EdenPURE Heaters: Yet another expensive space heater

OMG, It's Bob Vila!

I was finishing up November's Popular Science magazine last week and I was at the point where I started getting to the bad advertisements at the end of the magazine. And much to my surprise, I see yet another expensive space heater advertisement that claims to reduce your energy bills by 50%. This was a different ad than the Sunheat heater; however it is basically the same product with one major difference: Bob Vila endorses it! Woo hoo!!!

This heater is called EdenPURE, and it honestly looks like the same device. From a forum on the topic comparing EdenPURE and Sunheat a person says:

If you look at Sun Heat and EdenPure, their offers are nearly identical. From what I understand from a local dealer for Sun Heat, EdenPure is a spin-off of theirs, made by a guy who used to work for Sun Heat! Prices are very similar also. EdenPure has a plastic casing. Sun Heat is wood and both have Honeywell thermostats.

And yet the best review of EdenPURE and other expensive space heaters (like Sunheat) comes from one of hte most trusted resources out there: Consumer Reports. From the Consumer Reports review of the EdenPURE heater:

The unit was the second-lowest-scoring space heater we tested, earning only a 24 out on our 100-point scale. According to the folks in our Tech department who tested space heaters, the EdenPure provided lackluster temperature control and was not particularly easy to use, What's more, it was pricey and lacked an overheat-protection feature (key for safety). The GEN3 models do have this important safety feature, according to BioTech Research.

If you're in the market for a new space heater, be dubious about any heater whose manufacturer claims the appliance will slash your heating bills. Here's why:

For every degree that you lower your home thermostat in the winter, you'll save about 3 percent on heating costs. So the only way to really save with a space heater would be to use the unit in the room you're in and turn down the thermostat elsewhere in the house so that your main heating system would not operate. To save 50 percent on your heating bill, you'd have to lower the home thermostat about 17°F. Also, based on national average fuel prices, using an electric space costs more than twice as much to operate as a natural-gas-fueled central-heating system.

Here's an article from ripoffreport written by someone who used to work at the company that makes Edenpure. I believe it because they aren't trying to sell anything, just give advice. I wouldnt put too much stock in the warehouse workers though, I'm sure a lot of companies have those problems.

Some of the more common complaints I've read about the Edenpure heater:

Quartz bulb burns out
Too expensive (about $300) for a space heater you can buy at Wal-Mart for 1/10th the price
Doesn't put out enough heat
Raises electricity bills

But hey, at least it wont catch your house on fire.

Bottom Line:

The reason they say it will cut your heating bill by 50% is that you are changing from central heat, to a space heater. This means that you have to move the heater around to each room you are in to stay comfortable. It's a change in strategy, not a new amazing product. I'm going to take our a lame ad in Popular Science with the slogan:

SLASH your Energy Bills FOREVER!!!

Do you know what I'll be selling? A Snuggie.

Snuggie: Slashes heating bills!

Tags:

Bob Vila

edenpure

edenpure heater

ripoff report

Comments

Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/19/2011 - 03:02

We purchased our edenpure last year. It arrived in a timely manner, but right out of the box, it didn't work. Never heated up. We returned it in exchange for one that worked... received the replacement in a timely manner and used it all winter long with no problems. At the very end of the winter, one day we went to turn it on, and it wouldn't heat up again (crystal element burned out we think) Regardless, if this is going to be the usual chain of events with this product, don't waste your money on it and buy a cheaper space heater for supplemental heating. We did notice a huge decrese in our gas bill, an elevation in our electric bill, but found that the increased electric bill was much more tolerable than the gas bill. We'll see what happens when we get our replacement (or fixed original product) back... if it burns out again, I would not waste the time, effort, and money to have it fixed yet again.

ckmapawatt Mon, 08/29/2011 - 20:04

I'm assuming you currently heat with electricity and not natural gas or propane? In terms of using electricity to create heat, all electric heaters operate at close to the same efficiency, so there is little difference in terms of how they create heat. There may be a little difference in how they distribute heat, but I'm not sure if it's worth paying much more for a heater that advertises itself as more efficient.

Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/21/2011 - 13:57

Just got back from Lowe's looking at the Dur-aflame compared to the Eden-pure. 1,500 watts per hour at $ 5 to 6 dollars per kilo watt hour. I run it wide open for 10 hours, I calculate it will cost me $ 75.00 per day x 30 days = $ 2,250.00 a month. Lets say 15 minutes per hour x 10 hours x $ 5 dollars per klw = 12.5 x 30 = $ 375.00 for heating my broom closet, now that's more like it. I was really hoping its was as good as it sounds.

Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/05/2011 - 14:46

We bought 2 of the EdenPure 500XL model 900 watt heaters at the price of $299 apiece. They did not even last 3 months, (this was from Sep.-Nov. not even the coldest months of winter), before the quartz heating elements burned out in both units, and they really were not capable of keeping the rooms heated to a comfortable level. My electric usage for the first full billing cycle using the heaters was 2400 kwh's resulting in a bill of $240. After they stopped working I went back to heating my 4000 sq. ft. home using only the wood stove in the basement. My electric usage for a full billing cycle of not using the heaters was 714 kwh's, resulting in a bill of $98, so do the math, that was $740 for barely 3 months of very lackluster results, fuel oil would have cost just as much, and kept the house at a more comfortable level of warmth. So, from my experience, do not waste your money on these heaters, they are a joke, and their slick ad campaigns (Paul Harvey was shilling for them then)are a complete lie. ....end of rant.

Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/28/2011 - 12:33

I purchased the space heater in April of 2011 and used it a couple of times. Then this fall tried it again. It is a worthless piece of junk - the only way it will heat my 30 x14 living room is that it stays on constantly for several hours. Altho I have used the heater for only about 20 hours, the company will not give me a refund due to the 60 day guarantee having expired. It will go out in the trash pickup as soon as possible.

Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/28/2011 - 05:47

Last winter, I attempted to purchase a Gen4 heater and was told it would ship by a certain date. After I ordered it the date was pushed back by a substantual period of time. I wouldn't get the untit in time to know if it really saved any money, so I cancelled the order and like the other person above, I received a mailing saying my unit would now ship in a few days, I called them and told them I was no longer interested. Later on they sentme another mailing saying I could get a unit at a substantual savings and it would ship in a few days, of course by this time the need to use the heater during this season was gone, I didn't respond to the offer. Thier method of doing business is very poor and I see 50 complaints for every person who claims to be happy with the product. Most feedback is about Gen3 or before, still loooking for those who bought the Gen4's are they any better. Also I saw a Gen4 in anACE Hardware store recently and it was a lot smaller than the Gen3's, what's with that?

ckmapawatt Sun, 10/23/2011 - 16:24

Jack, Where did you get $5-6 per kWh? Chances are it is closer to 10-20 cents/kWh?

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/24/2011 - 09:30

I called Georgia Power and asked what was my cost per klw, they said 5.06 on the off season and 9.61 in the summer; I thought they were talking dollars; actually in cents. I calculate now .90 cents per ten hours at 1500watts or $ 27.00 per month. Question I have been trying to get answered is when the package state 1500 watts is that 1500watts per hour? If not and I buy the unit and it is a lot more, how much more? Cost to operate? I do not want to afford one of those unexpected 500 dollar bills. Help if you can, Thanks

ckmapawatt Mon, 10/24/2011 - 10:25

Jack, Check out our post on "<a href="http://mapawatt.com/2009/03/12/what-is-a-kilowatt-hour-aka-kwh-part-1/" rel="nofollow">What is a kWh</a>". I think that may help. The watt indicated the instantaneous energy consumption when the heater is running. You multiply that value by the amount of time the heater is on (in hours). If it is only on for 15 minutes, that is .25 hours. That value is your kWh. You then multiply that by your rate (which is probably $.056 in the off-season) to get the cost that the heater uses per the time period. If you are still uncertain, send me an email (chris@mapawatt.com).

Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 02/16/2011 - 09:42

I bought one of the Gen 3 1000's in 2008, am still using it and wouldn't trade it for anything. I have a 500 gallon LP gas tank sitting in my back yard that still has 49% gas in it and hasn't been filled since the summer of '08 and they only fill it to 80% when they fill it. So I've only used about 40 gallons of gas a year which includes my cooking on a gas stove! My home is 1250 sq. ft. and unless it is nearing zero outside, it keeps the house between 70-75 degrees. I have Ameren as an electric provider and anyone that has Ameren knows that it is pretty darned expensive. However, my electric bill runs about $50-60 a month over my average spring/fall bill. Summer is high due to the AC so I am counting how much it is over the lower seasons. Over the course of the average winter here in Illinois it may run me $250-300 per heating season to run the EdenPure. However with the price of LP gas and having to fill the tank at least one more time after the summer fill when we didn't have the Edenpure, we would be spending at least $6-700 to heat the house over the heating season. That's how you save money even with your electric bill going up. Once I start using the EdenPure at the beginning of the season, the furnace is switched OFF and is only turned on if the temperature outside is in the single digits and even then does not run very often. Those who do not have one of these and think they know it all should mind their p's and q's and think twice. The one likely reason that these may not heat a home well is that the home is probably not insulated very well or may have some serious air leaks in the house but I doubt the seriously that the heater is the problem. Hope this helps anyone sitting on the fence about getting one of these. If your home is well insulated, you should do very well with it! The heat of the EdenPure is a nice even heat too. With the furnace running instead, you get warm while it's running but cool when it's not.

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