Soleus Electric Reflective Halogen Space Heater - MS-11  Product Reviews

"This heater is fantastic for keeping my office desk area warm. At only 800 watts max (the 400 setting is usually fine) it gets rid of the chill but does not get anger the building management because. a. It does not blow breakers. b. It does not get dangerously hot. Even at 800 watts the grill is touchable - but not comfortable. I have seen no sign of the "overtemp" problem others have mentioned. Yes, I have operated it at the 800 watt setting for several hours, no problems. However, I could see that if you did not give the recommended clearances around the heater (see instructions) that you could run into a problem. A note on radiant vs convection heaters: This heater technically speaking is a radient heater. If the marketers want to call it reflective, fine. It heats primarily by radiating heat (infra-red radiation) from the heater to surfaces in the line of sight. If the heater is on the floor (as is required) and you are in a bed - you are no longer in the line of sight and you better have a blanket. If the air is real cold this means that the side toward the heater will be warm the other side cold. It also means that, like a lightbulb, the further away you are, the less concentrated the heat (or light). Convection heaters operate primarily by heating air. This unit will heat some air but if that is what you want, buy something else."

"The other reviews worried me before I bought this heater, but I'm very happy with it especially for the price I paid ($19). It's very quiet unlike fan heaters. It doesn't get too hot even if I put it close to me (most other heaters do and I have to turn them on and off constantly) and yet the room gets quite warm. The automatic shut-off doesn't kick in even though I leave it high for hours. This is the best space heater I've ever had!"

"This item was designed improperly. The high setting allows the heater to operate for no more than 10 minutes before the built-in "overheat" safty device shuts down the heater; after which, you would then have to manually reset it by unplugging and replugging it into the wall outlet. I am not sure exactly where the engineers placed the safety cut-off device but maybe they have it installed too close to the quartz tube behind the reflective metal sheet. How can the heater warm up the room if it keeps cutting off the power everytime the heater gets hot."

"I did extensive research and was led to believe reflective heater is just as good as traditional heater, only more energy efficient. Boy, was I wrong. Is it the reflective heating technology or this particular product? I'm not sure. Here's my verdict: Pros: very quiet, sleek design, only 800 watts, instant heat Cons: - at 'low' setting, it's as bright as a night light, but at 'high' setting, it's as bright as a 30 watt bulb - to feel the heat, I must stay within 2 ft (not exaggerating). Beyong this range, the heat is nearly non-existent. I'm not going to sleep with this heater 2ft from my bed, especially with the brightness. I am in California with current outside temperature is 60F and I can't feel this heater being useful now, let alone when the January weather comes. I bought this heater on sale for $26 and do not think it's worth more than a $12 fan heater that one put under office desk! I heard parabolic radiant heater is good, but have not tried it. In my experience so far, ceramic heater does the best job. Lastly, I think radiant heater is not the same as reflective heater which is not the same as quartz heater. I have tried both reflective and quartz and believe reflective is worst."