The Infrared Heater Scam

You can find out more about infrared heaters at Infrared Heater Scam.com

Now that it is getting colder the ads for the miracle heaters are coming out again.  They promise that their highly efficient heaters can save you 50-60% on your heating bills but do these wonders of Amish technology really work?

It is true that these heaters are highly efficient.  This is because all electrical heaters are approximately 100% efficient.  Any 1500 watt heater will produce roughly 5100 btus.  The ads are telling the truth here but they are being misleading.

Since electric heat is generally 3-5 times as expensive as other forms of heat it is unlikely they will save  you money on  your heating bill.  One possible way they could save you money is if you turned your furnace down and used a heater to keep the area you are in at a comfortable temperature.  I did this a couple years ago and it did save me some money.  I just used a $20 ceramic heater though.  There is no need to spend several hundred dollars on a heater to do this.  Again the ads are misleading.

Check out these Amazon affiliate links.  You can get a $20 heater
or a $400 heater.  They both put out the same amount of heat so which one would you get?

19 thoughts on “The Infrared Heater Scam”

  1. You are a god among men! I’m completely serious, I was looking to buy one of these for the savings. It was close to $300. But I figured it was worth it if we could save that much. I’ll just leave the money in the heating fund! Looks like Christmas came early for me in the form of this article!!!
    Thank you
    PS-I killed my blog and had to restart it. UGH!!!

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    • SonyaAnn – It is good to see you are back. Hope you can get your blog restored. I guess you didn’t have any kind of backup for the blog? I accidentally deleted this blog a couple years ago but I had online backup so I was able to restore it. Just lost a few days of comments. It is harder to backup a Blogger blog than a WordPress blog but it is possible, I would suggest finding a way to backup the blog from now on.

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  2. I am glad there are some smart people. I tested myself and find out that they use the same amount of energy as the ones for 20 bucks.

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  3. One of the best things I got was a heated pad for the bed that goes under the sheets. 45 watts and it keeps it comfy. The rest of the house cools down, but since there is nobody up, it doesn’t matter. Oh yes, I did buy a “lizard rock” from a pet shop that uses only 5 watts and warms up. This is on the couch under a towel, and the cats love it. To them, it must feel like the good ol’ days when mamma was around!

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  4. First of all, these heaters are NOT for everyone. If you have a larger house, of course you’re not going to be able to turn down your furnace and use an infrared heater for your whole house. While I do agree that some models available out there are way over priced, there are some that don’t cost a lot and do their job. I purchased a LifeSMART infrared heater last winter for my apartment because I didn’t feel the need to pay to heat rooms I wasn’t using. I found it online for $199 and free shipping which was great and it did end up saving me about $20 on my energy bills which for me is a lot. They are also safer to use than something such as a space heater because the outside does not get hot which is good with two puppies running around. I just think before bashing a product completely, learn both ends inside of just shouting all the flaws.

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    • Wow you saved $20, now if only you get 9 more months of winter it will have paid for it self. At that rate in 3-4 years if will have paid it self off and more than likley not work anymore. Great investment for someone who things $20 is a lot.

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  5. This heater is nothing to write home about. You would be better off buying three oil filled heaters to heat portions of your house. Just remember: If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is…….

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  6. LIFESMART PORTABLE HEATERS:
    “TRASH OF THE 21st CENTURY”

    I purchased my first NEW LifeSmart heater from Amazon.com, Shipped from Fat Boy Tools on Jan.10, 2011. This heater was to suppose to heat 1200 sq. feet and it had 6 elements. After a week I liked it, so much I ordered another that supposed to heat 1000 sq. feet from Amazon.com from another source. “What a mistake”. After about 3 weeks the first heater from Fat Boy Tools began to completely shut down, including the temperature light. The only light left on was the green light at the on-off switch. To get it to come on again, I had to press the on-off switch. When I did this, the temperature light would come on and the unit would run for about 15 minutes and shut down again. Soon nothing on the unit would light up or come on when pressing the on-off switch. It was completely dead. I even tried unplugging and re-plugging. Nothing happened. The only way these heaters will heat 1000 or 1200 sq. feet is for the temperature outside to be above 55 degrees.

    I contacted the LifeSmart Manufacturer as shown on papers enclosed, and on back of the heater, by phone & Email. “Their response by phone”. A factory rep would contact me. In the meantime we contacted Fat Boy Tools. Their answer. They didn’t stand by the warranty. The warrant was with LifeSmart. But, they would pay shipping charges. Question! Why should I spend $29.00 to send a piece of garbage to Fat Boy and get nothing but shipping charges when they have my money. I never received any answer from LifeSmart from my email

    On Feb. 14, 2011 the Rep for LifeSmart called. She said they would not replace the heater, or give a refund, because they didn’t sell me the heater. I advised her on both of her telephone calls We had already called Fat Boy and I gave her Fat Boys answer. She said it must be the thermostat. If she sent me one could I install it in the heater. I said, how can I install a thermostat, I’m 84 years of age, and never had any experience working on these heaters. Question! Where is she from, outer space.

    She continued to tell me to ship it back to Fat Boy. I said, why should I send it to him when they already advised they would not replace the heater. By that time I had about all of her rambling I could take, so I said; I’ll throw it in the trash, and hung up the phone.

    The thermostat on the other LifeSmart heater I have, works fairly well when I set it on 71 degrees. Yet, there are times it also completely shuts down and I have to turn the switch back on to get it operating. To me, the LifeSmart portable Infrared/Quartz are nothing but a piece of garbage. As another said, they use them to fill pot holes.
    PS. I purchased a HeaterPro infrared heater (not quartz), before purchasing either of the LifeSmart heaters and it has performed perfectly.

    Hutch, NC

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  7. Life Smart Infrared Heaters are a scam. Ours broke after running for less than a month. I had exact same issue as Hutch from NC had. I opted to get a new Thermostat and then they never sent the instructions to fix it. I am assuming that if I open up the console that I VOID the Warranty. Nice Plan Fat Boy. I’m contacting the Better Business Bureau

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  8. There are number of varieties of heaters in the market which may confuse while purchasing. If you want to purchase infrared heater, there are some steps to follow while choosing such heaters.

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  9. Five years ago I purchased an Eden Pure infrared heater. My motivation was to create a healthy environment inside my home. I eliminated all gas heating, since gas heating is really more expensive now than electricity. Gas heaters emit CO and rob the indoor environment of oxygen and humidity. This dryness and pollution translates into dry skin, hair etc. The Eden Pure heater cycles on and off and if you use it properly does not create high electricity bills. I also installed a pellet burning stove for my main floor which uses 400 watts for the blower and uses a recycled carbon product which creates no footprint. Overall, I have reduced my gas and electric bills by 50%. I am currently working on a website which promotes good health products. I will update this blog when the site is ready to go. The air we breathe directly affects our health. So, if your main concern is improving your air quality, you would want to consider the Eden Pure portable in frared heater. Remember, health is wealth.

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  10. I bought two of these heaters from supposed “warehouse” clearance sale. My wife wanted me to buy them. They do warm the room you are in. We did save about 100 dollars on our heating bill. But the electric bill was 420.00 per month. I almost died. Yeah they save you a little on your heating bill but not your electric bill. So all and all it was a ripoff.

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  11. I purchased one of these about 3 years ago. So far it has cut my electric bill in half. I am not sure why so many people are having problems with these but it has saved me a LOT of money.

    I purchased a second one for my basement this year.

    I think a lot of people use these wrong.

    You are supposed to turn your main source of heat down and use the infrared to supplement your main heat source.

    I am happy with my purchase and the extra $200.00 per month is a plus!

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  12. I bought two duraflame infrared heaters and my last two electric bills were 404 & 517 dollars dont waste your money on these heaters they are nothing but a scam 100% disappointed

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  13. We bought a life smart heater last year used it twice and just got it out this year now it wont work it keeps shutting off. Just disgusted with it!! Just reading the reviews we wont be buying another one!!

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  14. Same Issue with me, Bad limit switch and power board on a New unit. They said they would send out new parts but took months to get the wrong parts. I wanted a new unit or refund; they could have the one I bought since it was broke; but it just wasn’t happening. More delays and, unreturn calls. I just gave up. These units are junk, and if they break, just trash them and get a real space heater. Expect to see a “E1”
    error.

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  15. Have a piece of junk Life Smart heater LS-HPTC-15PB that the fan quit working on. I had it around for a couple years and never used but got it and used it a month when the fan quit working. Finally got a reply saying the company that made this unit is out of business and can no longer get parts. Life Source is a SCAM and will never buy from them again.

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