Bulbs & Fittings Ideas

Living in the snow belt of NY state and using space heaters as the main source of heat in my home for the last few winters, I know a thing or two about them. I haven’t been able to afford a heating oil delivery, so naturally, I turned to electric heat.

My first heater purchase was a highly rated radiant heater which was alright, except it was pretty darn big, and the heat it provided seemed so-so for the price I paid. The next one was a bionaire heater which was still rather large and so-so for the price I paid.

Being on a budget, my next two heaters were this particular one. I love how small they are, and it can get downright HOT, even on the coldest nights if you don’t have it on medium/low. I had them running almost on a constant basis for 6 months, 2 years running, and this is the third year and have had no issues with them quitting on me. I did go and buy them from a physical store, so maybe bad handling was the case with others who had a problem with it.

Anyway, on the subject of electric bills, mine were pretty high. A winter of electric bills was pretty much equivalent to a winters worth of heating oil, but at least I didn’t have to pay that in a lump sum, up front.

I needed a couple of new inexpensive space heaters so I decided to do a bake off between this LASKO 754200 and the HOLMES HFH111T.

Both have a single fan speed, and a choice of fan only, low heat, and high heat.
Both have a thermostat which will turn the unit off once the desired temperature is reached.
Both have internal over temperature protection which needs to be reset by unplugging the device and letting things cool down.

LASKO PLUS

The light is lit if the unit is plugged in so you know if it’s plugged in by a look only. I want to leave space heaters unplugged when I’m not around and this makes it easy to tell.

Quieter than HOLMES: ~55DB vs the HOLMES 60DB

Seems more efficient at heating a given volume of air. Passing my hand in front of either unit at about 18 inches away with heat on high, my hand got rather hot with the LASKO which seemed to have good even hot air distribution over an arc +/-20 degrees of center, but the HOLMES air distribution seemed uneven with more air going to one side, and my hand never got uncomfortable.

HOLMES PLUS

Simpler packaging: no internal packaging…. LASKO had: 2 pieces of pressed formed cardboard, plastic wrapping and tape to recycle.

The light is lit once the switch is no longer in the OFF position, even if the thermostat has caused the fan to turn off. Thus you can look at the light to know that the heater *may* be on. With the LASKO you need to look at the switch to make sure it’s going to stay off.

More sensitive thermostat. It takes only a 5 or 10 degree rotation to get the thermostat to go on or off, while the LASKO took about 30 degrees.

May very well move more air for the noise.

Tip over protection. It has a weight on a switch. If the unit leaves vertical by more then 60 degrees tipping front or back, the unit will shut off.

BOTTOM LINE

If no kids or cats I’d recommend LASKO. If tip over is a concern, the the HOLMES is an acceptable low cost solution.

The LASKO will go in my office where I will appreciate the quiet and the more direct heat, and the HOMES will in the bathroom where the noise and uneven direct heating is less of an issue.

We have baseboard heaters in our house. Not only is it very dry heat, it is also very expensive. Over 6 years ago, I purchased a Holmes heater just like this one for my bedroom because I was tired of having to keep the furniture away from the baseboard heater. It worked so well, I went out and bought two more to heat the rest of the house. I have to replace about one every year, but it’s a whole lot cheaper for me to replace a heater once a year than to pay a 0 power bill every month. Last year, I went to replace two of my Holmes space heaters. I couldn’t find the Holmes brand anywhere locally, so I purchased a Sunbeam and a Honeywell; neither of them heated as well as the Holmes, nor did either of them last the entire winter. I was determined to find Holmes brand this year. They are the best. These heaters don’t raise your power bill either. Very economical any way you slice it. As for some of the other reviewers speaking of noise: the heater is fan-driven heat; therefore, it will make the same noise as a fan. I like white noise, so it doesn’t bother me. Plus, the heater can be used as a fan only (no heat). Safety: Casing is NEVER hot to the touch, turns off automatically if tipped over.