Review on Heaters

We have lived in our current house 3 years. We found out that very first winter that we could not use the central heat in the house because the windows are so old that the heat goes right out- Same thing happened with the central AC. I was a little upset that this was not disclosed in the house paperwork. Our windows are the old fashioned kind that are slats of glass that move on metal frames. The thing I loved about the house when I first saw it was the potential for so much sunlight! I have really bad seasonal depression as well as Bipolar depression- both are treated by Vitamin D and other medications that are prescribed- well the best way to treat it I found- outside of a good diet is SUNLIGHT. This house has so many windows I thought our prayers were answered.

We have gone through some heaters since we have been here. I wanted to share what we have found. Our house is an open house floor plan, meaning the living room, kitchen, dining room, loft and den are all open to one another, there are no doors. This is good and bad. Bad in the sense that heat does not stay contained. It makes finding portable heaters very difficult.

We have tried these

Patton Rugged Utility Heater

I will be honest. It did very little for our main rooms, the heat just does not do well in open areas. I thought it would work fairly well considering they are intended for commerical areas, we were disappointed. We have used them in the bathroom, it works pretty well. I don't like that I can't even get through my shower before it turns off and I take quick showers. Also, I have burnt out three of them. We have bought a new one every year we lived here. I will say the price is right, they run just under $20 and are fairly small so nice and easy to move from room to room if you had to.

Heater 2 style we have tried. 

I originally bought one like this for my office space when I worked for Compaq. I used it because my legs/feet would get so cold. It is great for instant heat. It will warm my bathroom up, not hot but take the chill off the room. It is cheaper to run then Heater 1. It does not have the issue with shutting itself off either, so I really like that because I come out of my shower and can stand right in front of it to stay warm while I dress. It does take a while to warm the room up though, so you  have to go in and turn it on wait about 15 minutes and then shower. Another downfall with this one, it does not do well with heating big spaces either.

Heater 3 World Marketing Two-Tone Radiant Heater

This heater runs about $50. We had it for a couple weeks and I really decided I just didn't like it. I felt like you could smell a burnt smell all the time. It was a little big for the bathroom and had the same thermostat issue as Heater 1. We took it back.

Heater 4 7 Fin Oil Filled Radiant Heater- ours is a Sunbeam

You know we bought this style of heater this year because our Heater 1 burnt out again and we just didn't feel like the $20 a year was a good investment anymore. I was a little worried about the idea that it is Oil Filled. So far I would say this winter that I love the heater for my bedroom. It did not warm up the living room/kitchen area either. I was really hoping it would. It was too big for the bathroom so we decided to not invest in a second one. They run about $40-60 each, so they are a little more pricey.

I would say our bedroom is pretty large. I have a queen size bed and two foldable tables set up in it, along with a desk and small round table- all for my quilting. There is not much walking room but some. It heats the room well. It has a thermostat so you hear it click every once in a while. It has three levels as well as a turn knob to control how hot you want it on each level. That was nice. I will admit I can smell the oil some. I don't know that I like it but for the heat ability for the room I would say I would still purchase it again.

Needless to say I am still looking for a heater for the big portion of our house. I don't see us being able to fix the window issue any time soon so it looks like Winter of 2011 (next Oct-Dec) might very well  hold the same issues. Will see. The Lord works in amazing ways- so he might surprise us. So I figured with the cold I would share my insight on some heaters we have used/own. Hopefully, if you find yourself needing one it might help you.