Electric Fireplace heaters - by the Amish??

[Tweevil]

Does anyone have one of these? How does it preform?
I was thinking about getting one, or one like it at Big Lots and was wondering how much of an impact it made on the electric bill?

I have a relatively small home and am looking for ways to cut down on my oil bill.

Anyone have any experience with these or tips?

Thanks for your help

 

[TheBigBadWolf]

These are a huge ripoff. Our local news station did a news segment on them last year, and they are junk. They were being sold by a company using several different names. You can check your BBB and find hundreds of complaints against the companies.

My SIL and MIL bought two of these heaters shortly before the news segment broadcast. Fortunately they had paid for them by credit card and were able to get a full refund when they sent them back. The heaters are very small. Nothing like you'd expect. They showed one on the news segment that was held together with duct tape!

Google "Amish fireplace heater complaints" and I imagine you'll find out all kinds of bad press on them.

 

[Tweevil]

Wow, off to google right now. I was worried about the cost of electricity and didn't even think about them being junk...

Thanks so much for your reply

 

[chele4kids]

Ummm, well, the Amish don't have electric, so this makes no sense to me..........

 

[chewbacca]

Ummm, well, the Amish don't have electric, so this makes no sense to me..........

I thought the exact same thing when I saw the thread title!

 

[Tweevil]

LOL - I guess Amish is included because they "handcraft" the mantle.

But, I won't be getting one due to the reports I am reading - so the claims (& the title) that do not make sense are on point.

Thanks all,

 

[RangerPooh]

Are you looking for a portable fireplace with a plug in electric heater? We purchased one at Walmart a few years ago for about $150, nice mantel, decent size, small fire portion though, but fine for us and what we were looking for. We really liked it as we lived in a small townhouse, so it did do a decent job heating the living room area. Having little kids they could touch the glass front and not get burned since it wasn't real flames. Plus it was easy to move when we moved homes. Our power bill did increase, but not noticably different from the regular power bill if we just ran the regular heater during the colder months. It just looked prettier

Ours looks similar to this but the actual fire/logs area is smaller.

 

[Colleen27]

Something to keep in mind when looking at electric fireplaces is that they're basically dressed up space heaters. They aren't intended to heat large spaces, and the main difference between the "Amish" ones that get terrible reviews and the ones from Lowes & Home Depot that get good reviews are in the truthfulness of their claims; the "Amish" models put out the same amount of heat, but the commercials claim they can heat the whole floor while the ones at Lowes are clearly labeled as adequate for just one room.

We have a very nice electric fireplace that we're very happy with. It came from Lowes and cost about the same as the so-called Amish fireplaces, but the mantle construction seems a little better quality. But it isn't a replacement for central heat and it won't keep a large space toasty-warm. We used it in our insulated but not heated garage at the old house and it would keep the space (about 400 sq ft with 12' ceilings) warm enough for DH to use his workshop without needing a winter coat and gloves, but not warm enough to sit and relax. I don't know what the impact to the electric bill would be for constant use; it only added about $10 to ours but we only ran it when we were using that space.

 

[Planogirl]

Ummm, well, the Amish don't have electric, so this makes no sense to me..........

There are different types of Amish and some do use some modern conveniences such as electricity. I was just reading about them!

 

[Inigo]

The Amish don't usually use RVs either, but you could find (before the economic downturn) building RVs in Northern Indiana. They aren't restricted from building these products in factories. They just, as a community, decide if a technology will impact their lifestyle negatively. Most communities decide electricity or telephones in the homes will impact the togetherness of families, and those things are not allowed. This isn't true of all Amish communities.

I have a friend who married a former Amish man. He left the community, which is his right as an Amish person, and married one of the "English".

 

[solfan68]

fwiw... We've owned ours for two years and are quite happy with it, actually. Its my understanding that Amish craftsmen make the wooden mantle, while some other company makes the heater insert. We got ours a year after my wife's cousin had been happily using one in their home.

When we purchased ours it was through as full page ad in the Philadelphia paper. Had to buy two at the time. Split the cost with my folks. As far as I know, theirs is also working fine. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend one based on OUR experience.

 

[Melrosgirl]

Another tidbit about the Amish, some Amish drive trucks. Yes real Amish. Not Mennonites. I had an Amish guy who worked for a roofing company come to my house in a nice pickup truck. He backed into my garage door and put a dent in it, too. LOL. Good times, good times. He was 100% Amish, but like some Amish do, he did use some modern conveniences for work. (Mostly the Amish do not drive though, of course.)

 

[briarrose]

I also know that the Amish use generators for work. When I lived in Wisconsin I bought furniture from one guy and he had power tools. They are technically self sufficient with the power tools and generators.

 

[Halbleib1]

These are not made by the Amish. Consumer reports did a report on tv on one of the news or morning shows about it awhile back. They are a huge ripoff with a lot of complaints from people that bought them.

The Amish do not appear on tv to sell their goods. Huge tip off right there. They do not like to be photographed for any reason. Very seldom they will do a tv interview but this is very rare and usually with their face not shown.

They do use electricity for business and some even have phones in the barn. They are not allowed any modern convenience in there homes is all. The really strict amish do not use any of this though. Some Amish allow their young to go out on their own for a year to decide if they want to stay or go while the very strict do not allow this at all. One of the evening news magazines did a story on this. They followed some of the young Amish from Ohio for a year and reported on their decisions. Many returned home. A few stayed on their own. If they leave the community they are shuned.

Menonite-which is the branch of Amish that broke off because they did not want to be as strict do drive cars that are not just for business but they are always black with no chrome on them. Many Amish in Lancaster County do own cars but have someone else to drive them.

 

[Tweevil]

Wow, a lot of good info here
I am now looking into one of those wall propane things. Just doing research as I would only use that when needed and no little folks here so that's not an immediate concern.

 

[Halbleib1]

These are a huge ripoff. Our local news station did a news segment on them last year, and they are junk. They were being sold by a company using several different names. You can check your BBB and find hundreds of complaints against the companies.
My SIL and MIL bought two of these heaters shortly before the news segment broadcast. Fortunately they had paid for them by credit card and were able to get a full refund when they sent them back. The heaters are very small. Nothing like you'd expect. They showed one on the news segment that was held together with duct tape!

Google "Amish fireplace heater complaints" and I imagine you'll find out all kinds of bad press on them.

These were some of the things pointed out in the report I saw on tv about them.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

Ummm, well, the Amish don't have electric, so this makes no sense to me..........

I thought that too! And the print ads... they show fake Amish men with fake beards!

 

[Jsme]

Please do not buy one. My dad bought a half dozen of them and I think he finally got rid of the last one.

 

[PaulaSue]

Electric and the Amish should give you a clue. At least here they don;t use electric.