How do you Stop a Scam: Edenpure Portable Heater

Sounds like typical ad hyperbole to me....you can't protect a fool from himself. Nor can you protect everybody who isn't necessarily a fool but gullible from other reasons. Unfortunate, perhaps, but true.

Reply to
Duane Bozarth
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So whats new those adds have been around forever. Heating equipment does not lower humidity, raising air temperature does.

Reply to
m Ransley

Yeah, remember the quartz heater thing that you were supposed to get more heat from them? 1500 watts of electrical power converts to 5120 BTU no matter how you slice it.

Bob

Reply to
Robertm

It looks to me that this is a "radiant" heater. It will heat people or objects in the radiant area, rather than the air itself. So, for a given electricity consumption, a person may feel warmer in front of this heater. and, since it heats the air less, relative humidity would change less. Of course, any cheap radiant heater would do the same thing.

Bob

Reply to
Bob

This product had a full-page ad in the Cape Cod Times today. I understand this ad was placed nationally. Has anyone else seen it? This electric heater sells for between $297and $499 and claims to "cut heating bills by up to 50%." It makes claims that it "heats wall to wall and floor to ceiling" which any heater with properly directed airflow will do, that it does not reduce humidity (impossible for a dry heat source) and that it doesn't reduce oxygen (true for all electric heaters.) The most BTU's you can get out of a wall socket is about

5000. I have a $10 Pelonis heater that does this. There are a lot of elderly people on the Cape, many of whom, concerned about the cost of heating this winter, will fall for this. I have called the newspaper, but no calls back yet. My question is really rhetorical as I doubt anything can be done in time to prevent damage. I will be calling the Consumer Affairs Office of MA to report this. Just thought I'd like to have your comments.\\ Thanks. Frank
Reply to
frank1492

I heard the oil companies bought all that miracle copper and have it stored in a warehouse with the 200 mpg carburetors

AMUN

Reply to
Amun

Sorry I misstated...they claim it DOESN'T reduce humidity... Yep, the ads have been around forever, but this is unusually flagrant, I thought, given the price.

Reply to
frank1492

The elderly folk who would buy something like this may not be fools, just ignorant. As this was a full-page ad in a major newspaper, it would get huge exposure and be thought to have a degree of credibility. A lot of nice people on fixed incomes will probably bite. Sad.

Reply to
frank1492

I remember that and, guess what, this is a "remarkable new quartz infrared!" More copy: For a taste of the B.S. go to:

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this is only part of what was in the newspaper ad: "This advanced heating element was discovered accidentally by a man named John Jones. He had a large old farmhouse that was impossible to heat. Jones had a coal furnace in his basement. Jones placed a sheet of cured copper next to the furnace to store it. Cured copper is a type of copper that goes through an extensive heating process that gives it special properties. After the fire went out, Jones noticed that the copper was heating his entire basement evenly, even though the furnace was no longer putting out heat. He also was amazed at how long the heat stayed in the copper and continued to warm the room." Yep copper is a good heat sink. Just a sample of the ad...you have to see it to believe it. Every line reeks of baloney! Frank

Reply to
frank1492
1500 watts of electrical power converts to 5120 BTU no matter how you slice it.

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Bob,

You are absolutely correct. Some units may deliver the heat in a somewhat more desirable manner, but it is still 5120 BTU/1500 watts.

Obviously, we are talking about resistance heating. A heat pump will deliver more than 3.414 BTUs per watt (ie, 5121BTUs from 1500 watts). And obviously the portable unit being advertised is not a heat pump and you were not including heatpumps when making your comment.

FYI: Sometime I can't get a furnace working immediately and I have to give some advise to a homeowner who faces cold outdoor temps and no furnace for a while. It amazes me how difficult it is to convince people that every watt of electricity consumed in the average home is going to generate 3.414 BTUs of heat. Yes, there is a very slight bit of BTU loss due to light that escapes out of a window, etc. There is also a small transient BTU gain to the living space from a fridge or freezer since these are "heat pump" devices. But that is splitting hairs.

It is very easy to do a quick walk through a house to estimate how much heating can be produced by leaving on every reasonable electrical device. Then, that can be compared with the heat output of the furnace and the anticipated cycling of the furnace under current ambient temps.

Toss in one or two small electric heaters and a bathtub full of max temp hot water and the homeowner can protect his home and insure some comfort until the furnace is working again. Obviously this isn't the most economical way to heat a home, but it works in an emergency. Let's see - burn $0.50 to $1.00 per hour to heat the house overnight or risk getting frozen pipes, cracked walls, etc? Easy decision.

The laws of physics don't really care if it is a ceramic heater or a non- ceramic heater. They don't care if it is a heater, an incandescent light bulb, a fluorescent light bulb, a TV set, a PC, etc, etc. One watt of indoor electrical usage is going to ultimately generate 3.414 BTUs of heat.

Gideon

Reply to
Gideon

Frank,

I'm guessing that they are basing their claims on the unstated assumptions that the homeowner may already be heating with an electric resistance furnace plus the homeowner intends to use the portable heater for zoned heating. Turn two-thirds of your house into an unheated icebox this winter via any method and you will save substantially on your heating bill.

Sadly, there is very little policing of misleading advertising at the state level and the federal level.

Gideon

Reply to
Gideon

Maybe they are mincing words between "Relative Humidity" and "Absolute Humidity". Only RH changes with temp, abs humidity is constant with the volume of water in a volume of air while RH measures water content relative to the saturation point which changes with temp. Since only RH effects comfort levels, it would be underhanded to make claims based on the other.

I've not seen the ad. Is there a web link?

Reply to
PipeDown

Reply to
frank1492

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the newspaper ad has a lot of other stuff in it. Believe me the guys that wrote this ad wouldn't know that distinction from Adam.

Reply to
frank1492

Finally, something fit to complement the Ionic Breeze when it comes to consumer gullibility.

BTW. How does heat ride humidity?

Reply to
PipeDown

LOL.....that was my biggest laugh!

Reply to
frank1492

The thing looks like a big wooden box with a slot in it, not exactly like a radiant heater.

in the radiant area, rather than the air

front of this heater. and, since it heats

heater would do the same thing.

Reply to
frank1492

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