Space Heaters are on clearance at Walmart stores

[c627627]

I don't know if its YMMV but I saw a bunch of personal space heaters +/- $15 and as low as $11. (down from $25 to $40.) This was in Kansas City metro.

$17 for this $30 Patton Radiant Heater
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Patton-Radiant-Heater/15126054

$25 for this $50 Sunbeam Low Profile Convection Heater:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sunbeam-Low-Profile-Convection-Heater/12338799



The one thing I noticed was that these things are hit or miss. I was reading reviews elsewhere for one of the models and there was a bunch of 5 stars and a bunch of 1 stars. Probably because you either get a great one or a lemon so that's why I was looking at local store deals, for easy return/replace.

 

[Neuromancer]

Should post this to the benching team as well. A nice cheap heater under a desk in the garage keeps you going even when ambient is below 40F

 

[c627627]

If this is available at other Walmarts in the country then go ahead post there and link to here for discussion.

 

[nightelph]

Should post this to the benching team as well. A nice cheap heater under a desk in the garage keeps you going even when ambient is below 40F

LOL.

As one who worked for a global powerplant manufacturer I can say that using electricity to produce heat is the LEAST cost effective way to do it. A tiny propane heater on a grilltank is far more efficient. My father used to use kerosene space heaters in our house when I was a kid to save $$. We had a 55gal drum of it in the driveway.

 

[Aldakoopa]

Should post this to the benching team as well. A nice cheap heater under a desk in the garage keeps you going even when ambient is below 40F

This is definitely true. At my old place I used to literally just carry a single little space heater around with me and only having it blowing on me. Rest of the house was freezing cold but I was comfy as long as I had that space heater. Right now, I don't have central heat, so I have 3 space heaters going to keep my entire house warm. They still keep it nice and cozy and my electric bill is still equal to my family members using central heat.

 

[Aldakoopa]

LOL.

As one who worked for a global powerplant manufacturer I can say that using electricity to produce heat is the LEAST cost effective way to do it. A tiny propane heater on a grilltank is far more efficient. My father used to use kerosene space heaters in our house when I was a kid to save $$. We had a 55gal drum of it in the driveway.

Where I'm from, electricity is the most cost effective. My grandmother spends $400 a month on Kerosene, and an additional $70 a month for propane. My boss spends $300 a month on Propane to heat his house, and an additional $300 for the shop's propane heater too. There was a point when it was definitely cheaper around here, but those days are gone.

 

[c627627]

Running a Kill A Watt on a space heater as we speak for what it's worth. Will post models, specs and results.

 

[c627627]

Results: They all used up 0.5 KWH in 22 minutes. So equal energy consumption!?

Hm... so the best one is whichever heats fastest? Measuring that would require the exact same temperature at start... I don't know if I can do that but the Radiant Heater Sunbeam Model: Patton PRH11 sure appears to "feel" hottest.... [I just read a really negative review about it, once again confirming how much hit or miss these models are since it did great in my test.]


$25 clearance down from $50 Sunbeam Model: SLP3310 Convection Heater
http://www.sunbeam.com/ProductDetail.aspx?section=health-and-home&pid=584






$17 Clearance down from I think $30 Sunbeam Model: Patton PRH11 Radiant Heater
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Patton-Radiant-Heater/15126054





Utilitech Utility Space Heater Model: 0167507 or 73627 Fan Forced Space Heater
http://www.lowes.com/pd_167507-47166-73627_4294765336+5003697_4294937087_?productId=3467999

$15 when it went on Clearance down from $20 (but this one was not on clearance today but a similar one was.)

 

[robble]

Should post this to the benching team as well.

Wouldn't the benching team already be working with 500+watt heaters?

 

[Aldakoopa]

I have one of those Sunbeam radiant quartz heaters. Mine works good. I haven't had any problems and it's even gotten knocked down a few times and I thought that would break it, but it's still going strong. The thing is that I think that all space heaters have two power settings, usually a high and a low setting, and most of the ones I've seen it's a 600W and a 1200W switch. I'm sure there are other wattages, but my point is that it doesn't surprise me that they all use roughly the same amount of electricity in the same amount of time.

 

[pwnmachine]

lol I've given up on electric space heaters...they all seem to freeze.

 

[c627627]

These were all 1500W settings.

Only one had an actual watt label for the lower setting and it was 1300W.

 

[Aldakoopa]

These were all 1500W settings.

Only one had an actual watt label for the lower setting and it was 1300W.

I think my smaller heaters are 600/1200 or something, but my quartz one is probably a 1300/1500 then because it puts out a whole lot more heat even on the low setting.

 

[c627627]

I would say that the Sunbeam Model: Patton PRH11 Radiant Heater is both better and quieter than the Fan Forced Space Heaters whose advantage may only be their small size for compact spaces. I did not find the Fan Forced Space Heater to be faster than the Radiant Heater.

 

[Aldakoopa]

I would say that the Sunbeam Model: Patton PRH11 Radiant Heater is both better and quieter than the Fan Forced Space Heaters whose advantage may only be their small size for compact spaces. I did not find the Fan Forced Space Heater to be faster than the Radiant Heater.

Definitely true.

 

[c627627]

I returned and exchanged the $50 Sunbeam Convection Heater on clearance for $25 to get the last Radiant Heater they still had in stock for $17. I guess this whole thing was worth it to figure out which one was best since certainly pricing was not an indicator of which one provided the best value.

 

[Pinky]

Where I'm from, electricity is the most cost effective. My grandmother spends $400 a month on Kerosene, and an additional $70 a month for propane. My boss spends $300 a month on Propane to heat his house, and an additional $300 for the shop's propane heater too. There was a point when it was definitely cheaper around here, but those days are gone.

Agree, as fuel prices continue to go up a well insulated, draft free home would likely SAVE using electric heat.

 

[c627627]

I managed to get the last Radiant heater 5 minutes before store closed last night. It spent the night in the car trunk, outside was below freezing. I took it out of the trunk and immediately plugged it in to test it at full maximum setting. The heater was (very) cold to the touch because of the weather outside and interestingly it took 25 minutes to go through 0.5 KWH. Identical model and the other two all took 22 minutes yesterday. If the initial temperature of the heater itself was lower, shouldn't it have taken shorter time to go through 0.5 KWH?

I guess things vary from unti to unit but I left it on at max to see how long it would take to chew through full 1 KWH. It took 47 minutes.


I talked about KWH instead of cost because cost varies so much across the country. I have low electricity costs in Kansas City, Kansas http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=677404


So I am showing 1 KWH for +/- 45 minutes of use on maximum setting which appears to cost 6 cents where I live.

 

[Aldakoopa]

I talked about KWH instead of cost because cost varies so much across the country. I have low electricity costs in Kansas City, Kansas http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=677404


So I am showing 1 KWH for +/- 45 minutes of use on maximum setting which appears to cost 6 cents where I live.

Electricity is fairly expensive where I live too. It doesn't help that our power company buys its power from a neighboring company and then resells it to us at a higher price.

 

[c627627]

Yes cost is substantially higher depending on where you live, some people may need to double the cost I posted.