List Price: $399.00
Sale Price: $139.90
Today's Bonus: 65% Off
This was my initial review posted on a deal site where i learned about this heater.
Consider this the good.
Been running the Lifesmart Infrared heater for the last 4 days and i think its a keeper.
We lowered our downstairs thermostat to 60 and cranked up the Lifesmart on high. It took several hours before the thermostat was satisfied when set to 68 degrees.
Once it cycled off and on a couple times, i tried raising the thermostat to 72. It never shut off. Looks like 66-68 is going to be the sweet spot if we dont want it running continuously.
I have it in a room that measures 13'x27' with 8' ceilings. We put up sheets to block double wide openings into adjacent rooms.
We put a temp gauge on the shelf and it does read around 68-70 degrees when the unit cycles off.
So is this thing going to heat a 1,000 to 1,500 sq. ft. area? I really doubt it, but it does a decent job of heating the room i purchased it for. It even has an off/on timer which we used both to turn the unit on in the morning an hour before we get up and then we also used it to shut off 2 hours after leaving the house just in case our guest forgets to turn it off.
The fan may be a little noisy for some, but we couldn't hear it with the TV going so its not a big deal.
You can feel the warm air coming out of it from about 4' away, but beyond that its not directly noticeable.
I haven't had the chance to hook up my Kill-A-Watt meter yet, but hope to do so this week.
Remote control works well and all functions are accessible through it.
The power cord does get a little warm to the touch. The manual does say that it must be plugged into an outlet rated at 15 Amps or more and that nothing else be allowed to run on that circuit.
If you do the math, 1500 Watts at 120 volts = 12.5 Amps. So i wont be running the microwave, TV or any other such appliance at the same time. Luckily we have a couple circuits in the living room area, so it hasnt been an issue for us.
So the jury is still out on the added electricity cost, but if the claims of a dollar a day hold true, hopefully itll save us some money on our oil bill. The manual bases that claim on operating it for 8 hours out of the day. Based on our KWH rate of 8.265, our cost to operate comes out to about .99 cents pr/day.
Ill be anxious to hook up the Kill-A-Watt and see what it says and also to have a look at our first electric bill.
The Bad and the Ugly:
Just short of 3 weeks of use, we got 2 E1 errors within 2 days of each other. Had to unplug the unit and plug right back in. We were able to continue using it after.
I knew about these E1 errors after reading some reviews here and was hoping it wouldnt happen to me. I decided to buy it anyways hoping Lifesmart had resolved the issue.
A couple days later the unit started shutting off completely with no error code. After letting it sit for a while, the power light would come back on. If we tried unplugging and replugging right away, it would not come back on and no lights appeared on the unit.
With just 2 days left on the return policy, it got sent back yesterday.
I emailed Lifesmart twice about the issue and after several days wait got a response suggesting it was an overheat issue and that i needed to make sure there was a minimum of 2-3 ft clearance behind the unit, that it wasnt plugged into a circuit with other high draw devices, that it wasnt on a GFCI outlet and that we weren't using an extension cord. None of this applied to us except for the fact that there are 2 lamps on the same circuit. As mentioned before i measured the Lifesmart heater drawing 12.5 Amps at its highest setting, so that leaves a little room for some low current devices like the lamps.
After waiting several more days when i inquired about shipping costs to send it back to them for repair, they said that they would ship me the parts and i could install them myself! I have no problem doing this, but found it highly unusual that they would suggest something like this on a unit thats still under warranty.
I got this email on my way to ship the unit back to the retailer i bought it from.
Last weekend i went out and bought 2 different inexpensive Fan Heaters that both have a 1500 watt setting. Both did about the same as the Lifesmart heater in keeping the room described above at around 66-68 degrees. The one cheaper fan was purchased for $16 and doesnt have the bells and whistles that the Lifesmart has, but it cost a whole lot less. The 2nd one costs $35 and does have a shut off timer feature, but no start up timer (which i miss). Both have the auto shut off tip feature.
Our electric bill did go up some in the 3 weeks we ran the lifesmart and i dont expect that using either of these less expensive heaters will change the electricity usage much. I put my Kill-A-Watt meter on both of the cheaper units and they both draw about the same wattage and current as the lifesmart.
The Lifesmart ran pretty much continuously unless i had it set to 66 degrees. It would then cycle off occasionally. As i have read elsewhere and in some recent deal forum discussions, is that 1500 watts is 1500 watts no matter how you slice it. The lifesmart is no more efficient than either of these 2 fan heaters i bought. The only thing these Amish style Infrared heaters have going for them is looks and the possible inclusion of an timer to turn the unit on at a specified time.
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I was interested in these types of heaters but after reading some of the reviews I was unsure. I decided to try it after a friend told me they had one and loved it. I live in NH and bought this to help heat my 500sq ft mobile home....well I am pleased to say that it has been heating my home all by itself, I have it set on low and on 68* and it keeps the whole place at that temp( I also run a fan to circulate the air)....its been in the low 20's and its done great! My propane furnace hasn't run once since I got this heater which is great at 3.40 a gallon for propane! I haven't gotten the 1st electricity bill yet, but I have figured out on low it uses 1000 watts an hour which is 1 kilo watt an hour and at .16 cents a kilo watt/hr thats $3.85 a day if it ran constantly which it does not, it cycles on and off so my bill shouldn't be that bad compared to propane costs....we will see. I recommend this heater to anyone looking to supplement their heating bill...its been doing a great job for me!Best Deals for Lifesmart 1500 Sqft 1500 Watt Infrared Quartz Heater 6 Element w
The LS1500-6 is bulkier and very noisy compared to the LS1500-4. We have both, and even though the LS1500-6 looks nicer, it's not worth dealing with the extra noise. Also, in terms of heating capability both models seemed about the same to us. The LS1500-6 failed on us after only 2 weeks of use, and vminnovations wanted us to pay forty bucks to ship it back to them for a replacement, plus shipping costs for the new unit ridiculous. We should have dealt directly with amazon since they have a better return policy for dealing with defective merchandise.Honest reviews on Lifesmart 1500 Sqft 1500 Watt Infrared Quartz Heater 6 Element w
I got this heater and one more that is metal i like both very well but the wood one got a nice cabinet i use both of them to heat my whole house 1400 sqf well made would buy again you can count on thatFind helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Lifesmart 1500 Sqft 1500 Watt Infrared Quartz Heater 6 Element w
Was apprehensive buying non-brand name, but it worked out fine. I'm actually using it for primary heating for one 150sf room as I'm doing a remodel, and so far it's worked fine with temps down to 30 degrees at night. Was so concerned about the electric bill, and was shocked when I got it...it only went up $10 by keeping the heat at 59 degrees. So now I have no problem with raising the temp. One issue I have with it is the chemical smell from the manufacturing of the internal parts. I have to burn a candle to get rid of the smell until it wears off. Other issue is the 2 minute cycling on & then off after it reaches the desired temp...I don't think it's supposed to do that, as it doesn't even heat up enough within that time frame. But for $200...I'm happy with the purchase...and the seller was fantastic...received the item within 3 days.
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