Heater Hustlers from Canton again: the TropicAir portable electric space heater

[metalengr]

Well, once again it's the silly season. Last week my local paper ran a full-page ad for the =93revolutionary TropicAir Heater that slashes heat bills and helps keep you healthier=94. Curiously it comes from the exact same street address as last year=92s travesty, the HEAT SURGE Roll-n-Glow Fireplace. That was an electric heater disguised as a fireplace ("fireless flame") and sold wrapped in a "real Amish fireplace mantel". See:

You can see the color version of the newspaper ad in the Denver Post at: The TropicAir is yet another pile of horsecrap! These clowns should be horsewhipped, since they are probably going to make a pile of money by swindling the gullible and elderly. The TropicAir =93quickly blasts out 4,094 BTUs of tropical warmth in any room yet only costs as little as 9 cents an hour to operate. Guess what? 4,094 BTU/hr converts to exactly 1200 watts. That=92s even less than the 1500 watts of last years HeatSurge.

Folks, it's a lousy little 1200 watt portable electric heater with a fan, but with a humidifier feature added. For a limited time they will sell you not just one, but a pair of these miracles for $298. Guess what? You can go to

and buy a comparable heater for only $67.88 (less than half what the TropicAir costs). That=92s the Sunpentown SH-1506 Ceramic Heater with Humidifier. See:

The website for the TropicAir is:

. It contains a major howler. On the Frequently Asked Questions page it actually says that the heater =93only uses the same electricity as a 60 Watt Light Bulb=94. So, their power consumption figure is TWENTY TIMES too low. Also, I found nothing on the web site to indicate how big of a water tank the humidifier has, or if the heater is UL listed. Personally I would never buy an unlisted product.

The TropicAir is another example of the "boom box" or (for old-timers) "console radio" marketing fallacy that a bigger cabinet and a higher price ABSOLUTELY MUST mean that you are getting a better product. Once upon a time when you said Canton, Ohio people anywhere would know you were talking about the hometown of Timken, who made the best damn tapered roller bearings in the world. Now the town also can claim bozos hustling =93Chinese junk=94 for high prices.

Pittsburgh Pete

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[lp13-30]

I didn't look at the website, but they are actually telling the truth that it uses the same electircity as a 60 watt bulb, if that is their exact words. That doesn't mean the same AMOUNT of electricity, just the same electricity. My truck uses the same gasoline as my lawn mower too. I remember the HeatSurge scam from last year, and this spring/summer there was a similar scam with an "air conditoner" that had some sort of ring with water in it that you put in the freezer, and then put it in the contraption and a little fan would blow over it and give you real air conditioning for pennies a day. Probably the same folks. Larry

[Ray Green]

[metalengr]

Hide quoted text -

The website for the TropicAir is:

. On it you can find a parent company of Universal Techtronics, LLC listed. If you Google them, then you can find another web site for the CoolSurge =93eco- friendly air cooler=94 . Compare the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages for the CoolSurge and the TropicAir fm and you will find that the dimensions and weight of the two products are PRECISELY the same. However, the TropicAir costs $298, but the CoolSurge cost $228. So, lp13-30 likely is correct that they are the same folks. Their marketing department seems to have just copied the FAQ page for the cooler, which is why the heater has three =93cooling settings=94.

Pittsburgh Pete

DISCLAIMER We do not believe what we write, and neither should you. Information furnished to you is for topical (external) use only. This information may not be worth any more than either a groundhog turd, or what you paid for it (nothing). The author may not even have been either sane or sober when he wrote it down. Do not worry, be happy.