I saw a two-page ad in the Rocky Mountain News this week about some new miracle heater called the ‘Amish Heat Surge‘ and it fell into the category of things that sounded to me to be ‘just a little fishy’. Later I saw a commercial for the same product. Sure enough, after doing some calculations, I figured out that this is just a scam to overcharge people for a cheap electric heater made in China. Searching the Internet, I found a few unhappy customers who fell for it. Even though the heaters are ‘free’, you pay $298 for the ‘Amish authentic wood mantles’ that enclose them. In reality, there’s no reason to wrap an electric heater with a wooden box or mantle. It also has some sort of fake fire effect. Oh, and shipping costs $50 EACH. And they’ll stick you with an extended warranty for $28 each. So for around $770, you’d get a pair of heaters that do the same thing as a pair of $27 electric heaters you can pick up at Wal-Mart.
A 5,119 BTU/hr heater generates about 1/20th the heat produced by a household furnace. It will draw 1.5 kW. For every hour this thing runs, it will cost about $.15 in electricity, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but over a 730 hour month, that adds up to an extra $108 on your electric bill. Electric resistive heat is the most expensive way to heat a house. It costs about twice as much per BTU as natural gas heat. Just to put it in another perspective, a 2,100 sq. ft. house in my home state of Colorado uses about 6 therms of natural gas a day in the coldest winter months. At the current gas price of $1.20 per therm, a typical gas bill is $216/month during the winter months. To heat your house to the same temperature with this electric heater, you’d need to have 5 of these heaters operating at the high setting 24 hours a day. The additional monthly charges on your electric bill for just the heaters would be $540!
The ad talks about only using it to heat zones, which can save on your heating bill, of course, but only at the expense of having some of the rooms in your home being uncomfortably chilly. And you can’t really completely turn off your central furnace without the risk of pipes freezing. In other words, if you put a heater like this in the room that has your furnace’s thermostat, and thus your furnace never comes on, you may freeze pipes in a remote part of the house.
The ad is full of high pressure sales nonsense, such as requiring a special savings code that expires in 48 hours, or you’d otherwise pay $587 each! There is a limit of 2 per household and they need to ‘turn away dealers’ because they can’t keep up with demand.
If you’re one of the people reading this article who bought an Amish Heat Surge heater, please note that I mean no disrespect to you. I’m just tired of con artists using slick advertising to suck people into buying things that aren’t worth a fraction of the sales price.
I bought an Amish Heatsurge Fireplace over 2 years ago and it still runs. Actually it works quite well. I used it 24 hours around the clock during the winter and its still running great. The only thing I am against is the lies that are so blatanly told on TV, and advertising everywhere. It is only supposed to raise your heat bill by 50 cents a month well I’m here to tell you it was more like $150 a month. My electric bill was never under $150 a month all winter, I don’t mind paying what is my responsiblity but I don’t like being lied to just to get me to buy the product. I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about the fireplace and I count myself lucky in that mine apparently was a good one.
****THIS IS A SCAM,,DO NOT BUY THESE CHEAPLY MADE HEATERS!**
***THEY ARE MADE IN CHINA NOT BY AMISH OR AMERICANS!!**
THEY LAST 6 MONTHS IF UR LUCKY…
(the mantals make great fire wood,its the only real way they heat ur home)
____F.Y.I. to the people who ask about the Edan Pure Heater-please read below———
Before spending $300 on a cheaply made piece of crap buy a EDAN PURE HEATER..
They work tons better and do not raise power bills like the fake fire place heaters this company is trying to push off on Americans!
**I been looking for another cheaper source of heat for my house,me and my wife tried space heaters,this junk of a fire place heater,and wal-mart specials,and even chain dollar store heaters,all lasted maybe 2 years,it seemed we buy a new one every few years to replace a broken one.
**We bought our Edan Pure Heater 4 yrs ago,We live in the south so winters r not that bad,we get a week or two of real cold weather then a week or so of warmer weather,The Edan Pure has out lasted every other heater we bought!!
It worked so well my wifes grandfather bought one to help reduce his gas bill,so far he has his 2 years and still use’s it..
**Our so called AMISH HEATER IS ALSO SOLD AT YOUR LOCAL BIG-LOTS,same packaging,same wood grain finish etc,,so dont fall for their fake Amish heaters..
Edan Pure has been the best working space heater we ever owned..If my edan pure ever breaks I WILL buy another one,they work that great..Lowes and Home Depo also sells heaters similar to edan pure,maybe a knock off of the edan pure but I have considered buying one to try out….
**Just shop around and do online research before buying any product,also check the web sites for customer service,if the web site just shows a order form and no customer support DO NOT FALL FOR IT!,if any1 still wants a “Amish Made heater/fire place” u can have mine,ITS sucks that bad!!!!!!!!!
-Next week we will sell the insert/fire place for scrape metal,and maybe use the mantel for a nice chicken nest,stuff it full of straw so the chickens can keep warm this winter…..
fake amish how about that amish guys hat fake plastic straw hat i dont think so among other fake stuff, its all bull