Infrared Heaters & The Big Three!
Posted: Sunday, November 01, 2009
by Charles Michael
S. C. H
There are three main Infrared heaters on the market that have a proven track record of time. Solar Comfort, Edenpure and Sunheat. Although many know of Comfort Zone, which is now CZ heater and again now changing to Comfort Furnace, it has only been around since 2007. From research the CZ heater is not in good financial standings. Therefore, I am not going to review it in this article.
Solar Comfort has been around since 1980's, Edenpure about 2001 and SunHeat around 2003.
Lamps or bulbs?
Solar Comfort uses 4 high grade 375 watt Infrared lamps that are the same as those used in the food industry, saunas and farming. This is a screw in style lamp. These lamps are higher quality and wattage than what you will find in Home Depot, Lowes, etc. However, you can find this lamp outside of Solar Comfort. Each lamp averages about $9 to $15.00 each outside of warranty. In my opinion and testing, these type of lamps are safer.
Most other Infrared heaters are using Quartz Infrared bulbs. These bulbs are similar to a halogen bulb. They are a glass tube with a wire heat element. The Quartz bulb also averages betweem $9 to $15 each. Both the Edenpure and the SunHeat are near identical internally and use 6 of these bulbs. The bulbs are typically hard wired in place with electrical connectors. The less mechanically inclined may find it difficult to change. From my research, Edenpure does not allow you to change their bulbs without voiding warranty. You will need to send it back to the dealer.
The SunHeat suggest that you change the bulbs or other parts on their heater and not send it back to the company. In changing a bulb you should not touch them as the oils from your hands can cause for premature failure. This was not the case on the Infrared heat lamps that Solar Comfort uses.
Warranties
All of the units are now boasting a 3 year warranty which includes the lamps or bulbs. So basically they are bumper to bumper. However, I do know people that have had long wait times for their Edenpure heater replacement. Also if you do need to send your Edenpure back, you will likely get a refurbished heater in return. Not necessarily a bad thing, just something to note.
If you have a warranty card be sure to send it in.
Features
Both the Solar Comfort and the SunHeat pride themselves in being more simple. They don't have digital electronics. Solar Comfort uses a Honeywell mechanical thermostat while the SunHeat uses a generic brand mechanical thermostat. The Edenpure has a digital remote and digital thermostat.
Although the digitals may prove to be more accurate, my personal concern with digital Infrared heaters, are the length of time that the digitals will last, especially around heat. If you have had a dvd player break down, you know what I mean.
Wattage and Heating Coverage
All three are 1500 watts and about 12.5 amps. Although Edenpure and SunHeat claim 1000 plus square feet I believe Solar Comfort is more realistic when they state 600- 800 sq. ft.. By my experience, Solar Comfort has a more realistic claim. Keep in mind that these are all supplemental heaters. They are all basically the same wattage and amps and putting out about the same 5000 btus. Therefore, each heater is going to be closely related in their heating capability regardless.
Filters
Each unit has a long term filter in the back. The quality of the filters are drastically different in quality. Edenpure's is more like a flexible fiber cloth. The SunHeat and Solar Comfort are similar looking but the poly filter on the Solar Comfort far outways any Infrared heater I have tested.
Although the SunHeat was a better filter than the Edenpure, I did not like that SunHeat did not fully seal their filter. They use a magnet system. However, it leaves major air passages for dust and and other particles to bypass the filter. The Solar Comfort's filter was fully sealed with a material like velcro.
Although filter qualities may be different, each are simple to remove and are washable. However, one important tip if you buy a Quartz Infrared heater is to make sure that your filter is kept clean, especially if you have pets. The reason is that the Quartz bulbs get hot and if you do not keep the filter clean, it can not get proper air flow to get the hot air out. This has been shown to lead to failure.
Housings
Most Edenpure models are ABS plastic encased. The SunHeat and the Solar Comfort have a wood housing. Solar Comfort is a modular unit whereas you can opt for their powder coated metal and add a wood case at time of sale or later.
Each unit is fairly easy to move around as they are on casters. This makes them zoneable to the area that you need them. However, if you think you will be moving them from room to room on a constant basis, you will get tired of that the first day! They can be fairly heavy.
The Solar Comfort is a bit larger than Edenpure and Sunheat, but also looks more like furniture with the wood case. If you opt for the powder coated case, the Solar Comfort is nearly the same size.
The Insides
As mentioned earlier, the Edenpure and the SunHeat both are nearly identical internally. I am actually surprised that SunHeat can make their unit as the Edenpure was around longer. I could not tell a difference. Both have 3 circular coffee can style canisters for their chambers. I believe they are not solid copper but copper plated. The Quartz tubes are inside of these canisters which heat them. They have 2 bulbs per canister.
The Solar Comfort has four lamps that heat a large furnace style heat exchanger above them. The only Infrared heater that I found that has a furnace style exchanger. It has a bunch of hollow tubes that the hot air forces through and also the heat attaches to.
I like that the Solar Comfort paints the entire inside of the heater with black high temp paint. This is said to help heat better. The Edenpure and SunHeat have raw sheet metal. In my testing, I found that the Solar Comfort heated up to 5 minutes longer when the lamps were off and only the 14 watt fan was running. This makes it obvious how effective their heat exchanger is.
In conclusion, I found that all of the units heated well. The main differences were more in the quality, the style of bulbs or lamps and in digitals or non digitals. I felt more comfortable with the Solar Comfort heat feel, it felt softer. The Quartz also seemed to put out a slight hot air smell. So if you are sensitive smells you may want to do more research.
The prices of each heater vary up to about $50 of each other. However, in my testing so did the quality of each unit as well. Keep in mind that price is only one part when purchasing a product. Otherwise we would all be driving a Hyudai.
Keep your expectations realistic no matter which unit you choose and do your research. This is an investment and not a $60 purchase. Also although celebrities, etc. may promote a specific product, keep in mind they are being paid.
You can find each unit from these locations:
Edenpure http://www.edenpuresale.com
Solar Comfort http://www.solarcomfortheating.com
SunHeat http://www.sunheat.com
I hope this helps.
Charles
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Top-level comments on this article: (9 total)Great information Charles. Thank you for sharing this piece. Now, I know which one to buy, on time for the winter chilly weather. Welcome to Searchwarp. ~Nenita~
Thank you Nenita for the welcoming. Looks like you have been around for a while. Glad I found the site and hope to give people a better understanding of Infrared heaters and other topics.Charles
For sure go with the Solar Comfort. I have two and they work awesome in my home. In fact it is so easy and simple to mess with compared to the others.People I know with Edenpure have had nothing but problems.I also have a SunHeat and the whole insides are FRIED! It arched so bad it burned through metal.Have mine from solar comfort heating
I like the simplicity of my Solar Comfort. Easy to use and so simple to maintain. Although I have natural gas, baseboard heaters and a wood stove, I depend on my two Solar Comforts as my primary heaters. I still use wood but not near as much!I know of someone who had a melted Edenpure. Come to find out they have a lot of issues. In fact, I read about a few different ones that were melted.My local Ace Hardware has SunHeat come in for a one day sale about once a month. One of the employees said people have come back in with them burned up inside.Do yourself a favor don't buy into the gadgets that all the others are promoting. Go with a Solar Comfort like I did and hopefully you will be as happy as I am.Jr.Jr, or anyone else out there, can anyone else tell me how much money you have saved on your overall heating or gas bill. We just rented a home and our gas bill was $650, we have made a few modifications to the home such as repairing drafts in the doors, covering a bay window with the insulated plastic but we are still on our way to a high bill. We were running our gas logs daily and think that may have been part of the problem but still looking to cut down the gas bill, do they really only cost about $1 a day to run.Thanks.Hi Wendy,Everybody is going to have a different result based on what type of heating they have and efficiency of the home. First off, at Solar Comfort, we sell and support heaters and not hype. So with that said, I would like to address that any company stating the $1 a day is far removed from being realistic.I can tell you that if the heater is on for about 12 hours of running time (a good average) at 8 cents a kilowatt hour average, you can expect about $1.40 or $1.45 a day! That is very reasonable. This is what I am paying.Your bill certainly does seem very high. Here is how Infrared heating can really be a benefit. Lets say you are in the living room and it is not getting enough heat but your back rooms are. You will have to turn the whole home heating units up to heat that room while increasing the already heated areas even more. This is not efficient.On the contrary, with lets say the Solar Comfort, you would be able to Zone that room putting the heat where you need it rather than trying to over heat the whole house. Also, if you run a humidifier you will even get better results while also increasing your health benefits in the room you are trying to heat.I have a friend and he converted his whole home over to 4 Solar Comforts. I personally use two as primary along side of wood heat. I leave them running even when I am not home.Also keep in mind that while so many are exaggerating, they are also not typically expressing that these are designed to run with other heating systems. Many people will turn there other forms of heat up in the morning or when they first get home to get any chills off, then turn them down and let the Infrared heater maintain.Although I have not had anyone give me the amount they are saving, I have had a lot of testimonies that people have loved the feel and have expressed they are significantly saving on their heating bill.Charles
I have a Solar Comfort and love it! Easy to use. In my personal experience, my heating bill is half this year compared to last year since I started using the heater. My other thermostat barely comes on.Lois
CHARLES, we have purchased the Solar Comfort Heater yday but have a question on location. I know it can be trial and error. Our house is a large open room with the kitchen, dining room, and living area in it that then goes into 2 bdrms and bath area. There is an upstairs loft area as well as a basement that is mostly finished. The salesman said that we should put it on the lowest level and close off the vents in the basement so it will push the air up through the other vents in the house. So I thought I would get your opinion on the location of the heater. There are lots of windows in the large open area as well as a the staircase. We currently have the heaters back against the fireplace which is not running facing the majority of the open room. Thanks. WendyHi Wendy,Although it is trial and error to a point, there is strategic areas to place the Solar Comfort.When the salesman said to put it on the lowest setting and then let the heat go up through the vents may not actually be the best idea. First off, if you keep it on the lowest setting you really are not letting the heater work at all! It will never warm the heat exchanger. I would much rather have the unit on more often and reduce the other heating source.At the lowest setting, the heater would only come on when temp was about 56-58 degrees!The other thing is that Solar Comfort is not going to RISE heat nearly like other heaters which is a good thing. It will heat more evenly. So it is not as likely to travel UP through vents.If the fireplace has any drafts, it is not a going to be your best bet. It is best to put the heater in the warmer section of the room and let it face towards the cooler. This is because whatever air you put in the back is going to raise it by 115degrees. So find the warmer section which is likely away from any windows or other drafts such as the a fireplace. If your fireplace has no drafts than that is fine. Also an inside wall works best.I suggest starting with putting the heater thermostat dial around the 2 o clock position or near the R in warmer. Then go up or down from there.Let the unit run so that it will help reduce the expense from the other heating source. Many people find that they work best by cranking up your other forms of heat in the morning or when you first get home, and then turning the other heat source down and letting Solar Comfort maintain the warmth.If you are trying to heat the living room, dining and kitchen, try aiming it in a triangle to hit all the areas if possible.Hope this helps.Charles
Thank you so much for your suggestions! I actually moved it yday at an angle toward the dining room and living room. We do not have a lot of wall space without windows so we have struggled with a place to put it. Thanks again!! WendyYou are welcome. Don't be afraid to run it. I have two of them and run them throughout the day. Like any other heater, when I am not home I turn it down to the comfort zone setting and shut the bedroom doors so I am not heating unwanted areas. When I get back home I crank it up! When I go to bed I also turn it down, then crank it up in the morning.Charles
CZ and The Comfort Furnace are not the same. The Comfort Furnace has had a proven track record for around eight years and has a very loyal customer base. The Comfort Furnace is available at all Tractor Supply Company Stores. Check with your local TSC for factory direct sales.
Although this article is not about CZ nor Comfortfurnace, I am not sure where you are getting your information. CZ was a sub name of Comfortzone. However, there was already a Comfortzone on the market so they changed the name to CZ to avoid litigation issues.
Then there was a breakup due to financial reasoning between the Vietnam manufacturer called Wells that made the CZ heater for Earthwise. The vietnam manufacturer then slightly changed the look of the heater and called it Comfort Furnace. Even examine the difference between the two products and you will see the same parts and design.
Meanwhile, Earthwise went into bankruptcy and changed there name.
Wells is using a U.S distributor to sell the product under the now name Comfort Furnace. If the name was around before this change it was not well known. The product is the same as CZ and made by Wells. If you can prove different, let me know. However, I know this industry very well and am confident in wh
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