Cheap Honeywell Low Profile Silent Comfort Heater, HZ-617

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List Price: $69.99
Sale Price: $50.22
Today's Bonus: 28% Off

Nice compact, quiet, and safe heater. Puts out plenty of heat controlled by a thermostat. Auto turn-off if tipped but very stable. Fan can be turned on as well, but doesn't really make much difference, so it can be left off for silent operation. Can't imagine any other heater this size could be a better choice. It's about 3 feet wide, 6 inches thick, and 10 inches high. I haven't gone thru a winter with it yet, but it's obvious the heat it puts out will do the job.

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Opened the box, plugged it into a kitchen outlet and waited, waited, waited for the thing to warm up my small kitchen. After two hours, I could touch the unit to warm my hands, but that was about it. Called KAS, only to be told I would be responsible for the shipping costs to return it to them, and it would take 4-6 weeks for them to send another. God Bless Amazon they paid the full return postage for a full refund on the unit.

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This unit stopped working the first day of use. It has a shut off mechanism that cannot be reset by the user it needs to be sent back to the factory to be reset, which is more money and time than it is worth. Garbage!

Honest reviews on Honeywell Low Profile Silent Comfort Heater, HZ-617

My experience with this item was wonderful. It was silent and distributed a decent amount of heat. I used it to heat a room that was about 9 x 12. I kept the door closed and the room was toasty.

The only down side is that it died in stages. But for the price I paid and for 4 years of use I would encourage others to get this item.

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Honeywell HZ-617 Low Profile Silent Comfort Heater is one of the best heaters I have ever bought. Heats the room very well and there no noise. A good buy for the prices. I think Honeywell HZ-617 is better than oil filled heaters.

Buy Waring Pro Countertop Portable Burner

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List Price: $110.00
Sale Price: $46.24
Today's Bonus: 58% Off

I have owned single burners in the past for several reasons. They are nice to have when entertaining, especially around the holidays. Also, when I make shabu shabu, fondue, or a hot-pot dish, a tabletop burner is much nicer that using candles or alcohol-type burners.

I occasionally help out a friend at trade shows, demonstrating cooking techniques, and we always use single gas burners. I bought this one for when I need a slow, low heat for a long time. Gas burners need to have the butane canisters changed fairly often where this one plugs in and stays hot for as long as you need it. At home however, gas burners will be a great back-up during power outages where this one would be worthless.

I decided to show how this burner works by making this short video. I hope that it is helpful to you! Thanks.

EDIT: I am including this information about the boiling water demonstration by request: I used a heavy-duty anodized aluminium pan; the water was room temerature (72 degrees Fahrenheit); and the experiment was conducted at approximately 700 feet above sea level.

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I have been using an Eclipse single for about 3 years now. Before that I used another Eclipse model but it finally quit working. Recently my latest Eclipse started acting funny and so I thought it was time to fund a replacement and while I was at it, I thought I would try to find a higher quality unit. The Waring SB30 was well rated and not too expensive, so I grabbed one.

My initial take on the SB30 was that it was very well built and sturdy. This is a great improvement over the Eclipse burners I have used in the past. My only complaint is that cord is fairly short, maybe 3ft long. The knob has a very nice and smooth action to it. The base is rather large but it is very stable with an 8qt stock pot on it, so I guess I can't complain too much about that. The burner weighs a lot. I believe most of that weight is from the metal burner itself. More on this later on.

I use this burner as my main burner as I live in a rental and the range is not so good. The burner heats up a little slow but transfers that heat to the pan very quickly. I believe this is because the burner has a lot of metal in it and that allows it to store a lot of heat. This is a very good thing for boiling water and sauteing but not such a good thing for cooking touchier foods like milk and sauces.

ONE YEAR UPDATE: The SB30 has performed great over the past year. I have not had a single problem with the burner, it looks and works like new. All in all I am very happy with it.

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I've found the Waring Pro DB60 to be a solid double burner. I like the simple design with cast iron plates makes for easy clean up. The temperature control seems faster than other burners i've usedwhen turning down from 5 to 2 (high to simmer) The Waring cost more than other double electric burners on the market, but from the not convincing reviews of the others, and from using the Waring every day for several weeks i think it is definitely worth it.

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I can't begin to say how THRILLED I am with this unit.It is, simply, the BEST, PROFESSIONAL, COMMERCIAL QUALITY unit you can find. I've had other, non-professional units--which never heat hot enough--which causes sticking-and soon stop working. The extra $$ for this unit are worth every penny.I had given up on others-and this was my last resort. These burners heat and stay HOT for even cooking and frying. I use this double burner ALL THE TIME for all types of stove cooking-in place of of my regular stove-which had died. I didn't want to purchase another stove now because we'll soon be moving. ( It does take a minute or so to heat up--not a fault--it's in the construction--because once it does reach

the temperature level you want--IT STAYS hot at that temperature.)This is the ONLY unit which gets hot enough to BOIL WATER and COOK PASTA --in a BIG POT, too--because large burner IS large....and QUICKLY.All the other units NEVER reach boiling temperature.This is because it's 1500. I, also, recommend this flat surface over the raised burner grids--which are hard to clean. These flat surfaces clean instantly. REAL metal-not plastic and substitute stuff--for easy cleaning and quality appearance. When we move and have a stove, again, I know we'll continue to use this

as an extra burner . This is the ONLY unit I would recommend over all those cheapie ones--whether they cost little or a lot.I don't write reviews very often-but just had to share and praise this one.

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This is the second identical unit I've owned. The first one worked fine for about 6-8 months, then the temperature knob stopped working and I could only use it for 100% hot (5 on the knob) or nothing at all. Then it stopped working altogether.

The most recent one had a problem the second time I used it. I was cooking poached eggs and some water boiled over the pan. The burner shot sparks about 2 feet out the side and burned my wooden counter, smoked, and shot out another big spark before blowing out the electrical breaker. The company should look into these issues and fix them. The second one could have been really dangerous.

Char-Broil Tank Quick-Connect Kit Reviews

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This is actually a (stated) 12 foot flexible hose for a natural gas grill. $30 is a very good price for a quality hose, which this is. Also comes with detailed instructions on a few different ways to connect to your gas supply and a template to help determine what size connections you have.

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Ordered this to convert my portable grill to a more stationary use. Daily grilling I was using too many mini-tanks.

Awesome. Easy connect.

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Good alternative for a tools-free quick connect to a gas grill or other propane fueled device. The quick connect can be a bit hard for a person with a weak grip to engage and disengage. Perhaps this is plus if you have kids around. The hose is 10' long, not 4' as stated in the ad when I purchased the item. The flexible hose is vulnerable to being chewed by squirrels and raccoons to the point of leaking gas. I have replaced two hoses because of the forest critters. I have now sleeved the hose in flexible blue plastic electrical conduit to stop the damage.

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My own fault, should not have tried to match this online I guess, I thought quick connect LP was a standard size..NOT. This one was too big for my low pressure quick connect on my RV. I will be returning it and finding my solution at the Home Improvement stores where I can test fit for my application. The return shipping hassle will make it an expensive lesson for me.

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Great quality, worked as advertized. This is a perfect way to connect RV dual tanks to a barbeque unit placed outside. Should have done this years ago. NO NEED to carry extra propane bottles while on the road.

Cheap ChimneyFree Wallace Electric Fireplace Entertainment Center in

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List Price: $1,499.00
Sale Price: $1,099.00
Today's Bonus: 27% Off

I assembled this with my wife. Took me about two hours while watching a movie. So not bad and instructions were good. The quality is very good and quite heavy actually. I felt i got everything i paid for and more. Its been six months now and everything still working great.

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I am enjoying the ambience and it works well for my sterio and other stuff but was damage on the top.Well I live in Trinidad where it is hot most of the time but I bought it for the ambience and it also works well as an entertainment center. I think it is a good design because it really add a touch of class to your space.

Qmark HBB750 Electric/Hydronic Liquid-Filled Baseboard Heater - HBB Review

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List Price: $379.00
Sale Price: $211.56
Today's Bonus: 44% Off

very economical to operate, and keeps the place warm, much better than the old ones we replaced. My electric bill shows that.

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It works well, with no noise or smell. NIce, snug fit to wall. Thanks!

Review of Wagan 2577 Personal Fridge/Warmer - 7L Capacity

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List Price: $54.95
Sale Price: $43.50
Today's Bonus: 21% Off

Bought this item through Amazon which they shipped 7 Jun 2012. Today 20 Aug 2012 I phoned the Wagan Corp to let them know that their item was faulty. I went on to explain that the DC adaptor cord was faulty and the fridge would not work, they said the cords that came with the item are not coverd by their warranty. The warranty in the manual did not disqualify any thing being exempt from the warranty. Would suggest not buying from a company which does not stand behind their products as shipped.

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We just used this item on a two week trip. Our purpose was to keep some medication cool and have cool water. It worked on both counts within minutes the inside is cool. Remember to unplug it at night. It apparently only took about six hours to drain an Explorer battery. (It was still cool inside in the morning.) Lesson learned. These things cool to about 40 degrees below ambient, so in an air conditioned car it worked great. During short stops (up to two hours) we left it on and even though the inside car temp got to 100F the cooler was able to maintain a good cool environment. For what it is, and for the power it draws (45 watts or so?) it does the trick. It's not a refrigerator it's a cooler and for that it saved us from having to buy ice on the trip. I'm very happy with it. If the unit had more insulation is world be less useful because it would take up two much room in the car the size was just right for our needs.

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This cooler works very well when you put pre-chilled items in it. It has no problem keeping cold things cold (at least in the moderate temperatures I've used in it, so far).

It works OK with things that are room temperature IF you're willing to wait long enough for it.

I used it on a trip where I put leftovers from a restaurant in the cooler and plugged it in overnight at the hotel. In the morning everything was chilled. Cooled, not icy cold, but definitely a safe temp. It was probably about 7 hours, maybe 8.

When I got it I experimented with putting 6 cans of beer at room temp. in the cooler and leaving it overnight to see how cold they would be in the morning (not that I was planning to DRINK them in the morning, I just figured that beer would be something that is actually important to serve cold, not warm).

For the first test I somehow flipped the switch from "cooler" to "warmer" and didn't notice it. I SHOULD have noticed it because when in "cooler" mode the fan is on, the fan does not run in "warmer" mode. While this test obviously failed the "can it chill room temperature beer test," I did discover a few things. One, the "warmer" mode works really well and will warm up your beer so much that it will explode out of the cans while they are still in the cooler and make a great big mess. Two, it's very easy to accidentally switch into "warmer" mode. Three, whenever it's plugged in and the fan is not on, assume it is in "warmer" mode. Four, hot beer makes a nasty breakfast drink,

For the second "can it chill room temperature beer test" I made sure that it was in "cooler" mode, which is easy to do by ensuring you can hear the fan running. The beer was colder in the morning and certainly drinkable. (Did I drink it in the morning, or did I wait until at least noon?) Was it like the icy sensation depicted in beer commercials? No, but it was way better than the aforementioned hot beer.

Because keeping beer cold is so enjoyable, I also conducted a test where the 6 cans were started at refrigerator temperature and remained nicely so after a night on the "cooler" setting.

Here are some tips to success with this cooler (from my experience, you don't need any tips to make this work well as a warmer).

Most importantly, you have to buy an AC to DC adpater like the Wagan 5 Amp AC to 12V DC Power Adapter or similar. It needs to be 5 amps or more. You can NOT use one of those little wall wart style cigarette lighter adapters. You don't need it if you're ONLY going to use it in your car (with the car running!!!). You will find your car battery completely dead and perhaps damaged from over-discharge in the morning if you try to leave it plugged into your vehicle over-night.

It does seem to help to pre-chill the cooler for 20-30 minutes before putting stuff in it. I don't think this is completely necessary if you will be putting stuff in that is already cold and leaving it powered on while in transport. If you're going to put in room temperature stuff, then I think pre-chilling is a good idea.

The cooling (and I suppose heating) element of the cooler is in the bottom of the storage area. You can easily see it in the product photos. It's the lighter colored area on the inside in the photo where you're looking down into the open cooler from above. It would probably make more sense to have the cooling element on the TOP so that the coldness would come down onto the beer, or food. That wouldn't work so well for warming, but let me remind you how gross it is to drink hot beer. Anyways, that's how it is. To improve the efficiency, I always place a napkin or plastic bag over the top of the beer, or food, to make the cooling area smaller and more isolated. I can't say for certain that this makes a difference, but it probably does help a little. It's also useful to have a napkin around, because by the time you get to finishing that sixth beer, you'll probably have spilled a little on yourself.

The manual says not to use ice in conjunction with the cooler. I don't know why not. I haven't done this yet, but I think it's a good idea. On it's own without power, it is still an insulated, "sealed" container (maybe not super good insulation, but better than a paper bag). Put a bowl of ice on the kitchen counter and a bowl of ice your refrigerator. Which melts first? Right. So using ice (or probably better to use Blue Ice or similar) should help to keep things colder in warmer outside temperatures and/or lengthen the effective cooling time of the ice or ice substitute. I don't care what the manual says here. I'm using some ice packs on my next long usage, even if that means I can only fit in 5 cans of beer at a time (actually, it does hold 9 regular cans just fine, but just in case you want to also have some food).

MAKE SURE IT'S ON "COOLER" MODE!!! If you don't, it won't work as a cooler, and may in fact actually be on "warmer" mode, which might be bad!

Lastly, don't expect miracles from this little thing. Tasking it with cooling a 6 pack from room temperature is not really fair. Liquids can absorb and retain way too much energy before you notice a real change in temperature, especially for drinking. If you can, try to pre-chill your beer in some cold water for a little while, like a stream, or cold water from the tap, or wrapped in wet towels to use evaporative cooling. Then put in the cooler.

I can think of very few instances where you would want to use this as a warmer, but in case you do, it can do it, and do it very well. I guess they include that function because it's just as easy to make it work that way once the thermoelectric system is in place. I dunno. I think it's weird (and annoyingly easy to cook your beer).

The other biggest complaint I've seen in the other reviews is the noise level. All of the noise comes from the fan. The thermoelectric cooling/heating itself is silent. There is no fan for the "warmer" mode and you would never know it's on until you start hearing your beer cans explode in the middle of the night and wonder what the heck that strange sound is and where it is coming from and why your room smells like a dive bar. The "cooler" mode needs the fan to blow the hot air away from the heat sink. Yes, you can hear it in a hotel room. Yes, it's sorta loud. Is it terribly annoyingly loud? Not really. It's white noise. Really bothering you? Put it in the closet and close the door.

I also take advantage of the air discharge from the fan to keep the AC-to-DC adapter cool. Determine where the most air is being blown out and place the little box for the adapter in the air stream. The little adapter box does get warm, especially after several hours and this helps to keep it reasonably cooled off. Also the plug where you connect the adapter to the power cord (the male/female cigarette lighter adapter pieces) gets a little warm, too, so I also place this in the fan discharge area.

The only thing that really concerns me is the hinges for the door appear a little weak, but so far so good and I'll just continue to be careful about them.

Overall, I'd recommend this product as long as you temper your expectations (get it? "temper?") and follow the tips I noted above.

---

Update:

FYI, the CLA power cord is just over 6 feet long. Plenty long enough to reach from the front console to the back seat area (but not the rear cargo area of an SUV).

Another update: Overall it seems pretty durable. I manage to drop it from about waist height, loaded with food, onto a hard surface. It showed no signs of damage and still works just fine. Of course, food weighs less than beer, so I can't say that the results would have been the same had it been loaded with beer. But really, if you make a habit of dropping your beer, you've got different issues.

Honest reviews on Wagan 2577 Personal Fridge/Warmer - 7L Capacity

I bought this cooler for a family road trip. Just before we left I filled it with 6 bottles of orange juice from the fridge the night before and put them inside. They were still nice and cool when we drank them. There was still plenty of room for yogurt, string cheese and apples for the kids. I love how it helps us save money and eat better by bringing our own healthy snacks from home instead of stopping for fast food when the kids get hungry. The cup holders are a nice addition too.

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My wife and I had to make a 5 hour trip to a neighboring state to visit family. We had medication that needs to be kept refrigerated and at the hotel/motel we were staying at over the weekend, they did not offer a fridge in the room. So instead of getting a cooler and playing the "dump and refill the ice" game, I opted to purchase this product. As some other users have pointed out, this is a cooler, not an actual fridge. Perhaps calling the product a "personal fridge" could be misleading. The price was decent, compared to some others out there and it does keep things cool (have not yet tried the warmer). Our jeep had a cigarette lighter plugin that still pumped out power when the jeep was turned off, so in short instances where we had to stop for dinner/lunch, the cooler kept on working. One thing to note in the instructions, it does say not to leave it plugged in that way and make sure you unplug it before starting the vehicle again this little cooler does suck some battery power.

I ended up having to buy a converter to be able to plug the power into the wall socket from a cigarette lighter. DO NOT USE the converters that are used for cell phones! They do not output enough amps. I made this mistake and it melted the converter that was plugged into the wall. Wagan does sell a converter that is made this product. Since I was already in the middle of my trip, I bought a similar converter from the local W-mart and picked up a Coleman branded converter. It worked and the cooler kept the meds cool for the next 2 days without incident. For what I bought it to do, it did the job well. The only cons to this product is that the product looks and feels a little cheaply made and labels that are placed in the front of the switches, looked like it was (crookedly) placed there by a child. Other than that it is a decent product.

Best Lasko 5840 Cyclonic Room Heater with Remote Control Deals

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List Price: $108.99
Sale Price: $79.99
Today's Bonus: 27% Off

Grabbed this for $69 at Sams club. The cord and plug get a bit warm but every heater I have had does the same. I have some Tower Heaters which I love so thought I would check out this one.

Not bad at all. What I like is that it can be placed right on the wall and fits just about anywhere. The Towers are great and I use the heck out of them, but I have accidentaly knocked them over, killing them. In fact, I have done that twice so now I know to keep the towers in certain areas where they cant get knocked down.

This unit fits anywhere. It does not oscilate like the towers but does have the leavour(sp?) design which allows you to direct air in a wide range up to down. It has a wide outlet and combined with the directional airflow, it works great.

The Ionizer is a plus. None of my towers have them and they do work so nice to have that feature. The remote is easy to use, as are the remotes on the towers.

The BEST thing I like about this heater, which I have not found on any heater I have bought to date is when it is on low, the fan really kicks in. Most heaters when put on low do not have enough air force pushing out. This one shoots the air out like a jet stream when on low and the air is pretty darned warm/hot. I find that I never put it on high even though high works very, very well. Air comes out hard and nice and hot. Heats up a big open area with vaulted ceilings pretty quickly. It almost works too well, that is why I use low or auto. Low still kicks out nice hot air with a very forceful fan, so it works great on low. No need to use high unless temps drop to 10 degrees outside. The auto feature is nice. Set your temp and it comes on and off as needed. When on Auto it does come on in HIGH. Would have been nice if they allowed the auto feature to be used on either high or low like one of the Honeywells I have allows. That is the one thing I would change on every heater with Auto. Allow Auto to be used on either high or low, not just high.

Overall a very good heater that heats a pretty nice sized area with vaulted celings. I see the prices and think they are a bit high. Heck, I thought $69 was pricey at Sams Club. I got a Lasko Tower 2 or 3 years ago at sams club for $34.95 and another one last year for $39.00. They are GREAT for the money.

I also grabbed a Delhongi Oil Radiator Type heater at wallmart for $24.95. Not good for a large area but very good for a bedroom or office. It is radiant heat so no fan. It heats the oil and the all metal cylinders then radiate the heat. Almost as if you took a chunk of steel and threw it in a fire and then took it out while red hot. It radiates the heat. The pro's are it is very energy efficient as once the oil heats it only needs to maintain a certain temp ( whatever temp you set it at) so the actual heating elements do not stay on so it uses FAR LESS energy/power then other heaters. The con's are no quick heat and no fan. It is great if you can turn it on a half hour before you need the heat (getting one with a timer would solve that) but if you are looking for instant warmth or a fan blasting hot air in to the room, this doesnt do it. It takes about half an hour to get nice and hot and does a fine job of keeping my smaller bedroom nice and toasty in the evenings set on low setting 5 (out of 10) which I love because the ceramic and electric heaters would use 10 times the energy/power to keep that room toasty which is overkill for a small room.

So, depending on your needs and budget should determine what you buy.

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I purchased this heater after my apartment failed to repair our heating after 2 months of complaining. I wanted a nice heater that could keep the apartment hot without breaking after being on for a few hours. This one has met my expectations in every way.

I live in a 720 square foot apartment consisting of 1 bedroom, 1 bath, and 1 living room/kitchen area. When the whether hit -8 degrees F, this heater was not able to heat the entire apartment. After closing the bathroom and bedroom, it was able to get the living room back up to 70 degrees though within a couple of hours (from 55 degrees).

In better whether (like 30 degrees F), It can keep the temperature up as well, for the entire 720 square feet. But that is usually only if it works constantly, with only an occasional break (if you are using the auto) every hour or so.

I would not have survived this crazy winter this year without this device. I use it in congruence with a cheap heater the apartments gave me that can't even set temperature, so I have to shut it off regularly to prevent overheating.

This heater and the automatic function have kept me at 70-73 degrees for the last month. without a problem. It did it's job, and when I do by a house, I am sure I will use this one, and maybe buy one or two more.

Unfortunately for you, I can't let you know the power usage, I get electricity for free. But I definitely recommend this product.

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One's individual thermostat varies from person to person. With this unit one can cater their own comfort level to their own liking. Why heat rooms where there not being used. It's so whisper quiet. A regular gas furnace is so expensive and noisy to operate. I haven't gotten the electic bill yet so as a cost saving measure is yet to be determined. The portability factor is fantastic, so light one can carry it room to room. The ionic feature is a definite added plus. I wish I had purchased this type of unit years ago. So far, the temp on the unit has not gotten over seventy two degrees, which is perfect. The settings do allow a ninety degree setting, however anything to toasty could be cause it to overheat. One can set the timer for one hour or more, which helps as a cost saving measure. It's really nice to set the timer and drift off to sleep. Just ideal for a bedroom/bathroom size. With a living room size, it has to run more than four hours to warm up the area. People have ingrained in their minds that a "space heater" is a fire hazard, not so with the new ones on the market, this one there are no exposed coils that glow. I definitely would buy another one sometime in the future. Electric heat is so much cleaner, no dangerous carbon monoxide fumes and no maintenance costs. The remote is also handy. Invest in one you won't be disappointed.

Honest reviews on Lasko 5840 Cyclonic Room Heater with Remote Control

When I took this thing out of the box I thought to myself "now this is a heater!". The thing is huge and very nice looking, and seems very solid. The best looking heater around, unless you start comparing fireplace heaters.

It heats pretty good also and has awesome electronics. One complaint I have with the digital controls on it is that it cycles on and off in a range of 3 degrees. This would be fine on a warmer day or in a small house. I am in Michigan and have a 4000 sq ft house, so this thing does not have the power to increase the temperature 3 degrees to be able to cycle off. It does increase 2 degrees, so you figure just lower it one notch right? Wrong. If I do that then it has to wait 3 degrees down before it turns on, which never happens since my furnace kicks in.

That is my only complaint, wish it had a range of 2 degrees or 1 degree, or allowed us to choose the range.

I own 8 different types of space heaters and this one is not the best but it is up there. The few that are slightly better a Optimus H-5300 Quartz & Convection which I think puts out more heat than any space heater, an old discontinued Charmglow electric stove heater, and also a Lifesmart LS1500-6 seems to heat the room an extra degree but it is very expensive, not completely sure if it is worth the extra expense yet.

This Lasko Cyclonic heater puts out a lot of heat, don't get me wrong, I just included those comparisons to give you an idea of what I put this heater up against. It has a very powerful fan that distributes the heat and yet the fan is quiet. The cycle on off is also quiet. Pushing the buttons makes a beep, so playing around with the buttons while baby is sleeping is not suggested.

On low it uses 894 watts, on high it uses 1360 watts, using the Ionizer actually lowers the watts by 25 and the air feels even hotter. When the heat cycles off and the fan continues for 30 seconds or so, it is using 33 watts, when on standby it is using 1 watt. I tested it with a killawatt tester.

I think this heater is a good buy and recommend it.

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Also purchase this at Sam's for $30 less. We keep our bedroom cool (52-58 degrees F) to conserve energy and sleep better. This also keeps our bathroom too cool to comfortably shower in the morning. This heater brings the temp from 55 to 65 in about 15 minutes. It makes getting ready for work at 6:00am much less painful.

Reviews of Breville BKE820XL Variable-Temperature 1.8-Liter Kettle

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List Price: $199.99
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I am relatively new to the tea scene (my wife and I started drinking Teavana teas about a year ago) and as such I have been searching for a really good kettle. I wanted an electric kettle because of their ease of use as well as the extra features some of the nicer kettles offer. After an exhaustive search I decided upon the Breville SK500XL Ikon Stainless-Steel Electric Kettle based in no small part to the excellent reviews it has received on Amazon and other sites.

I went to a few stores to examine it in person and compare it to about ten other electric kettles that the different stores carried but nothing seemed to come close to the design and quality of the Breville. So after finally making my decision, it was simply a matter of time before I made my purchase. I am very glad I waited as within 2 weeks this new Breville kettle was released. While still substantially costlier than the SK500XL, the BKE820XL has a number of features and design improvements that made the extra cost more than worth it. These include:

Multiple temperature settings (different teas require different temperature water for an optimally brew) with 20 minute hold

Improved water level indicators now on both sides (the single water level indicator on the SK500XL is behind the handle which makes it hard to read)

I've only had my BKE820XL a few days (I purchased it from a local store) so I cannot speak to its long term reliability yet, if it is anything like the SK500XL, I don't expect to have any problems.

Oh yeah, and the tea I've made in the last few days is easily the best I've ever brewed! Yay!

UPDATE 1/2/2009: I've had the BKE820XL for over a month now and I still love it! The only thing I've found that I would critique is:

After you are done boiling water for the day, you need to either dry out the lid by hand or leave the lid open for a few hours to let the water evaporate (from the lid where it collects). I am concerned that not doing this might lead to issues down the road.

Even with that, I am still overjoyed with my purchase (which I use at least 5 times a week) and highly recommend it to anyone in search of a quality electric kettle.

UPDATE 3/12/2009 Nothing much to report except that my wife and I are continuing to use our kettle mutliple times a week and are extremely happy with it. It has a permanent place on our counter! :)

UPDATE 09/26/2010 Just wanted to pop on and provide a quick update. We have had this kettle almost 2 years now and have yet to have any issues with it (fingers crossed). We have used it at least once a week (if not a lot more) pretty much without fail and are still very happy with it. At this point if something were to go wrong with it, we wouldn't hesitate to purchase another one. Highly recommended. :)

UPDATE 09/30/2010 A commenter chastised me a bit for not mentioning the BPA controversy in my review. As I mentioned in my reply to her, I would caution everyone to be sure to read the actual scientific papers or publications that are as unbiased as possible. I find a great source for all things scientific to be Arstechnica.com. They have a great way of breaking down complex topics in ways that non-scientific types (like myself) can really understand and absorb (see this BPA article as an example: ).

If you don't want to wait for a conclusive link between BPA and health issues (of which there has not been one to date that I am aware of), I can completely understand and sympathize. If I had an infant I would definitely be doing all I could to minimize their BPA intake. Still, with that said I would ask that anyone concerned by this or other health issues please try to represent the facts in your arguments and not the hype; this allows others to make their own, informed decisions as well.

UPDATE 09/04/2011 We've had our Breville almost three years now and have yet to have any problems with it. Most of the negative reviews seem to be in regard to the potential BPA issue which I've already posted my opinion on (both above & in the comments to this review) however a few have mentioned actual mechanical issues. Perhaps they use theirs more than we do (we use ours at most once per day but probably more realistically about 3 to 4 times a week on average) or maybe they just received a lemon (or perhaps ours is the exception, I couldn't really tell you). I have noticed recently that the lid sometimes stays shut while the water is still hot; I don't know if it has always done this and I never noticed before or if it has recently started to do this, either way I look at it as a design element (to help keep me from spilling hot water on myself) but perhaps it is a design flaw? Regardless all I do is tap on the lid once or twice while pushing the button and it opens right up. Other than that it works just as well as the day we bought it (I still don't have a decent thermometer so I couldn't tell you how accurate it was new or used but the water still seems as hot...for whatever that is worth).

UPDATE 04/09/2012 Well I am sad to report that, after almost 4 years of service, our Breville appears to be on its last legs. Over the last few months we've started to notice some faulty behavior that I suspect is indicative of our unit's impending death. Here are the issues that have started to plague our kettle:

Kettle does not shut off at the proper temperature: this is happening more and more we mostly use our kettle for coffee these days and I use the second highest setting (195 degrees) for our Chemex. The issue is the kettle doesn't always shut off at 195 degrees but will go to a full boil instead. I do not know if it would eventually shut itself off or if this is a true safety issue as I've always notice the issue right away. This is not a huge issue (provided the safety shutoff is still working, which is unknown) as much as an inconvience but it does not bode well for the kettle's future.

For the first time this morning, the Breville shutoff prematurely. I turned the kettle on, set my temperature and the temperature hold and walked away. When I returned (less than 5 minutes later), the kettle had shut off and the water was nowhere close to the 195 degree that it was set to. I was unable to get the kettle to heat up the water to the 195 degree setting as it would (by the sound of it) start to heat up but then before the water was hot enough, it would shut off. The water never got to the correct temperature and the kettle never shut off. It seemed stuck in a repeating cycle. I eventually set the kettle to its highest setting (205 degrees) and the kettle started working again.

To me these issues seem to indicate that the kettle is having issues with its electronics and not with the actual heating unit itself (but obviously this is purely speculation on my part based on my anecdotal evidence). Being that this is the only "high end" kettle we've owned, I don't know if 3+ years is a normal or acceptable lifespan for a tool such as this. I know it only comes with a 1 year warranty but for the price, I had hoped it would last at least 5 to 10 years but perhaps that is unrealistic? Being that my wife and I are mostly coffee drinkers these days, we probably will replace this kettle with gooseneck spout type kettle (like this Bonavita: Bonavita 1.0L Electric Kettle BV3825B) instead of another Breville. Overall I'm still a fan of our kettle and will be sad to see it go.

I believe my original score of 5 stars still stands though I'd change it to a 4.5 if Amazon allowed 1/2 stars.

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First, this kettle is gorgeous! I bought it for it's beauty and easy to use variable temperature and the fact it had a viewing window to easily see how much water was inside. Before I used it, I emailed Breville to find out what type of plastic the viewing window was made from. The response I received was a defensive email about how polycarbonate and BPA are safe for food contact and this kettle is safe. I've been reading the research on BPA and polycarbonate for years, so they didn't share anything new with me. I would have preferred their response to simply state "polycarbonate" and then offer to provide me with more information if I had any concerns.

Regardless, they weren't going to change my mind. I don't feel comfortable with polycarbonate around my boiling (or close to boiling) water and in this day and age where BPA is a huge uproar, I am super surprised that Breville came out with a brand new kettle containing polycarbonate. I would have loved to see this kettle have a glass viewing window and lid, that would have been super! Especially with the price point they are selling this at. Having it be a "toxin free" kettle with no plastic would have been a great marketing move.

I did reply and thank them for the information and politely told them I would be returning it due to the polycarbonate, but that if they came out with a version that had glass instead of polycarbonate, I'd snap it up in a second. I received no further reply from Breville.

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I got this kettle to brew the perfect cup of coffee and I loved it for the first 6 months. Then things started going south. The kettle intermittently does not shutoff when it reaches the proper temp of 200F. Instead it continues to heat to a boil and will boil itself dry unless turned off. Now the audible alarm has stopped working. I can't trust the thermostat and the kettle shouldn't be left unattended the 2 main reasons for purchasing it!

I feel that for what this kettle costs it should have lasted a lot longer. If I had written this review when I first got this kettle I would have given it 5 stars, but experiencing such failure in so short a period of time I can only give it 1 star. I wonder how many of the 5 star reviews were posted right out of the box.

I really got spoiled when this kettle as working properly. I'm on a quest now to find a reliable replacement.

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Despite the 1-star review, which I will get to in a moment, this Breville kettle gets 5 stars for performance and aesthetics, both of which are addressed in detail by others in their reviews, so I will not repeat. It gets 4 stars for durability I have had the kettle for about 2 years and it still works great, however less than a year in, the inside bottom developed several dozen small white spots. I have tried more than once to remove these with baking soda but they persist (I never boil anything other than Brita-filtered water).

Now, why the 1 star? As some others have commented, Breville kettle uses plastic material for the water-level windows on both sides of the kettle not BPA free. Even plastics that have no BPA still leach chemicals into water at boiling temperatures, so the use of plastic instead of glass in a kettle is truly not acceptable any more.

Here are some numbers, to support this potentially serious issue. I recently purchased ZeroWater Water Tester ZeroWater ZT-2 Electronic Water Tester, which measures the amount of dissolved particles in water (with very consistent and accurate results; highly recommended, may change your water drinking habits). We are fortunate to have relatively clean municipal water, its reading came in at 47 TDS (typical range in the U.S. is 51-200), which Brita pitcher gets down to 35 TDS. After boiling Brita-filtered water in this Breville kettle, the TDS reading went UP from 35 to 90 TDS! The same Brita-filtered water boiled on the stove in a non-stick pot went up from 35 to 43 (after boiling for 3 minutes). In a steel pot, the particles' reading went up from 35 to 47. The particles concentration goes up, in large part, due to evaporation of some of the water by steam, thus leaving a higher concentration of heavier (non-evaporating) particles in the pot.

I repeated the test a few days later. The absolute readings were +/3 from the above results, but the conclusion was still very much the same using Breville kettle to boil water adds chemical particles to your drinking water. You have to decide for yourself are the satisfying performance and stylish looks of this kettle worth adding significant unnecessary and potentially harmful plastic particles into your body.

UPDATE 11/15/12:

After about a year, 2 performance issues developed:

1. The auto-shutoff stopped working it actually got delayed, rather than completely not functioning the water would boil and boil, for 5-10 minutes, before the kettle would finally shut itself off.

2. Kettle started leaking at the bottom of the handle. Not a few drops type of leaking, but a little stream.

I'm looking for a replacement now.

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I drink various types of teas constantly to my dentist's consternation, such as Irish and East Frisian in the morning with Pu Erh Tuo Cha and Green Jasmine in the evening. On the weekends I drink French Pressed coffee.

I did it the old fashioned way with a thermometer. Needless to say, but I will anyway, this kettle did make life simpler, but, (always a but) it has not functioned as advertised.

The primary issue is on the boiling setting for black teas. Sometimes it shuts off, and sometimes it doesn't. The other presets have worked flawlessly, and this may only be an anomaly with this particular pot.

I will say that I am going to order a second one, and send this one back to Breville for repairs. That should tell you how much I like the idea of this kettle.