Bulbs & Fittings Ideas

Mid-century modern houses are designed for California springs and summers. But the floor to ceiling single paned glass windows let the cold right in.

I borrowed a friend’s Dyson Hot heater. Being a designer, I loved the design of it–you can’t get more elegant than that. But–what I didn’t like was the sound of it–like a tiny Pratt and Whitney Turbo Jet engine–loud–and to me not a “white noise” kind of sound, but actual noise. Even once I got used to the sound of it (and you do), it didn’t put out a ton of heat, so it could be on for hours and the room was still cold.

I then got a Lasko Digital Ceramic Tower Heater to try.

You have to assemble the base (snap it together, two screws), then four screws to attach the heater to the base. It took about five minutes–but you do need a philips screw driver.

You also need two AAA batteries, something that the box mentions in small type, but if you get home without it, you won’t be able to use the remote control. I used to think a remote control on a room heater was a silly thing, but once you have it, it becomes as vital as one for a television, because it lets you adjust the temperature at a distance.

The first thing you notice about this heater is how QUIET it is. Really just a whisper. And the sound it makes is a low tone that doesn’t interfere with listening to music or the TV. Even on “Hi” mode, it’s still much quieter than the Dyson.

You can set it to run continuously on “Lo” or “Hi” or set the thermostat to the temperature you want, and it will turn on and off automatically to keep it there. Because it’s so quiet, you can leave it on at night when you sleep.

And, if you want it to shut off during the night to save power, it has an 8 hour timer that will automatically shut it off after the amount of time you specify. The Dyson had no timer.

The oscillation is wide and silent. While the unit is tall, it has a reason–as the entire length emits hot air, which warms the room faster.

As much as I like Dyson design, this heater costs 1/4 the price of a Dyson, makes 1/4 the sound, and seems to heat the room about 2 times as well. Do the math–this heater is an excellent value.

I received it in time. Set up was not too hard, but you do need both hands and some ingenuity to get the base together and screwed in. You need a screw driver also, a plus shaped one. Plugged it in and turned it on, I got that fresh Lasko smell which I remembered from my first Lasko heater about 4 years ago. It brought back some memories. Anyway, the smell was virtually gone by the next morning. The remote comes with a screen, which shows the settings, so you don’t have to look at the heater to know what the settings are. The remote screen shuts off after a few seconds, and then the first button you press will bring the screen back on, but won’t change the settings, only subsequent button presses will change the settings. So just remember, if the remote screen is off, the first button press only turns the screen on. One issue is that the remote has to be pointed almost exactly at the heater, or it wont work, this sort of makes the screen pointless, because if you’re lying down, you wont be able to see the screen when pointing the remote at the heater. And if you’re going to look at the heater, you might as well read the settings on the heater’s screen. The unit looks quite nice, you can put it next to a book shelf or something, it wont stick out too much. It is not very noisy, but when it turns on, you definitely hear it. There isn’t any tilt sensor as far as I am aware, I tried holding it almost horizontal, and it kept on working. The base is quite stable though. The wire is nice and thick, it is made of a matte, soft material. not like other wires. I like it really warm, so I just set it to max heat and let it run to see how warm the room would get, it got to about 83 then was fluctuating between 83 and 84. my other temperature device confirmed this was indeed the room temperature. prior to turning it on, the room was about 63. The room is 240 square feet. Can’t fault the heater for this though (first of all 84 is plenty comfy for me), because hot air rises, all the hot air goes straight to the ceiling. If you have a ceiling fan, set that to a very low speed, it will mix up the air and it will get warmer down where the people are. I also noticed a not-too-loud rumbling sound on low heat mode, this is probably the fan. at the high setting, it is gone. perhaps it is not aligned, or is a bit loose. There is a timer, which I didn’t test. But I suppose it does what it says. All in all, it’s a lovely heater. I wouldn’t give my Lasko back if they paid me for it. I think of these things as pets, you’ll never find a perfect one. They all have unique personalities, and I love them all the same.

Pros:
good looking
nice warmth
automatic temperature mode – shuts off and turns on automatically to maintain desired room temp
nice wire
remote with screen
remote batteries provided in the box
quite easy to set up
stable base
sides don’t even get warm.
low power mode for power saving

cons:
remote must be pointed directly at it
intermittent fan noises on low power mode
no tilt sensor

We live in a 1940’s building with single pane windows, hardwood floors and no heat. Gorgeous place, but leaves you with frozen toes. Our place is 1,000 sq. ft. and it has a floor heater that emits warmth but quickly gets zapped out by the cold. We live in Los Angeles, and yes its mostly sunny here but when it’s cold, and I mean cold for us Angelinos is about 45-55 degrees, it’s super cold. I began my tower heater search and I purchased this one because of the reviews.

Day 1, we had the heater on for an hour and it warmed up our entire place. We set it at 78 degrees to get the place warm then when we head to bed we keep it at 66 degrees. We are so much more comfortable and warm. Now our friends don’t have to keep their coats on when they visit 🙂