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iHeater: Don't believe the claims

iHeater blows "hot air"

The iHeater website (www.iheaters.com if you want a laugh) opens with "Save up to 50% on your heating bills".  It's funny how they cite no technical evidence of this fact.  Why?  Because it's not true.  I might as well sell a heater and say, "Save 99% on your heating bills!".  It seems gullible customers love outrageous claims. If you are looking to buy one of these expensive space heaters, don't be suckered in because it's an "infrared" heater.

An iHeater may save you money, but it will do so the same way any space heater saves you money!  And it won't save you 50% on your heating bills.  They claim that you will save money because you are heating a space instead of your whole home.  But chances are you will want to have heat in more than one room!

Doubt me?  Well, how would you feel if Consumer Reports weighed in on space heaters that sound too good to be true?  Lucky for you they have when Consumer Reports wrote a review on the Edenpure heater (which is very similar to the iHeater):

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.

I referenced the Consumer Reports article when I wrote about the Edenpure heater for Mapawatt.  Along with the post we wrote on Edenpure, we also wrote about Sunheat heater (Sunheat/Edenpure/iHeater are all expensive heaters that promise way too much).  And according to this comment on the iHeater on Ripoffreport.com, not only does the iHeater make bogus claims, they also have a no-exchange policy and poor customer service.

I don't know about you, but I'm not about to be suckered into paying too much for a product that has poor customer service and won't live up to its claims.  But hey, if you have no other way to heat your home, try it out and let us know how it works for you.

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Comments

Don't believe the claims! I was only heating 275 sq ft with one of these and my electric bill jumped in January to February by doubling from December to January when I was even using full house Christmas lights! NO! This thing does not save money as advertised!!! WHY they have not been charged with false advertising claims way before now astounds me! Do yourself a favor! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT GETTING ONE. The company will not honor a refund or even a refund with a restocking fee. I was told, "Too bad. You bought it, now it's yours!" How bad of customer service is that? Just don't. .
The best way to find out if the iheater is suitable for you is to purchase one and see first hand for yourself. Every person has a different situation and different need and what works good for me may not for you. Some people may have found that this unit saved them 50% on their heating cost where I may not have saved anything but is the claims by the company bogus? The main thing is if you stay warm with the iheater then hoo-ray!
ckmapawatt's picture
Gene, Looks like you sell the iheater. Doesn't that make you a bit biased? Why don't they just go buy a heater from walmart?
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THIS IHEATER COMES WITH A BOOKLET OF INSTRUCTIONS. I GOT ONE FROM A FRIEND AND THEY SAID THERE WAS NO INSTRUCTION BOOKLET.
call BBB. or say your gonna. they'll change their tone real fast btw. 20 ft xmas lights run 50+ usd a year to run..each. just tested mine with the Killa-watts
no. there is none. plug in, turn on, clean filter once monthly n your good.works best on inner most wall facing out.give 12 inches clearance all around for circulation..n stay warm..thats about it
I have had an Iheater for 3 years now. first off they didnt send it in a timely manner, so i called and threatened calling BBB. the next day I had their best one (only paid for cheapest) and I plugged it right in. heated 650 sq ft quite nicely but you really have to plastic off the windows for it to shine. I must note I use this as my PRIMARY heat source in the winter. at time with no back up. I purchased a Kill-a-watts meter to test the claims on cost. having it on 99F for 2 hours straight with a 14 cent Kwh avg made the avg monthly cost about 55 USD. keep in mind that most would never have it that high and for that long. In short; No,its claims are not correct as far as savings or space heated. HOWEVER: after pluging in the smallest reg space heater I had (holmes 8 inch i believe) and watching the killawatts go to 80+ usd a month... it is FAR better than almost any other heater Ive tried..and thats a ton. a hardware store near me started selling Comfort Furnace heaters (same idea but made in usa and much higher quality)for around $375 and the display is their heater coil next to the Iheaters. Ill spare you the tech details but I have to say- unless you are like me and dont mind pulling something apart and upgrade swapping parts- get a comfort furnace. I would not pay $375 for another Iheater. 250-sure. but CF blows it away. Copper lined, non-dead short coil, stainless steal coil diffuser, squirrel cage fan, 4 inferred emitters etc.. I dont sell any of these, I just believe in True products. Ill live with my iheater and like it for now.just dont let one false claim spoil your view on the lot.that is all.Stay Warm n Save Money :)
My iHeater's cord end gets very warm, almost hot. The socket it was plugged into looks scorched! Sounds dangerous.
Sounds like you need to check your wiring..and maybe check which breaker its running on.
I don't agree. I have a iHeater which I use in my basement and it does heat as advertised. The heater does not get hot or the cord like most electric heaters. It keeps the entire basement consistently the temperature, I set with the thermostat. I donot have to direct the heat flow the heater warms the entire area of the basement.I love my heater

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