I was out of warranty.
To my surprise, they were correct and the heater has worked flawlessly for two months of constant use.
My 2009 bottom line is that they are wonderful heaters, but don't save you any money. If you like the other qualities enough to pay a premium, then they may be for you.
The qualities of heat they claim are:
-safer heaters- heating element run cooler and are deeper in the unit
-don't dry out the air because they don't get as hot
-don't take out oxygen from the air because they don't burn oxygen like coiled units
-they more evenly disperse the heat throughout the room because the heated air stays lower
I do like them, but I tend to buy expensive things for myself as I'm single with no kids. I've got $750 tied up in these heaters, so that would prohibit most reasonable households from buying them.
Like you, I was skeptical. I live in an older poorly insulated house so the benefits listed in the Edenpure and SunTwin brochure looked enticing.
The story was that some guy accidently laid a piece of cured copper near a heat sorce, then noticed that the cured copper continued to give off a soothing even heat even after the other heat source was extinquished. This man got his inventor cap on and decided to create a self contained portable heater with his new discovery.
He added quartz heating lamps inside a box that pointed to cured copper plates that would absorb their radient heat, then a fan would blow air past those plates, thus creating an even heat source with better efficiency thus saving the consumer money.
Is this true? I studied it a few days and read other people's thoughts on the product on the net and decided to go ahead and buy a couple of them because I like space heaters that direct a concentration of heat in my direction like when I'm in my office chair. I don't like to heat the whole house if I don't have to. I get cold feet in the winter so I like to be able to direct my heat in a precise way.
I bought one for $450 that carried the name SunTwin. This heater is super quiet and creates a cozy flow of lovely warm air. This heater is encased in a beautiful chassis of hardwood like furniture and it had wheels to slide it to where I wanted it's heat. It also has a handheld remote controlled thermostat.
The shocking surprise: the portable heater gave all the benefits short one, I couldn't back up their claims of energy cost savings. In fact, my electricity bill went up 15% from the previous year, even though we are having a mild winter in South Carolina in January of 2008. I can in no way support that this unit will pay for itself in one season. Sometimes, I only ran these Edenpure and SunTwin heaters without kicking in my whole house heat pump.
I will say that I like the heaters for other reasons. They are quiet, especially the SunTwin that is encased in wood, like furniture. The smaller Edenpure, that is boxed in plastic is almost twice as loud, but that works out fine for my bedroom creating white noise while I sleep. The other one, I keep in the den and it really fits in the decor.
The positive claims that I can support are that it gives a soft warm heat that over time will fill up a room with an even heat as compared to space heaters whose coils glow red hot and force out super hot air that rises to the ceiling immediately.
When I point the heaters directly at me, they don't make me yawn with sleepiness like ceramic and resistance heaters do that I buy at Wal-Mart. The theory is that the common heaters that glow red hot actually destroy oxygen in the air so that you immediately get sleepy in front of traditional space heaters. I do agree with this.
Another big selling point is their safety. I never have a fear with these SunTwin and Edenpure heaters causing a fire. In fact, I can pick them up anywhere and not get burned. The heating elements are deep within so not even a pet or child could knock them over to create a fire as far as I can see. I love that since I have 3 pets inside my house and I have always feared a fire with traditional space heaters that glow with red coils.
So, my evaluation of these SunTwin and Edenpure quartz heaters with cured copper internal plates is mostly positive, but I don't think they will pay for themselves as claimed in one season, but they do provide a beautiful comforting heat source. Even though I didn't save money, I do enjoy their heat. The heat they provide is a more even soft safe heat that doesn't make me sleepy when I sit close to them. In fact, I have one blowing at my back as I type this in my office in January.
I think the closest thing to the type of heat that these unique heaters are the oil filled radiator heaters that you can get at Wal-Mart. The reason I say that it that they don't burn the air with red glowing coils and they softly heat the room over a period of time through convection.
Bottom line for me on Edenpure and SunTwin quartz heaters- they produce a wonderful quality of heat and are considerably safer to use, especially around pets, but they have a 750 watt rating right on the smaller one and a 1500 watt rating on the SunTwin, so they probably won't pay for themselves in one season. So, if the safety features and the even heating without making you sleepy are worth it to you, then you'll love these space heaters. If you're just trying to save money, then I'd think twice.
2009 - a Year Later-
Now, I'm into my second season with the Edenpure and Sun Twin heaters. I still enjoy the quality of heat with both of them. They have proven safe and my cat sleeps on top of both of them often so they seem to be safer than those $30 to $60 ceramic space heaters that I used to use. Neither of these two heaters would be easy to knock over. I dare say that I don't believe either will ever get knocked over in my lifetime.
I still don't see any energy savings.
The larger Sun Twin for about $450 remains my favorite, but I started the season shipping it back to the company that sold it to me for repairs. I asked them specifically to replace the thermostat and said I'd even pay for it. The heater only had about 20 more days left to it's warranty when they mailed me a shipping label which they paid for. I went to UPS and shipped it off and about a week later it was returned to me. The invoice said free repair. The action they took was oiling the fan because it had a slow fan. I was ticked off! Why does a fan need oiling after one season anyway? Also, if it didn't fix the problem, the I was out of warranty.
To my surprise, they were correct and the heater has worked flawlessly for two months of constant use.
My 2009 bottom line is that they are wonderful heaters, but don't save you any money. If you like the other qualities enough to pay a premium, then they may be for you.
The qualities of heat they claim are:
-safer heaters- heating element run cooler and are deeper in the unit
-don't dry out the air because they don't get as hot
-don't take out oxygen from the air because they don't burn oxygen like coiled units
-they more evenly disperse the heat throughout the room because the heated air stays lower
I do like them, but I tend to buy expensive things for myself as I'm single with no kids. I've got $750 tied up in these heaters, so that would prohibit most reasonable households from buying them.
8 comments:
Hi Glen,
Thanks for posting a comparison for us on these two heaters. We just bought our first EdenPure,but I was wondering if the SunTwin used the same technology, which question you answered.
I would comment on the promised "energy savings" to point out that the energy they refer to is not so much electricity, but the expense related to burning fuels like propane, natural gas, fuel oil.
Our old rented house uses a fuel oil furnace, and when we saw the price double this winter and a friend told us she loved her EdenPure, we bought one. She says to have backup on extremely cold days, setting your central heat on 60F, but so far, we haven't had to do that.
Another thing they mention is not to use this type heater in high humidity rooms (bath, pool), so we have a small plugin as well.
They are a scam, plain and simple. For 400 dollars, plus the increased electricity bill, you might as well get a new furnace for the whole house.
My elderly neighbor fell for this, and I had to help her return it, which was a hassle as they don't want to lose their 700% profit. There are other heaters that cost one fifth of the EdenPure, with little fans to disperse the heat, just like the EdenPure. Just take a look at this one, and you will see what I am talking about. And this is just one example.
Thanks for posting a comparison for us on these two heaters. They are sca, plain and simple.
The SunTwin Heaters are "Big Brothers" to the Eden PURE Infrared Heaters (as heard on PAUL HARVEY News). Same insides, just different cabinets, from the same company - Suarez Corporation in North Canton, Ohio. The SunTwin has a wood cabinet and costs a few dollars more... The Eden PURE has a poly-propylene cabinet.
A good friend bought an Edenpure about 2 years ago, touting the energy-savings claims. I tried to point out that all space heaters, because of the science behind them, put out the same amount of heat per dollar spent. I knew the claims could not be true. I just saw an Edenpure TV commercial, and they were very slippery about the way they made their claims, and they appealed to people's better nature to mislead them. Unethical is the nicest word I have for it.
Brian Cox
HVAC Contractor
Any mechanical engineer or person familiar with thermodynamics would agree with this blunt assessment:"
I worked at an electric company for 25 year answering questions about “new” “miracle” electric heaters. they all say they are the most efficient electric heaters in the world. well they are. that’s because every electric heater in the world converts a kilo-watt hour of electricity into 3413 BTUs. period. can’t do better or worse. a 1500 watt heater is a 1500 watt heater. you can buy them for $12 or wrap a mantel around them, call them a miracle, install cool looking fake flames and charge $400. 1500 watts= 1.5 kilo-watts. 1.5 x 3413= 5119 BTU produced by a 1500 watt heater. all 1500 watt heaters. the cost depends on your local rate of electricity, not a national average. If you pay 10 cents per kwh, then a 1500 watt heater will cost you 15 cents per hour. period."
Any mechanical engineer or person with an understanding of thermodynamics would agree with this blunt assessment: "
I worked at an electric company for 25 year answering questions about “new” “miracle” electric heaters. they all say they are the most efficient electric heaters in the world. well they are. that’s because every electric heater in the world converts a kilo-watt hour of electricity into 3413 BTUs. period. can’t do better or worse. a 1500 watt heater is a 1500 watt heater. you can buy them for $12 or wrap a mantel around them, call them a miracle, install cool looking fake flames and charge $400. 1500 watts= 1.5 kilo-watts. 1.5 x 3413= 5119 BTU produced by a 1500 watt heater. all 1500 watt heaters. the cost depends on your local rate of electricity, not a national average. If you pay 10 cents per kwh, then a 1500 watt heater will cost you 15 cents per hour. period."
Well said energyguy.
I could plug in 15 100 watt light bulbs and heat the house just as good as with this fancy EdenPure heater.
To maintain a room to a given temperature requires a given number of BTUs per hour. The number increases as the outside temperature decreases, and it doesn't matter where the BTUs (whether from oil, wood, electricity, or gas) are coming from it still requires the same amount.
Creating diffuse heat from electricity is wasteful and expensive (because coal and nuclear power plants that create most of the electricity we use do so using heat cycles (The Rankine Cycle, to be technical) and they throw away more energy as "waste heat" than they convert into electricity - more energy goes up the cooling towers than into the power grid). The only way electric heaters are a deal is if you use them to keep one room warm while turning down the central heat.
I thought I would pick apart the "The qualities of heat they claim are:"
1. "The heating element runs cooler". If it did how could it heat the room?
2. "Don't dry out the air, because they don't get as hot." Again, if it doesn't get as hot, how does it heat the room? As far as drying out the air, only a dehumidifier will do that, not a heater.
3. "Don't take out oxygen from the air because they don't burn oxygen like coiled units" If this were the case, then why after all the years that electric heaters have been sold that there has never been a warning, not to place them in an enclosed room without proper ventilation.
4. "They more evenly disperse the heat throughout the room because the heated air stays lower." The heated air stays lower....WOW, that must be some special heat, because I thought ALL heat rose, no matter what the source.
If they were straight forward on the product, without all the distracting words and statements, then it would be more believable. But they can't do that because they really have nothing special to sell, just an overpriced electric heater in a pretty box.
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