Heater Help

Fast heat where you need it! - Honeywell HZ-709 Oil Filled Radiator Heater I bought this unit back in October, as it was starting to get cold here in Wisconsin, and the "back" of the house,...

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Awww, geez! The mercury hasn’t crept above freezing around here in a couple of weeks; natural gas prices are going through the ceiling, and the Ms is at home all day on vacation (meaning that our setback thermostat* is being overridden). That’s not to mention that some rooms in the house are a bit chilly. How can we keep her tender fingers and toes from freezing off and still have a bank account at the end of winter? I know: a space heater! That explains why the previous owners had about six space heaters scattered around the “big white elephant on the edge of the prairie.”

We already have a deLonghi oil-filled radiator we picked up last year at a local thrift store (it’s the only thing that keeps the master bath warmer than 55°F [13°C] in the wee small hours), so the Ms picked up a second oil-filled radiator to help warm the library. This room is fairly large: about 15 ft x 15 ft with nine-foot ceilings (5m x 5m x 3m), and it has two large and drafty windows - which, thankfully, don’t face the prevailing winds. Since we needed something to augment the existing steam radiator instead of provide the sole heat source, a convection-style heater seemed a good choice. Though a bit slower to heat a space, convection radiators - especially oil- or water-filled - are more economical to run, which appeals to my thrifty Scots soul.

Her choice - driven mainly by the slim set of alternatives - was the Honeywell HZ-710 Oil-filled Radiator, which features electronic controls (useful) and burlwood finish (cheesy). Here’s what you get with virtually all such radiators - since they all seem to be based on the same design:

• A seven-fin radiator with enamel finish

• A concealed heating element

• Oil-filled reservoir

• Three power settings (600W, 900W, 1500W)

• Safety switch turns off power if unit knocked over

• Four nylon caster-style wheels

I mentioned that we also have a deLonghi radiator? The bodies of those two heaters are virtually indistinguishable - same number of fins, same wheels, same pair of 600 and 900-watt power units. But where the deLonghi model is farly simple (and, I add, cost substantially less) the Honeywell is more “sophisticated,” both in appearance and controls. The Honeywell 710’s “luxury stylings” include:

• Digital display of power setting

• Digital thermostat with temperature display, ranges from 45°-85°F (7°-29°C)

• Separate main power button

• Digital timer, which can be set for from1 to 18 hours

• Fold-out luggage-style handle

• Black enamel finish with burlwood accents

The Honeywell HZ-710 ships partially assembled: you need to put on the four casters and assemble the two wheel units to the main unit with the fins. No problem - the instructions in the included owner’s manual are clear, and putting it together takes no tools and just two hands. About the only thing you can do wrong is to assemble it upside-down, and there’s a clear warning against this mistake. I did have a problem with one caster; it was faulty and therefore doesn’t swivel smoothly like the other three. But after I finished assembly, all I had to do was turn the heater right-side up (gurgle-gurgle), plug it in, and punch the ON button. Bingo, on it came…

Once it’s on, you have three different control modes, which are set with toggle-style buttons on the control panel. You can choose one of three power levels; set the thermostat, and/or set the (optional) timer. The default setting is 70°F, high power, and timer disabled. As you play with the buttons, the green LED display shows the current setting. After a few seconds without any changes, the display reverts to ambient temperature. You can change the settings at any point or simply turn the unit off at the power switch. One point to note: the timer controls when the heater turns OFF, not when it turns ON. To move the radiator around the room, especially when it’s hot, a fold-out handle is built around the control panel. This is a definite improvement on the deLonghi, which simply has a beak-like protuberance above its controls.

Completely assembled, this seven-fin radiator is about fifteen inches long, ten inches wide at the floor, and twenty-five inches tall. The instrument panel and a second panel at the bottom of the front fin (around which you can wrap excess cord) are made of faux walnut burl, much like the accents on Ford’s luxury cars (and about as fake looking). Everything is built into that large front fin - controls, power units, and cord wrap. A six-foot heavy-duty cord with three-prong plug attaches at the bottom of the front fin, which slightly limits positioning the heater unless you’re using an extension cord.

Oil-filled radiant heaters, if you’re not familiar with them, are sealed and do not require that the user add anything to the radiators. Just so’s you know. Oh - and the manual has easy-to-follow instructions for changing the display to °C instead of °F.

Our experience in a 2000-cubic-foot room has been good. Even on the low (600-watt) setting, the radiator can raise the temperature by seven to ten degrees in under an hour; which is essentially all that’s needed. It’s faster, of course, on higher settings. With the timer set, we can leave the room (or even the house) and not worry that the heater is running all day. The convection style is, as I mentioned, not as fast as a radiant heater but is more efficient since the reservoir of oil retains heat even when drawing no power. Plus, it’s silent since it has no fan.

What I like about the HZ-710:

• Convection is a more efficient use of energy

• It heats an entire room

• Timed shutoff

• Digital display

• Easy-to-use handle for moving

• Five-year warranty

What I’m less positive about:

• We paid extra for that cheesy fake walnut?

• Not as useful for heating just a little corner of a room

• I wish the power cord came out the back, not the front

• That defective caster

Other options from Honeywell (well, as are most of Honeywell’s consumer products, this heater is made by Kaz manufacturing) include the HZ-680, which has a dial thermostat (with relative numbers, not temperatures) and individual switches for the two power units. The HZ-690 has the same relative thermostat but a single four-position switch for the power units. Neither of the 600-series has a separate power switch. Both the 680 and 690 have pulls molded into the plastic panels as handles instead of a fold-out handle like the 710. The model HZ-708 is apparently identical to the HZ-710 except that it has brushed stainless steel accents instead of burlwood.

Bottom Line: The on-off switch and the fold-out handle help make the 710 worth an extra $15 or so over the 600-series radiators from Honeywell, but the best selling points are the digital display of temperature and the timer. Those, I really like.

* Yeah, heating costs are soaring: have you installed your setback thermostat yet?

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