Convection Wall Heater

If you have an area of your house that could use supplemental heating, I recommend the Econo-Heat convection heater. My experience with Econo-Heat is in our "Three Season Room" (aka "Sun Porch" in warmer areas of the country) which so far this season, with its earliest snowfall in history, has been kept comfortably warm.

The Econo-Heat is a 24" square panel that mounts on the wall using 1" standoffs. It's completely silent and designed for continuous operation. Just plug it in, turn it on, and forget about it. The surface of the square, which is made of some sort of sturdy composite, gets very warm to the touch but not hot. So it's safe for kids, pets, and clumsy adults. The closer you are to the square the more you can feel the heat, but the general idea is that the whole room is kept warm via convection. I know, I was skeptical too, but as I said it actually does work. The wattage is fairly low, under 500 watts, so leaving it turned on all the time not only ensures it has a chance to warm the whole area, but also doesn't cost you too much. (Compare that to a traditional space heater which typically consumes 1500 watts and makes your electric meter spin like whirling dervish.)

I actually use two Econo-Heat units in our Three Season Room because its completely uninsulated, is a large room, and has lots of windows. (The manufacturer's website describes the square footage and other parameters necessary to determine if you need more than one unit.) I bought mine from the manufacturer, without checking Amazon first, where I could have saved about twenty bucks. As you can see in the photo, I haven't gotten around to painting the heaters yet, but that hasn't stopped me from considering them a welcome and toasty addition to my home.

Comments

[Johnny]

Hey Gordon... Wonder how long it will take yours to crack... I bought 6 and within one year, 5 of 6 of them developed large cracks across the heaters, some of them made crackling noises almost like the ceramic was delaminating (which upon inspection, some were visibly delaminating). I called support and the rep told me it was fine and to "caulk" the cracks. I wasn't comfortable with this especially since it says right on the panel "DO NOT USE IF DAMAGED." Since my replacements have arrived about one year ago, all 5 of them have developed large cracking across the face of the panel, some of them multiple cracks. The original which hadn't cracked at the time I had gotten replacements has now cracked. In all, 11 of 11 of these heaters I have had have now cracked up, delaminated and otherwise have significantly become a safety concern for me. I am considering filing a UL safety report on this product.

Johnny

[Gordon Meyer]

Well, Johnny, we'll have to see! Perhaps its like stucco, where cracks don't really have a negative impact. But you can bet that if I experience any problems, I'll write about it here.

[Dan in Whittier, CA]

I have one of these panels. I've been using it for three or four years now without a single problem. No cracks. Heats my 10x10 bedroom cheaply and nice. No cracks. I am buying more this winter.

[DanR.]

Econo-Heat

I bought my first unit over three years ago and had the same problem as it seems many people are having with this unit. At first I thought the dogs cracked the panel so I put a new one in and area away from being hit and still cracked. Next I thought that I might have made it too tight on the wall not giving it enough expansion room, still cracked. Next area you may want to look into is not just the expansion of the panel but the wall also. E-Cono Heat still selling the same units and they are not safe to use in your home in my opinion. If you are using one in your bathroom you may think about getting it out of there fast since they don’t just crack they also separate from the back panel and water could get into it and as I am sure we all know what happens when water and electricity mix. I am not sure what the problem is with these units as some seem to last for a year or two and others a few months. I am working on a system on my own that would pour over the wiring and form a solid unit that would not require gluing. By the way the photo above shows the units placed rather high on the wall. The instructions say they are to be mounted only a few inches above the floor. Having them lower they work much better, up high they only radiant heat out off the panel when low the draw the air off the floor and move up and out from the back of the panel causing the warm air to move around the room more and they can be wired in a series so you don’t have to plug them each in but only one. If you don’t know about wiring and amps I would contact your local electrician for help but I wired three unit on a 20 amp breaker with no trouble at all other then there cracking. Now trying a cove unit that mounts up by the ceiling and is made of all metal, not too bad to date and they cost less.

[Gordon Meyer]

Thanks for the comment. I'm still happy with the performance of the heaters. If you're considering one, it is worthwhile to read the reviews at Amazon (click the "saved about twenty bucks" link above to see them). As of today, there are 25 reviews, only one person mentions cracking, and the heaters have an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars.

I promise that if I experience any problems at all, I'll update this page with details.

As to the question of height, mine are mounted about 8 inches higher than recommended. That's because of the electrical conduit mounted on the wall; the black tubing you see in the photo. Despite this, they're working as expected. I think "as expected" is an important point. Of the people who are not satisfied on Amazon, almost all of them were under the impression that these worked differently than they do. It's worth saying again. They're convection heaters. It's a passive technology so you have to leave them turned on all the time. If you're not comfortable with that, you'll likely never get the full benefit.

[Jeff]

Four out of five have developed cracks. When the first one went, they replaced it (the rep explained that a "manufacturing defect" was the cause but that problem had been corrected.)

Now, three winters later, the rest of them have cracked (except the replacement). Two of them I installed just last year. As others have described, one delaminated. The other crack is serious enough that the panel easily flexes. When I send pictures, I got a polite, so sorry note, and was offered a special "deal" of $49.95 to purchase replacements. This is about what I paid originally. No thanks.

I am really sorry these turned out to be such junk. Are there other such products on the market?

[Lisa Vdven]

My husband installed ours only 4 months ago and they have all cracked. They are our only source of heat besides a fireplace and some heated tiles in the bathroom. Are the cracks dangerous? Once it has cracked, do the cracks stay the same size or get larger with time? I'm a bit concerned as we have 3 little girls playing and living near them!

[Gordon Meyer]

One year later, and still no cracks or problems for me. I've posted my follow-up summary here: http://www.gordonmeyer.com/2007/10/convection-wall.html

[Jay Ducharme]

I bought seven of them to try to wean myself away from oil heat. Our home is 1026 square feet with average insulation. But we have low ceilings (7'4") which I'm sure helps. Even though we're below the recommended "1 heater for every 100 sq. ft." threshold, our house has so far remained between 68 and 72 degrees. But the deep New England winter hasn't fully settled in yet. I'm anxious to see how they perform when it's in the teens outside with howling wind. But so far so good, and thankfully no cracking (yet).

[Jay Ducharme]

As a follow-up, Gordon, I contacted Econo-Heat about the cracking so many people have complained about. Here's the prompt response I got:

"Some people drill the units to the wall as tightly as possible but this interferes with the expanding and contracting during the heating and cooling process. The result is cracking. We try to please all of our customers but alas it is not always possible."

That makes sense to me, and I hope that was the only problem. I noticed that the panels are quite brittle, so when I installed mine I made sure they were snug, but not overly tight. And for the record, the instructions specifically state not to over tighten the screws. So I hope I get a long life out of my panels.

[Jay Ducharme]

We just went through a New England cold snap with about a week of temperatures below freezing during the day and dipping near zero at night. Our Econo-Heaters couldn't completely handle that. (Again, remember that I don't have the recommended number for our square footage.) The house dipped below 62 degrees and our furnace kicked on briefly. I brought a Pelonis oil-filled electric radiator into the living room (where our thermostat is) and that helped keep the room at a steady 64 degrees.

So overall I'm pleased with the performance of the Econo-Heat units and I'm planning to add four more (including one in the basement). That should allow us to eliminate our oil furnace entirely.

And BTW, I got my electric bill for last month and our electricity went up just over $100 compared with the month before. That's quite a reasonable amount considering the heaters have been running 24/7. If I had been heating with oil alone I already would have spent close to $1000.

[John Hylton]

We have two of these heater panels and have had no complaints..no cracking in either panel. HOWEVER, last night we woke up to a very strong electrical smell and found that the plastic insert on the heater where the electrical cord connects had burned through both sides of the box. We were having calm weather, no electrical surges etc., nothing else went off in the house. This seems like a serious safety issue and we don't want to continue to use this product (the remaining panel). I have a picture of what it looks like but I couldn't attach it here. Do you have an email address we could use to show you what this looks like? or tell us how best to attach the jpeg.

[Gordon Meyer]

Hi, everyone. The panels made it through one of the harshest Chicago winters in 20 years, all with no problems, and with great performance, running 24/7 for several months. They kept the room from freezing, despite the sub-zero temperatures outdoors. So far, thumbs up for the 2007 and 2008 winters.

[Jay Ducharme]

Hi Gordon. I just wanted to update you on our EconoHeaters. I ordered four more from the company to complete the number needed for our home. The newly redesigned heaters have a lighted on/off switch embedded in the round element connector on the front of the unit; no more cord switch. The new instructions specifically state not to install the heaters in a bathroom. I thought that was odd, since the original instructions actually suggested it. So I called the company. The woman there told me they had to ban bathrooms in the new instruction sheet because some people had installed the heaters INSIDE their showers. People never cease to amaze me....

At any rate, I also ordered the thermostats and created four heating zones in the house. The thermostats were relatively easy to wire up. Permanently wiring up the original heaters was a bit more of a challenge because after snipping off the cord's on/off switch there wasn't much cord left to work with. So I soldered an extension on and sealed it up. The new heaters were much easier to install and even came with a template for marking the mounting holes! I did notice when I removed the old heaters that three of them had developed a hairline fracture down the middle of the back (two horizontal, one vertical). I used latex caulk to putty up the fractures (as recommended in the instructions) and re-installed the heaters. I'll keep an eye on them over the coming winter.

There's no going back for us now -- I had our old oil system completely removed, so we're now dependent on the EconoHeaters. We have 10 heaters to warm our 1026 square foot home. I'll let you know how we fair during the cold New England months to come.

[Alex B]

I have 1 heating panel in my son's room and have been using it for 2 years now. Just this week, I have discovered a horizontal crack running across it, about 7 inches long. Can anyone tell me if it is still safe to use?

[Roger Moore]

Hi Gordon, I was just doing a little research on the web to see if anyone else had cracks forming in their econo-heat panels. I have a small 850sq.ft. house and these replaced my base-board heaters. So far two of the five large panels have cracked -- one all the way through. I'm going to replace them even though they still work. And I'm going to loosen the screws on all the others based upon these comments so thanks for allowing people to post their comments. In all, over the 5 years I've lived here, the panels have kept me warm at a very reasonable cost. So even to have to pay another $100 or so to replace these, it'll be worth it.

[Mitch]

I'm curious if any has tried cove heaters with radiant heat. I have an approximate 600 sqft detached garage that has been transformed into an office/entertainment/hang out area (garage door has been removed and walled in). It's currently heated with a ceiling mounted gas heater/blower, which does a horrible, yet expensive job of heating. I was planning on getting a wood stove and then I stumbled onto the panelized and cove heaters.

The total cost to purchase and install is not too bad (about $150/panel and $800 for an electrician to do the wiring). These economics work because my gas bill in the winter is crazy... UNLESS, the installed cove panels don't actually work that effectively.

Any insight would be helpful. Thanks.

[Jay Ducharme]

Hey Gordon. Here's an early winter update. We've had a New England cold snap, with 12 degree nights and heavy winds. My EconoHeaters were set for 64 degrees in the living and dining rooms (2 heaters each) and 68 degrees in the bedrooms. Our master bedroom dropped to 50 degrees. The thermostat is located in another bedroom that appears to hold its heat well, leaving the master bedroom in the cold. I'm not sure why. I brought one of our Pelonis oil-filled radiators out of the basement and that kept our bedroom toasty (in fact, a bit too warm). I re-measured the bedroom; it's 143 square feet. So I really should have two panels in that room. I'll correct that in the spring.

Our interior hallway seems to hold at a steady 68 degrees. The other rooms never dropped below 60 degrees, which isn't bad but also isn't great. The real benefit of the EconoHeaters is supposed to come when they're left on 24/7. But the thermostats cycle them on and off, and also apply varying amounts of voltage to them depending on what each thermostat determines is necessary.

I find it interesting that the Pelonis units can raise the room temperature so quickly and keep it there. I guess it's all a lesson in thermodynamics; those radiators are rated at 600-1500 watts, while the Econoheaters are 400 watts. The more energy, the more heat.

We still have a long winter to get through. We might be wearing sweaters indoors before very long....

[Missy K.]

We have 2 of the panels. Purchased several years ago. We use them as a supplemental heat to our heat pump (which I hate!!) One of the panels stopped heating half way through the panel. The company sent us out a new one and has worked well ever since. We recently took 1 to my mom's apartment because she too has heat pump and is always cold. Plus electic bills are becoming outrageous. We placed it behind her recliner where she sits and it is keeping her nice & toasty! I am thinking of getting a few more.

[Jay Ducharme]

Hello again, Gordon. Well, I've just finished going through about two weeks of sub-freezing weather. For nearly a week, at night the temperature stayed well below zero. That was about as tough a test for the EconoHeaters as I'm likely to experience. During that time, I insulated the area under our bedroom (which is above a part of the basement that had no floor). I also built a heavily insulated room in our basement.

I placed another oil-filled radiator in our kitchen, which has lots of air leakage from an old door and a big window (to be fixed in the future). That radiator and the one in our bedroom were all that we needed to help weather the cold. In general, the house stayed between 64 and 66 degrees during the day. If it was sunny, the house would warm to 68 even if the temperature outside was only in the teens. At night, most of the house stayed in the upper 50s to low 60s.

I put one EconoHeater in the 11' x 11' basement room I built. Even on the coldest days, it heats the room to about 66 degrees. So I think the main problem with our home is the insulation. Our home was a modular built in 1948. The walls are made of thin Homasote. The ceilings are made of thin plywood. The insulation remaining (much of it has disintegrated) is Kimsul, originally used to insulate Quonset huts for the military. So given that the basement room is almost as big as our bedroom and yet stays so much warmer, I guess the culprit must be the insulation (or lack of it). In the spring I'm planning to gut our bedroom and install all new insulation and wallboard. That should greatly improve our comfort, although with that additional radiator we've been pretty cozy anyway.

So our EconoHeaters are here to stay. Once again our electric bill showed a modest $100 rise for the month. At that rate we'll be saving a couple thousand dollars a year compared with our old oil system. I'm happy with how the heaters have worked, and with a little more work on our house we should be in good shape for anything the harsh New England winters can throw at us.

[Gordon Meyer]

Thanks for the updates, folks, here's one of my own:

We've been having record-low temperatures in the Chicago area. I still have two Econoheat panels installed, but we unplugged them when we went out of town for the holidays. When we returned, having missed much of the bad cold, one of the panels had cracked. It still functions just fine, so this seems to be a minor cosmetic issue.

A friend of mine who also lives in the city found that his panel cracked under similar circumstances. That is, the panel was off and it was very cold. Perhaps the cracking is caused by contraction of the panels against the wall mount.

[Jay Ducharme]

You have the old style panels, Gordon. It would be interesting to compare those same circumstances with one of the newer models. I'd never thought about the possibility of cracks forming when the units were *not* operating.

I have noticed that a few of my older panels now seem to bow outwards slightly. Perhaps the EconoHeat makers need to create a mounting that allows for lateral expansion.

[MPdesign@hotmail.com]

To stop cracks:
As a mechanical engineer and senior facility assessor (who has no experience with these particular panels), I can tell you the problem is most likely the mounting. Make sure that the panel can expand and contract when heated and cooled. If no room to expand, it will crack. It has to... God made it that way.

[Megan Garner]

Last year I purchased two Econo-Heat panels and installed one in my bedroom with one of their programmable thermostats. I thought this was the absolute best heater around. I was finally comfortable in my Minnesota northeast facing bedroom until I came home one night and saw that the electronics had fried causing scorch marks along the panel. I was very grateful the house didn't catch on fire but I wasn't about to install the second unit. I never contacted the company about the problem but I wanted to get the word out. Maybe this problem was caused by my painting the plastic cover but that is just my own theory.

[Troy Smith]

I just recieved my econo heaters in the mail and both of them are cracked right out of the box.