eheat (econo-heat) Does anyone have it? Like it? Hate it?

Is it everything you ever dreamed of and more? Are you less than impressed? Would you buy it again?

I was reading a thread on here awhile ago, and a few people said they ordered or were going to order the eheat room heater (linked below). It looks good to me, and I am thinking about getting one. But I was just wondering if anyone else has one, and what you thought of it. And comments would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your assistance.


http://www.eheat.us/#

We mounted it in the bedroom, which is about 14x15. It does a great job of keeping the room warm - sometimes too warm for my sorry, perimenopausing self. I plan to get two more, one for each of our offices. At that point, we can heat the open room (kitchen, living room, dining room, breakfast nook, laundry room and exercise room) with the oil-filled radiator (900 watts) for less than the cost of gas.

It's a good heater. I like it, and the cats seem to love laying on the bed opposite it. (It's at the foot of the bed, about 40 inches from DH's feet.)

We haven't painted it yet, but we probably will.

The only caution I have is don't use the drill bit they send with the kit - ours was the wrong size. You need the one the instructions mention. Don't trust the one in the kit.

Today is the first day it snowed here. It is 28 degrees outside and I still have not turned on my heat this year! And I H-A-T-E being cold! If I didn't need to take care of my Mom nearby, I would be living in a much warmer part of the country by now.

I live in an old house with NO insulation in the walls... it's just brick -> space -> drywall -> me. :scared:

So far I have been getting by with heating only the room I am in with a space heater, and walking around the rest of the house with several layers of winter clothes on. I know I can't hold out forever, but I am going to fight corporate greed and the outrageous cost of gas for as long as I possibly can. Every day is another small victory! (Stubborn? Moi? Ohhh nooooooo.) Also, I want to have at least one warm room for the kitties when I am away, and this is the only heater I've found which says it is safe and designed to be left on 24/7.

So I am really glad to have your input. I was wondering though - and perhaps it is too soon to tell - but have you noticed a significant savings in your energy bill since you've been using the eheat?

Again, thanks so much for your reply.

Take care and keep warm!

But excel does some weird stuff - they only read the meter every couple of months and they extrapolate costs. We usually will get a credit sometime in the year because they adjust the costs to reflect what we actually used.

Our gas bill was somewhat lower than last year's for this month. Unfortunately, I can't say it was the heater, because last year, this house had tenants, not us, and they were not great for conservation.

I'll know more next month. However, I can't help but think it would lower costs - we hooked an independent meter to it, and it really does use less than 450 watts. (Ours is running about 407, but I assume that UL rated them for 450 because of slight variations.)

Thanks again!

You would have even bigger problems on your hands.
Geez, I really feel for you!

I'm monitoring the inside temperature, and I put a little space heater (I have two) in the basement for overnight. Fortunately it is supposed to warm up a little in the days to come, and the house is always about ten degrees warmer than it is outdoors. But as soon as we have outdoor temperatures consistently in the lower 40s/upper 30s, I will probably set the house heat to 40 and leave it there. Or maybe 45. For as long as I can stand it. Though I did okay at 48 in the house today.

Actually, I'm surprised at how well I've acclimated to the cold. When the room I was in was 58 degrees today, it didn't seem that cold.

Thanks again for your concern. And don't feel too sorry for me, half of it is just 'cuz I'm stubborn!

:hi:

and that's what I've left the gas heat set on. The furnace cycles toward morning on very cold nights here and keeps the place just warm enough that the pipes don't freeze.

I have a wood stove in the living room, but when there's a pollution alert, I roll up in the electric blanket at my desk or choose that day to do some baking or both (if it's really bitter).

I have one and plan to buy more.

Do NOT use the drill bit that comes with it! My wall now has four extra holes in it and it's stupid. Good heater though.

What was up with that, anyway? Did you write them or complain? I did, but didn't get an answer that I saw.

Joint compound worked great to fix the holes, but I'd have preferred not to make them in the first place.

for mounting the heater said that the drill bit needed was not enclosed, but then there was this drill bit that came with it so I thought for SURE it had to be the right drill bit. Should have followed directions:-)

I'm just trying to figure out why they include a drill bit at all if it's not the right one.

*Note to self: Use own drillbit!*

Got it! Thanks!

:hi:

The room I'm thinking of placing this in (if I purchase) has an oil painting hanging on the wall, right above where the heater would go. Would that be safe?

Since 90% of the heat rises up from the unit, I wouldn't put anything above it on the wall, especially not an oil painting that could melt.

and I just had a chance to use it yesterday and today and I must say it works surprisingly well.I will get another one for my bedroom.Right now I use an oilfilled heater in there.They are very safe also;I leave this one on for the pets when I'm at work.
I also bought some of those new lightbulbs and now have to get a new globe for my kitchen light.Oh well,another reason to go 'hunting' at Goodwill.

heater cord right in 1/2, thank God it wasn't plug in. I have to purchase a heater for her room because it is surrounded by an opening to the LR/DR, a storage closet that must not be insulated because it gets frigid in the winter and 2 sliding glass windows.

It's a 10 x 10 room, with one vent, but it gets chilly and birds are so susceptible to pneumonia.

I had this heater for 3 years and she never even bothered with it. I need something where she can't destroy it, because she is so darn independent and will damage whatever she can!

needs to be placed low on the wall in order to work properly (since the heat rises). Does your bird have clipped wings? If she can't fly you could probably put the heater high enough that she couldn't reach it as long as you have an outlet off the ground.

Ace's web site says the item has been discontinued, but I figured there was a chance there might be some still on the shelf. Bingo!

I haven't installed it yet, but I did notice that the instructions indicate that the drill bit is not included.

The panel is a bit heavy to try and hold in place while marking and drilling the holes - especially for one person. I used a sturdy cardboard box that was the correct width to support it above the floor. That made the job mush easier and helped make it level too.

Good timing - it dropped to 19 degrees F last night, but the bedroom was quite comfortable (I turned the house furnace thermostat down). Our room is actually much larger than the 100 square feet that one panel is designed to heat. We might get a 2nd unit if it turns out to be inadequate as winter sets in.

My wife noticed a slight smell that may have been related to the new heater - if so I think it will probably diminish with use.

The unit only has an on/off switch, there is no temperature adjustment setting.

I'm definitely going to get at least one of them now.

Though I wonder why Ace discontinued them since they seem so wonderful. :shrug:

In time. :-)

a thermostate,programmable and non-programmable.
http://www.eheat.us/?opt=products

pet protective. It says that the elements don't get hot enough to cause damage. This is a great forum and I bought my florescent light bulbs and mortite (for window door sealing) based on you guys.

The amazing thing is that none of the frugal type products are cost prohibitive. I guess the media gets those big bucks by promoting the higher end stuff for their corporate sponsors!

They're very warm, but not burny hot. Not like the old, red glowy heaters that were fires waiting to happen.

I can hold my hand on mine for up to a minute... think heating pad or electric blanket.

they are larger than i thought!! i had hoped to get them installed before i left for the holidays, but won't. :( i didn't get a drill bit in the packet, though. :)

dg

on 12/10. Don't have em yet, they were going to try to ship them about 12/19.... they are quite busy with the orders and it takes awhile to get em out.

Nope, I haven't tried them, found out about them right here on this thread! I told a friend, and she is ordering one too.

So THANKS for the info, you all!

I ordered one, loved it, and ordered two more, and both orders took weeks but they did arrive eventually.

I ordered on Saturday the 18th and mine arrived this morning: Wednesday the 22nd. I only paid UPS ground.

It's been unseasonably warm here, so I haven't had the need to use my panels. I have used them for the past 2 nights, however. I have one panel in my bedroom & the other in the den. I leave the bedroom on over night & turn the one in the den on in the middle of the night (if I get up during the night) to get the room warmed up before morning.

My bedroom temp remained at 70F, and this morning, was 10 degrees warmer than the den (before I turned the one in the den on). The air near my bed feels cool, but the overall temp in the room is in the 70s. I'll have to wait until it really cools down to see if this continues. My house used to get down into the 50s (brr), so being able to keep the temps in the 2 main rooms in the high 60s/70s will be a great relief to me.

dg

Would have helped if I'd ordered when you all first started discussing them instead of waiting until the winter is almost over.

I just got a $491 heating bill. This is more than double our average bill and it hasn't even really gotten cold here so far this year.

I only ordered two for our main living area and plan to order one more each month for the bedrooms and kitchen so that we will be covered for sure next winter.

I moved to a new place a couple of weeks ago. The house is heated by gas furnace, but one room remained very cold because the heater outlets in the floor are totally covered by piles of moving boxes!). It's the room where I am typing. It is about 12' x 14'. I turn it on first thing in the morning and off in the evening. When on, it keeps it at a very pleasant 68-72 in a very poorly insulated room. The weather is a cold 20-30 overnight, and 50-60 days. I have an indoor/outdoor thermometer in this room, and have been keeping track to see how well the heater works.

When talking to a friend who was interested in getting one, I checked the cost of electric per KWH on my bill with the wattage of the heater, and calculated that if it were kept running 'round the clock, 24 hours a day, every day, it would cost about $12 per month at my local rates. I run it about 12 hrs a day, so... six bucks to warm a good size room for my bird and my reading of DU. I am very happy with it. The temperature seems very uniform and comfortable throughout the room. I like that it is totally silent, also.

My cherry-headed conure firmly endorses it, too.

replaced. It took forever to get here (was over the holidays) but we finally got it up and running. We have paneling and the wood behind the heater got so hot we were afraid it would catch fire. So I called the company and they said to put some foil behind it.
We did that and no more problem with hot walls.

We only have one so far (as we have been having unseasonably warm weather and no need to purchase more right now) but it gives off a really nice warmth and heats a pretty large room. I'll definitely get more if we ever get cold weather again.
(What's that you say *? No global warming? hahaha.)

And WHAT drill bit is everyone talking about? We didn't get a drill bit or even a mention of one in the paperwork. Lucky for us, our home is full of tools and we always have what we need.

And that smell that someone mentioned? It does go away, in about 24 hours. I actually called about that as well, as I have birds and am concerned about any chemicals that could be toxic to them. All is safe in that area as well.

All in all, a great product. You just have to work with it a bit. LOL.

Someone else mentioned a picture above the area where they wanted to place the heater. NO. Don't do it. I asked the company about that as well. Seems like everything everyone wants to know on here - I've already called the company and asked them about it. :)

Where did you put the foil? On the wall or on the back of the heater itself?

My wall feels awfully hot and there is wiring in the wall right behind the heater.

I was thinking about it for my master bathroom. It is cold in there in the AM! But I am worried it will take too long to heat up the space. Might be that heat lamps are my best option in there.

but I'd say an hour an a half for my 12x14 room, but then it keeps the room warm as long as it's running.

Probably a timer would be the right thing if you want to wake up to a warmed room. They sell timers and thermostats on the website (or get one at a home center).

I have to preface by saying that I am a very cold person. I put one of the heaters in my 10x10 office and one in my similarly sized bedroom. I think they are OK. I work from home a few days a week and my house thermostat is programmed to go down to 60 because no one else is home. I put the one in my office because it doesn't make sense to heat up the whole house when it's just me home and I basically sit in one room all day. It definitely makes my office warmer but I still feel a little cold, just not crazy cold. My husband and daughter are blessed with the ability to somehow generate their own heat, they think my office is very warm with that heater on. I don't agree, but I'll admit it could be me.

Same story with the one in the bedroom. DH even installed on the wall next to my side of the bed. I think it's ok, a little warmer than usual but not toasty. He swears it's too hot in the room for him. I've noticed the malamute sleeping on the wood floors more lately (surely it's cooler down there) so it must be warm.

I can't help it, I am very cold and I want to be toasty. But unfortunately I am the queen of frugal and I can't bear to pay what it would cost to run my furnace that high. So I suffer from Novermber through April and dream of warmer days. If you have an internal temperature higher than an ice cube, you will probably find that these heaters work quite well.

including snow. I have been leaving the eheat unit on 24 hrs around the clock in my 12x14 computer/bird room that has no other heat, and poor insulation.

The thermometer in the room shows generally 68 in the morning, rising to mostly 70-72 throughout the day, occaisionally 76 in the early evening.

So if you want really warm & toasty, it may not do the job, but it certainly seems to take the chill off.

Maybe you can use a portable electric heater in the office to bump the temp some, but it will be more expensive to run than the eheat, so at least getting the eheat to take off the chill is practical in my book. Also, I think leaving them on around the clock keeps the walls, etc. from chilling off, keeping it warmer.

Are yours intalled on an inside wall? They work best that way.

Angel weighs about 6.5 pounds and has almost no body fat. She's tiny. She gets cold if the temp drops below 80, and the 60s of the winter thermostat make her very vocal about her outrage.

My husband put a box if his books and the throw pillow in front of the eheater in his office because otherwise she wanted to be on his lap ALL THE TIME. Now she sleeps on the pillow about half of her sleep time, and splits the rest between cuddling with our other cat, lap time, her other warm spot or in bed with us. And since she's not sleeping on the bed so much, his allergies have been better.

This is Mr. P's office; She also has a pillow on top of the trunk in my office (in front of the heater) and one in the bedroom. It keeps her from proving that she is indeed a Siamese.

about 8" up. My old Boston terrier loves to sleep on the carpet in front of it. It does warm the carpet in front, about 20" or so. I was not aware of the warmth on the carpet until I noticed that 'Eddie' liked being there & I felt it and found it is very warm & nice.

i have a 9x12 room that had no heat in it. it's very comfortable now. i leave the e-heater on, but might get a thermostat for it.

brought mine at my local ace hardware, btw. they had it in their warehouse and took about 3 days to get it.

I finally had to turn mine off a coupla days ago. The season has changed. I think it is a great product. It kept my room very comfortable through the cold season.

I have electric heat and my bill is astronomical, all the time. Not looking forward to the electric bills in the winter...just curious if it would be cost effective for me to pick one of these up.

depending on how you plan to use it. I used it with my gas heat this winter and in a large poorly insulated house managed to keep my bills down. I kept the temp in the house at 58-60 if nobody was home or if we were asleep, at 65 if we were home, and then always kept an econo-heat on in my bedroom. The bedroom was always warm enough to work in, and warm enough to sleep in with typical winter blankets. It also kept my dog warm in her cage when I was gone. No doubt in my mind that this thing cut hundreds off my heating bill this winter. For heating smaller rooms, this is excellent and far better than typical space heaters.

heat our new mobile home in NM

this one looks like a winner and the guy at econo-heat was very helpful and knowledgeable. we'll let you know in a few months how it works out....

they should keep me from having to use 600 gallons of natural gas in the old furnace this winter. 600 gallons = $ 1152

6 eheat = $445

they have already paid for themselves I hope!

DH gave great deals in summer. If someone called in the middle of winter they got to wait weeks & paid full price. And if they bitched, he told them to find someone else. :evilgrin:

winter I fear

There was a back up when I ordered last year. They worked okay in my bedroom & better in my den. I think I need to order another one for my bedroom as the room is huge & all of my walls are exterior.

dg

we may need one more for the bedroom too, we'll see :shrug:

we started installing Labor Day weekend we found one was cracked in half

after a few emails back and forth they shipped out a new one with an RMA for the broken unit.

once again, I can't compliment this company highly enough for their customer service and a great green product.

if you're still thinking of ordering one, go for it!! :bounce:

I need to order another one for my bedroom. :) How are they working out for you? :hi:

dg

but they are installed and look fine

DH tried the living room one on a chilly morning and it worked fine! by the time I got up the chill was off the room

The two I bought did get take the chill off of the rooms they are in, somewhat, but I'd like to see if I can't get my bedroom to get a little bit warmer. It looks like I missed the summer sale though. :(

dg

the rooms are connected with double french doors and we put one more in the hall by the kitchen

we may or may not need one more for the bedroom, we'll see....

and it keeps that chilly area warm. They give off some serious heat.

so far it's never dropped past 67 even when the outside is in the teens

It was a very cold winter here in the desert last year. We installed 5 of the six we ordered last year

one in the master bath (9x17) one in the master bedroom (15x17) two in the living/dining/kitchen great room (35x17) and one in the guest room (12x10) we have one still in the box and are trying to figure out where to put it in the main room (no more 'inside' walls to install it on :cry: )

We didn't light the gas furnace until late December at all. We used only about 80 gallons of LP for the entire season. this is down from the old owners using close to 300 according to the gas company. Our electric bill was always below $100.

they kept the house habitable and I didn't have any heavy drapes on the windows yet (I do this year though) so I am very pleased and would recommend them

I live in the high desert. Regularly get down to 10-15 degrees at night in winter. The one room without a heating vent (and little insulation) where I spend the day on the computer and with bird was kept pretty comfortable with the econo.

I like it very much & think I'll get another couple this year for the living/dining/kitchen (since that's whatcha said!). I think they are very economical to run.

Have you tried painting them? They say you can paint them with ordinary wall paint to match. ??

we've got one we never installed in the den that we're adding to an outside wall in between our chairs and equidistant between the other two in the Great Room

So it painted up OK and the heat doesn't seem enough to bother the paint?

soon and it wasn't nasty smelly at all. I'll bet the paint is baked on now bigtime though LOL

with free shipping to the store. They're $89 on the eheat website.

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1883519&cp=&sr=1&origkw=heaters&kw=heaters&parentPage=search&searchId=21557708234

But I have an Ace Hardware about a mile from my house. I think I'll check the store this weekend.

and they have great summer sales too, they have a sale going on now....

http://www.eheat.com/site/seasonal.htm

bedrooms where the doors can be closed, keeps them nice and warm. I also have one in the kitchen that is open, keeps that area pretty warm too. I love them, my cats and kids love them. I've been telling lots of other people about them. They are great.

The one in the bathroom works just fine, but the one in hubby's study may as well not be there. I don't think it's because it doesn't work, but the location and house. The house is about 100 years old and in northern Michigan. When Tony turned the other heater on in there the other day it was 35 degrees and the eheat hadn't been turned off in days. :(

Also the room has windows on two sides and we're not heating the 3rd floor except for the bathroom and this bedroom turned study.

I have one in the kitchen and it puts out nice heat. I will use one in a BR. and not sure where else. I am wondering if I should buy more. . . .
The 15% off ends 7/15. It pays for the shipping.

Just under the last day of the summer sale. I bought them completely based on all of the very positive posts here. When I told them how I had heard of their company, they said to say thank you to you all..hahaha! I also told them how to hook up with DU. What a world!!!!!!!

enjoy them.

We've now had the eheaters on the walls for 3 years and used them every winter.

We have 5, total -- one each in the bedroom, dining room, den and our offices.

About 6 months after we installed the one in the den, it burnt out. It was covered by warranty and replaced. No problems getting it replaced, but it did worry me a bit about having it burn out.

Last winter, the one in the bedroom started cracking, but it's out of warranty. Being the odd duck that I am, I took it off the wall and into the lab at work (I'm working for U of Colorado at Boulder now, and the lab where I work has an xray machine, among a few other interesting bits of hardware.). The x-rays show that the cracks appear to be cosmetic -- the coil does not appear to be exposed and the panel appears structurally sound. Since I mostly work from home -- I'm in the lab 2 mornings a week -- the heater is never on when I'm not home.

I'm debating replacing it. I may... or I may spackle the cracks. The thing's not going to burn -- the panel's essentially "hardibacker" drywall -- the water-resistant drywall for kitchens and baths. It's mostly cement and gypsum. If it sparks, it's going to short out -- the way the other one did -- and trip the breaker. I can cope with that. Could it start a fire? Maybe. Is it likely to do? I don't think so.

In terms of energy -- our winter bills run about $200 a month, but xcel jacked both gas and electricity last winter. We're using less energy in terms of therms and joules now than we used in 2001-2005, but the rate is extravagant. We switched to wind power, which helps.

Would I still buy them? Absolutely. More importantly, if I were building this house from the ground up, I think I'd actually skip the furnace altogether and use these for zone heating. I'd probably put them on a timer switch with a manual override. (But if I were building from the ground up, I'd have a different piping scheme, too, and the kitchen and bathrooms would be centrally oriented...)

I'm starting on my third winter now with the e-heaters. I have a fairly open floor plan and don't have enough in the 'great room' per their suggestions. I have two that I use in a 18x25 foot room and need one more in here, but finding an inside wall was an issue, however I do have an extra I'm installing someplace this season.

I live in a drafty 20 year old mobile home in a climate with lots of wind and frequent freezing overnight temps.

I also have them in the master bath and the bedroom and in all but the coldest days (and nights) they keep the house comfortable, in fact we rarely use the one in the bedroom as it gets too hot (we need to move it to the other side of the room away from the bed)

No problems with them whatsoever, no cracking, no burn outs, nothing except a stupid woman who was cleaning my house and managed to crack one in half by hitting it with her fat self. or I think that's what she did, i'm not sure, but abuse was definitely involved.

I can't speak of cost, as I bought them the first summer we lived here, but I do know the old owners would use anywhere from 500-700 gallons of propane a year, and I barely use 300 and don't have to light the furnace until December or January and am able to shut it down in late March or early April.

The e=heaters keep the place comfortable in the 'shoulder seasons' with no additional help. In fact, the lows are forecast to be in the mid 30s tonight, I turned them on when I got home (it's currently 53 outside) and it will be toasty and warm when hubby gets home at 2AM and it will be fine tomorrow AM when we get up.

So, to sum up, I love them and they paid for themselves the first year I'm sure.

We have problems blowing breakers when we run the little floor heater. We can only run it in the kitchen or the heavy duty outside outlet. (We don't have heat or air conditioning right now...it's a little chilly but not unbearable in the winter, in the summer we hole up in a little room with a window unit...all 7 of us :P ) anyone think this e-heater will blow the breakers like the little floor heater does? (I know nothing about electricity...wish we didn't need it)

but they don't take nearly the power a regular heater takes

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E-heaters take less than 500 watts

so I think the e-heaters would NOT blow your breakers

and eheat has no fans, so there is no "surge" when they kick on

We have a small space heater, but must run the generator when we want to use it.

I am going to get my husband to look at this and see if we could run it with our current battery resources.

This could be a good solution.

:hi:

E-heat is about the only heater I would attempt to run off batterys.It would be a heck of a load but doable.Anything else would require a huge battery bank.

A total of six golf cart batteries that we mostly keep charged with our solar panels. The refrigerator is by far the biggest draw, but one panel pretty much covers that. Even if we had to run the generator for this unit, we would only have to do it for a short while, as the boat holds heat extremely well.

I am getting my husband to take a closer look at it and will repost if we give it a try.

Thanks!

I use it to heat a bedroom that has no heat and it keeps the room very comfortable.

:kick:

they are very easy to crack while on the walls. no chance of fire I don't think, but i've removed all but two of them

they still work well in my HUGH!!!11! masterbath and it's on 24/7 all winter and i have one still in the living room and it takes the chill off

I probably won't buy them again tho.....

I know you had a lot of them in your home.

I can't have something that mounts to the wall. My house (renting) was built in 1846. The plaster is only about an inch thick before you hit the brick walls. I don't want to permanently alter this beautiful old place.

I was looking at these but they're very pricey:

http://edenpurestore.com/heaters

I heat with oil and have 2000sf on two floors.