Optimus H-5210 Infrared Quartz Radiant Heater
by Optimus
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List Price: Our Price: $16.99 You Save: $13.00 (43%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Optimus H-5210 Infrared Quartz Radiant Heater
Customer Review: THE BEST THING I EVER BOUGHT FROM AMAZON
Summary: 5 Stars
For those of you in an apartment, studio, condo, small home, or trailer... get this item!
Several years ago I was living in an apartment and the landlord had control of the thermostat. I went through a few different electric space heaters. Each did it's job, but they had an odor and aggrivated my asthma. (I understand now that electric space heaters have an adverse effect on air quality.)
A year an a half ago I bought a two bedroom trailer and had the shock of my life at the cost of propane heat. For a single woman, spending over two thousand dollars a year on propane for a small home is rough! So I started investigating how I could save money on propane while trying to keep my electric bill manageable.
I saw an advertisement on tv for Edenpure, (another quartz bulb heater) then discovered they want about $400.00 a unit. Out of curiousity I came here to Amazon and did a search for quartz bulb heaters and found this very inexpensive unit. I admit I bought it on impulse, but I'm so glad I did.
THE PROS:
1 - This unit is feather-light. I can take it from room to room with me without a struggle.
2 - It has two settings. One is 400 watts and the other 800. If you position the heater to face you while you're at the computer or watching tv, you will get nice and toasty in about 5 - 10 minutes on the 400 watt setting. If you set it away from you and turn it to 800 watts, it will warm the entire room. I actually find myself turning it back down to 400 watts because the room heats up a little too much.
3 - NO FUNNY SMELLS!
4 - It doesn't seem to have an adverse effect on the air quality at all. Usually heaters (especially electric room heaters) make my chest tighten a little, but not this one.
5 - My dog loves it. It doesn't matter if the unit is in the office, living room, or bedroom, if he's taking a nap he's a few feet in front of it.
6 - I've been able to turn my home thermostat down to 60 degrees. The propane heater has actually ran very little. I hear the propane heater mostly at night because the quartz unit is on the other side of the my home with me and away from my thermostat.
THE CONS:
1 - The dial is easy to read, but it's difficult to actually see what position you need to turn the dial to. There's an upraised arrow, but it's the same color as the base unit. For me, I took a permanent marker and made a little dot on the arrow to make it more visible.
2 - You will need the patience to move the unit with you. For me, it warms my office and living room nicely during the day. I could probably purchase a second unit and put that in my bedroom to warm the back area of my home, but that would increase my electric usage.
Overall, I HIGHLY recommend this to unit!
Customer Review: Heats like a warm sunny afternoon!
Summary: 5 Stars
My entire (large & drafty) bedroom feels like a warm, sunny afternoon! It's 40-degree weather outside. My central heat is set at 60 (for entire house) & I'm using my new Optimus H-5210 Infrared Quartz Heater at LOW setting in my bedroom (with the door open)! Sitting 4 feet away feels like the sun is shining on my body. It's sitting on the floor. I'm sitting in a regular easy-chair. Standing 15 feet away is very, very WARM! I haven't even needed the HIGH setting. Used it last night & had to get up & turn it off after a few hrs (and throw off all covers).
I debated between this heater & the smaller model from Optimus (that looks like a little fan). Based on another review, I picked THIS one. It's great! I love this little gem! I just ordered another one!
Pro's:
- Warm!
- Sun-like heat!....Warms you to-the-bones!
- Low setting is fine for me!...saving electricity
.....and I'm very COLD-natured!!!!!
- Cord does NOT get hot (like my other space heaters do)...on low
.....Can't tell you about the "high" setting, yet.
.....Don't know if I'll EVER need the "high" setting.
- This is JUST as warm (in SAME room & temps) as my other 1500 watt heaters!
- Quiet (you can't hear it at all)
- Sides & back of unit are NOT hot.
- Furniture that's 3 feet away (from front)is NOT hot....but the air is summer-beach-setting WARM
- Amazon delivered TO my front door in less-than 48 hours!...with Free SuperSaver Shipping!
Con's:
- No thermostat
- Control knob turns ONE way (confusing in the dark)
...You just have to LOOK to see what setting you're on
.....(Low, High or Off)...based on what tube is lit (or not)
.....I just unplug it when I'm warm enough.
- The TOP tube stays lit for "low".
...Will probably burn out long before the bottom one will
I can't give it a lower rating for these "Con's".
I can live with them if I have WARM heat that feels THIS good & NO hot cord & LESS electricity consumption.
This is a 5-star "deal" if you're looking for:
- Sunlike warmth!
- Low electricity consumption for space heating
- NO hot cords!!!
I'll forget about those $300 to $500 heaters (that I've wondered about on TV infomercials).
This inexpensive heater seems like it's very, very similar to their "claims" (except that it DOES get HOT on FRONT side).
So....if you have small children, be as cautious with this one as you would with ANY other space heater. And, do NOT place anything nearby that might fall on this heater (and cause a fire). Warms FINE 4 feet away from your bed; but don't even think about using in a child's room unattended by an adult!
Customer Review: Nearly perfect little heater
Summary: 4 Stars
I use these at home and the office. After my first month of using two of these at home, I told my employer I was ordering one for the front office. I work for a small law firm where every room has its its own imperfect temperature zone. The secretary, who's desk is accross from mine, spends every winter complaining that she's 'freezing'. Last year she tried bringing in an electric heater from her home, which tripped the circuit breakers several times the first week, wiping out any in-progress computer work as it did. At the end of the week her heater went back to her house, and the office went back to status quo...she complained she was freezing, I wore clothes in layers, and the attorney continued to turn down the thermostat every time someone put it above what he considered sufficient. This year, the secretary keeps one of these heaters under her desk, set on low. She's absolutely thrilled. I wish I had known about these heaters last year! I would have bought one for her desk even if the money came from my own pocket! BTW - even though its under her desk, not mine, the entire front office warms up so much that the office's thermostat doesn't go on. This heater will pay for itself in a short time in the savings in heating oil. NOTE - won't work as an underdesk heater for a tiny desk since the heat coming off the front of these heaters is too much to be right up against your legs (or pointed at flammable objects) but our ancient, huge, office desks with attached metal drawers work just fine.
I also have oil heat at home. I bought two of these heaters for my home and am now ordering a third. I have an older home where some of the wiring is questionable. I never felt safe plugging any heater that used over 900 watts unless it was the only electric appliance on that line. These heaters throw off an excellent amount of heat for 400 watts. It's perfect for a small room like my home office. We keep the house thermostat down to 55 most of the day and use these heaters to heat the rooms we're spending time in. The 800 watt setting is only needed for a hour or two in the larger rooms, like the living room (13 X 19), before turning it back down to 400 watts.
They heat up to full capacity in about 90 seconds and are perfectly silent...you can only tell they're on by the glow of the little light strip heating elements and by the warmth they throw off. They don't dry out your skin and sinus like fan driven heaters.
They aren't perfect - as mentioned by others they don't have a thermostat, so they're either on or off. Lack of thermostat brought my review down from 5 stars to 4. If there was an identical heater with a thermostat I'd pay twice as much and get one for every room in my house!
Customer Review: Optimus H-5210 Heater
Summary: 5 Stars
This little item was too good to be left without a review so here goes...
I have owned dozens of heaters throughout my half century of living.
From electric fan heaters to oil filled radiant heaters to other quartz heaters and on and on.
Living in the northeast USA you have plenty of season to try and figure out the cheapest, most efficient and safest ways of heating your eternally cold body throughout the months of October through early April.
I currently use the following methods of heating my 2700 sq ft of living space.
I have 2 oiled filled radiant heaters in the basement (left on the low 600 w setting,)I have two oiled filled heaters in the upstairs only used when my fireplace insert has gone out for the night, one oil filled heater in the garage also set usually on low-600w. Two additional fan forced electric heaters are used when needed. My propane heat will only come on when the upstairs goes below 59 degrees so I keep my propane use to a minimum.
So, now that my electric company has raised rates by 30% just this January, I have been trying to cut back electric use as much as possible...Which brings us to the unit of review-The Optimus H-5210.
Even with the hodgepodge of heat emitting units I own, I was interested in buying a newer and more efficient heater for those times (especially in my basement where I work-and it`s the coldest part of the house,)when I need that one heater, close to my body but with plenty of heat, no noise and using less wattage than my current units.
After a thorough internet study of all the units available in a moderate price range I decided on the Optimus due to the high ratings of owners as well as the fact that the 400 watt setting seemed to be satisfactory for most people who own the unit.
Purchased from Amazon and delivered today I can honestly give this small powerhouse a THUMBS UP !!
It`s completely quiet, has a 3 year warranty, on the low setting gives off more heat than any of my fan based units and is so small and light that moving around the house is a snap.
My only concern is that the quartz heating coils will blow out and at that point it probably would be worth just buying another. The 29.99 price on Amazon was very reasonable as well.
Hope this wasn`t too scattered of a review but since heaters occupy a big place in my day to day life I needed to set up the review with a short history....
Kudos to Optimus for the product and hope it lasts at least a few years.
Customer Review: Great little heater even thought it doesn't have a thermostat
Summary: 5 Stars
Just receive it in the mail today. Open it, read the one page instructions, really easy, typical stuff, plugged it in and gave it a try. Settings were 400 and 800w on the knob. Only thing like other reviewer stated, you can't see the settings on the know directly in front of the unit, you have to look to the side to see the readings. Two sets of Off, 400Watt, and 800 Watt settings on the knob. Also the indicator arrow is plastic and same color as the unit, so that's kind of hard to see too. My workaround for this was to color black with a magic marker (sharpie pen) the arrow indicator, then print out using a Brother P-touch labeler for the OFF, 400 and 800 labels and trimmed and set those on the knob so I could easily see the settings now from front of the heater. Heater is super quiet, why?, it doesn't have a fan blower, its a radiant heater, which works great for night time. It's good for small room, works great as long as its pointed at you. I'm using it at the 400watt setting so that is fine already. Now it doesn't have a thermostat so it will not automatically shut down or turn on automatically. Not a problem, still gets the job down in keeping you warm. Sure it will warm up the room but that will take some time. Its a soft gentle heat unless you feel the need to cozy up and hug it which will probably give you small diamond checkered pattern burn marks from the grill face. Whereas, the plastic housing doesn't get hot (ouch touch) at all, at least you will not pull your hand away in pain, its just a little warm like one of those new "Don't burn yourself" side of a bread toaster. (e.g. Warm, but will not burn you.) I didn't feel any heat or warmth from the powerline/plug that some heaters you will notice happening. It's small, compact, like a 14 x 14 square looking picture frame, but thin when you look at it from the side view. You would expect that it was thicker, even when I took it out of the shipping box. LOL. The plastic housing felt sturdy, well made material and does not have a cheap plastic look either.
Yes, like all heaters it does have the tip over shut off feature for safety purposes. It also has a plastic molded handle in the back to carry. BTW the unit is very light so you shouldn't have a problem carrying it around from room to room. And for storage it has those molded plastic horns in the back that you can wrap the cord around. One last thing, it does not oscillate. But for the money it's a nifty little heater that can do the job to keep you warm, plain and simple. :-)