Here's a question from a reader of Dollar Stretcher:

Does anyone know anything about the quartz infared room heaters that are advertised on Paul Harvey and in various newspapers.  How well do they warm a room and how economical are they?  We have a propane furnace which doesn't heat our house very well.  We are wondering if something like this would heat the living room while allowing us to keep the thermostat down.  I think they are alittle pricy, so would like to know if anyone has had any experience with them before we decide to buy one.

Does anyone have experience with these heaters?  

Last year we were given an Eden Pure heater by a friend who'd bought one and gave us the free one. Accoring to the paperwork it's supposed to heat 1000 sq ft area which is slightly larger than our first floor (900 sqft). The thing would only somewhat heat the family room (225 sq ft) but that was about it. The friend was very disappointed with his as well it barely heated his living room (not sure on the sq ft). Until last week when I had to start the furnace ds#1 was using it to heat his basement bedroom which didn't get the benefit of the indirect heat from the fireplace and it kept his 81 sq ft room nice and toasty when he used it.

http://www.alternativeconsumer.com/2007/12/09/heat-surge-fireplace-whats-up-with-that/

I've been curious about the quartz heaters as well, and not surprisingly, there are a couple of different brands. There seems to be a lot of very conflicting chatter about the quartz heaters on the web just now. I thought the above link had a good short critical-thinking review of one of the quartz heaters, as well as working links to relevant sites, such as a Consumer Reports article on space heaters, articles handling the claim about the heater using only the same amount of electricity as a coffeemaker, and several hundred consumer reviews. There are also links to the official websites of the HeatSurge fireplace (the portable one with the Amish-themed advertising) and Eden Pure, which is the Paul Harvey-endorsed one.  If I were seriously looking at getting a quartz heater, I would probably start my research at the above site as a jumping-off point.

We had a friend who purchased one of these heaters from Paul Harvey.  At the time there was an ad in the local paper for the Amish heaters as well.  We went out to Walmart and purchased an electric fire place to see which would heat better, the Paul Harvey one or the electric fire place.  Unfortunately, the Paul Harvey unit was not able to heat our living room and dining room space as well as the electric fire place.  We were thankful for the opportunity to borrow it, so we could find out for ourselves.  There are many brands out there.  For us it is cheaper to use the electric fire place than to turn on out fuel oil furnace.  We are looking into adding electric base board units in various rooms of our house to heat during the winter months.

 The "furnace" in my apartment operates on natural gas but is the most inefficient thing I've ever seen.  A friend bought a SunHeat a couple of years ago and loved it!! Last year, after seeing a flyer in the paper, I bought one and am delighted.  The temperature does not vary when you stand up (it keeps it warm all over), the cost to run was lower than my gas bill and the comfort factor is very important.  My apartment is quite small, but it is kept comfortable by this one little heater.      This one is also made of wood, so is very attractive, has a 3 year warranty, and the parts can be replaced.   A very good investment.   

 Since I posted earlier, we have received a quartz heater. It does improve the heat in a room, but the difference to us is subtle, not dramatic. Primarily you don't notice the heat unless standing directly in front of the heater, but it does take the bite out of the room from "frigid" to "cool."

We purchased one of the "Amish" electric fireplaces a couple of months ago.  We love it.  We spend the majority of our days in our living room/dining area and the fireplaces kept these rooms very comfortable without having to turn on the furnace and heat the entire house and rooms we're not using.  We didn't have to turn the furnace on at all until earlier this month when it really turned cold.

It averaged about a dollar day to run it which is much cheaper than running the furnace.