Customer Reviews

Honeywell HZ-709 7 Fin Oil Filled Radiator Heater with Digital Controls

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(36)

 

 

The Honeywell HZ-709 comes very well packaged with solid styrofoam wrapped around the unit all inside a heavy duty cardboard box. When I opened mine I wasn't surprised that there wasn't a scratch on it. It comes with the radiator unit, four plastic casters, two brackets, two u-bolts, owners manual, and warranty card. There is basic tool-free assembly required to put on the casters, but its so easy a cave man could do it. The instructions to do this are also very easy to understand.

Once the unit is assembled then it is time to plug it in. The digital settings are very easy to adjust with one power button and three two-way switches. One switch is for adjusting the thermostat, which can be set to the max of eighty five degrees fahrenheit. Another is for setting the power low (600 watts), medium (900 watts), and high (1500 watts). The last switch is for setting a hourly timer for shutting the unit off. The temperature switch can also be used to change from fahrenheit to celsius within the first few seconds of powering the unit on. Let me add that this unit is extremely silent, I had to check it a few times to make sure it was on.

I purchased this heater a few weeks ago from Target after we got a blast of cold weather (hovering below and above freezing at night) for a couple of weeks because my home does not have central heat and air and I have about 20 space heaters of which none have ever made my house feel close to warm during the winter. I decided on this unit because it was the most expensive one so I figured it must work for that price and plus I had never tried a oil filled radiator style heater before. I am so glad I decided on this heater.

This heater is in my bedroom which is roughly 700 square feet 26x26. I have a 52" ceiling fan which I set to low on the updraft setting. I tried to place the heater in the center of the room but the cord was too short, but I do have a pretty huge bedroom, so I just put it as far as it would go toward center from the wall outlet. I turned the heater on the highest power setting and highest temperature setting about 5:00pm on an evening that was going to drop below freezing. I have a thermometer on my night stand and the temp in the room read fifty nine degrees. By the time I went to sleep at around 10:00pm the temperature had already raised to seventy two degrees. When I woke up the next morning the temperature was seventy eight degrees. I was shocked!!! It was actually warm in my room. My wife was in shock too. What is amazing is that the unit itself is not extremely hot to the touch like quartz radiant heaters are, while it is still hot I don't feel like it is a fire hazard like quartz heaters are and I feel comfortable leaving it on all the time, even when I am not home. I am still a bit confused on how it does such a great job of heating but it really does. For the past two weeks I haven't been cold in my bedroom at all and I love this heater. It hasn't gone above seventy eight degrees in my bedroom, but I don't want it more than that anyway. It was definitely worth the money. I want to purchase 2 or three more of these units for the whole house now.

I just wanted to update my review a little after a year that I wrote it. It went through another winter and kept us warm, I had since bought a couple more. Still very happy with the units. I had people ask about energy consumption and decided to put a formula on here so you could figure it out for yourself since it would be different for everyone:

It is very easy to figure how any electrical device will affect your electric bill.
Use the formula:

Cost = (watts x hours used x rate per kwh) / 1000

So if you use the unit on high (1500 watts) for 12 hours a day at your electric company's kilowatt hour rate (mine is always changing but usually stays around .02 cents per kwh) then divide that number by 1000 you get your cost which would be:

Cost = (1500 watts x 12 hours x 0.02 kwh charge) / 1000 = $0.36 cents per day or for 30 days: 30 x 0.36 = $10.80

You can use the formula for any electronic device in your home.

THE HONEYWELL HZ-709: I'm on my sixth oil-filled radiator heater. It's a Honeywell HZ-709, the only satisfactory one I've found currently on the market. The first Honeywell I bought worked very well for one season. When I began experiencing problems, I found customer service to be very responsive and responsible.

THE OTHERS: I had a Lakewood which worked very well, but Lakewood doesn't make these heaters anymore. I've also tried two different DeLonghi radiators. Both of them continued to put out irritating fumes even after the break in period. Back they went. Likewise for the Holmes I bought. It gave off a low-level odor that I didn't find too noxious at first; but after the first few hours I developed a continuous and worsening headache + nausea that wouldn't quit unless I left the house. It didn't put out as much heat as the Honeywell either. I gave it two days to prove itself, then gave up on it.

THE WARRANTY: So I've purchased a second Honeywell. As I said, the first one worked beautifully for one season. I cranked it up again this fall and it worked fine for a few days. Then, suddenly, the heater started to put out nasty fumes. It smelled like a CFL bulb when they go bad - very nasty. It still worked and I couldn't find any leaking oil. I think the problem was in the control panel. I called customer service because, unlike other heaters, the Honeywell has a three-year warranty. Customer service was very thorough and efficient. The guy I spoke to told me he would waive the $10 return fee (?!!), but he wanted me to ship the heater back at my expense. When I objected, he put me on hold for a short time, then came back and told me that this one time I could just cut off the cord and send it. This I did, and I'm waiting on my replacement heater. Meanwhile I bought another because I wanted a second heater of this type anyway.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF HEATERS: I really prefer oil-filled radiators as opposed to forced-air or open-element heaters. They are quiet, slow, even, efficient, and safe. But you have to use them correctly. You can't come into a 60 degree room, crank up one of these radiators, and expect instant warmth. Rather than sending out a fan-driven blast of warm air, it transfers heat to the air and the objects around it by natural convection. Radiator is a misnomer - they should be called convectors.

(True radiant heaters, such as quartz heaters, use infrared heat (electromagnetic radiation) to warm objects (and people) rather than the air. This is, in principle, exactly how the sun heats. The air may remain cool, but if you stand in the sunshine you will be warmed by radiation. Infrared heat is great - if you can afford it. Quartz heaters will make your electric bill resemble NASA's budget. Apparently, buying a little piece of the sun is a very expensive proposition.)

Back to the oil-filled gadgets. As the heating element inside the convector (aka radiator) heats the oil, a current is generated in the oil because warm oil is more buoyant. The warm oil rises and gives up its heat, via the metal fins, to the colder air. The heated oil constantly rising from the bottom displaces the cooling oil which circulates back down to the heat coil to be heated again etc. etc. Meanwhile, the heated air is rising, forming its own convection current and is circulating throughout the room without any mechanical aids. This gentle current of air ultimately feels warmer than forced air because you are not contending with the "breeze" created by a fan-driven system. The use of natural convection circulation saves money because there is no fan using additional electricity.

If your room cools to, say, 55 degrees for a while, then so do all the objects in it. In a typical room, that's a lot of mass to bring back up to the desired temperature. Until everything reaches the desired temp, all that mass is soaking up the heat from whatever source you use. I find that these convection heaters are best used over a long period of time to warm the room and all the objects in it, then to maintain a comfortable temperature. To that end I wish the timer were set up to turn ON the heater (like an hour or two before I wake up or arrive home from work) rather than to turn OFF the heater at a preset time. That would make much more sense to me.

THE CONTROLS: The only other caveat to the timer is that if you accidentally turn it on by flicking the center button, your heater will cut off unexpectedly in whatever number of hours you unwittingly chose. Some of the "malfunctions" listed in other reviews may be due to accidentally setting the timer. The other controls work very well and the heater puts out a large, consistent volume of heat for a relatively modest increase in my power bill. The thermostat for this heater is apparently located near the floor. My floor is very cold, so the recorded temperature on the heater panel reads lower than the room temp. I monitor the actual room temperature and reset the heater thermostat accordingly. Right now it is 44 degrees outside, a comfy 72.5 inside, but the heater panel reads 68. This is in a very old, drafty, poorly-insulated 600 sq. ft. unit with no other intentional source of heat.

SUMMARY: Oil-filled heaters are quiet, efficient, and safe. The cats can and do sleep right up against it without burning themselves. It will not catch the curtains afire. There is no noisy, inefficient fan. Of all similar heaters, this Honeywell is the best -- well worth the additional price. It is obviously made to higher quality standards than the other, cheaper heaters I've tried. It carries a three-year warranty, and the company stands behind its product. It heats the room without poisoning the air. If they made an even better one and charged even more, I'd buy it!

We loved ours! A lot of the people who are having problems with it shutting itself off randomly are probably playing with the middle button on the unit - it is some kind of timer. We never used it, but realized when we had the same problem.

Our problem is that the oil pan must have burst or something - I came into the kitchen one day and there was a brown puddle on the floor and the thermostat was registering 90 degrees. So thankful it didn't catch on fire or anything, but if it hadn't been on linoleum it would have left a nasty mess on the carpet. Returned it to the store no problem, but we were unable to replace it with the same model as it was not in stock.

I just bought this unit from Target, and it is great.
First of all, it is very quiet. The only noise is the sound of oil percolating around in metal housing, which is actually soothing. It is powerful enough to heat our average size bedroom (about 15'x15') even on the lowest setting, and it is below freezing outside.
It is really nice to have a thermostat. You can set it and it will keep your room at a constant temperature. The non-digital model is about $20 cheaper, but just get this one. I've used heaters with no thermostat, and you can never get it to hold constant at a nice temperature. You will wake up too hot or too cold.
The Honeywell costs a little more than the cheap-o brand, but it is WELL worth it. The first radiator heater I bought was cheap-o from Walmart. It made a really loud electrical arcing noise every time it kicked on. It was loud enough to wake us up. It sounded like those weapons from War of the Worlds.

Update: Durable too. We've had ours for.. 5 years?? Still works!

I've owned this for a little over a year. I was quite pleased with it until I noticed that my electrical outlet had black around it - I pulled the plug and saw that the plug was melting - causing it to short. - I blamed the outlet - only to find another outlet making hissing/sparking noises shortly thereafter (and more melting)- the problem is the plug becomes warm - either by being close to the unit when on, or from electrical resistance - this warms up the rubber/plastic separating the prongs - causing the less electricity resistance - and voila you have a potentially lethal problem. Even with the unit off the plug will continue to spark/short/melt. Don't know why the circuit breaker didn't blow - it must not be enough to trigger. Buyer beware. I'm contacting Honeywell today.

I was recommending this heater to a friend and wrote the following:

They are wonderful, I have one at home. Thermostatically controlled, temp and power settings, energy efficient, space efficient, completely silent, cute, not expensive - under $90. They actually heat the room, not just blow hot air around, or radiate heat to objects but not to the air itself. You can leave them on a low power setting and low temp and not use much power to keep a room at a set base temp when you are not there (come into a cold but not freezing room). (I've lived in many cold apartments and had many kinds of heaters ;). It is the good digital thermostat temp control that makes this one the favorite amongst similar types. (not a surprise as it's Honeywell)

Then I went to get him some links and noticed the 16 One Star reviews.
So I read them all. (But not any others, btw).

And now.... I am still standing by what I wrote to my buddy and giving it 5 stars here.

(I actually would give it only 4 stars normally, but with such a high percentage of 1 stars from people that just had a dud or did not know how to use it, on a product that is actually very good, I felt this nice heater deserved the little bit of positive counterbalance that I could give it ;-).

The one star reviews appear to me to be a few defective units, a few people who did not know how to operate the controls, and a few bad experiences (yeah, I would not close the kids bedroom door at night with any heater on unless I was checking in regularly (leave the door open a little when you go to bed).

But I have had about 10 of these in operation for 1 and 4 years, and I don't think one has failed nor have I gotten any complaints since. I am a commercial property manager of a couple of big old drafty factory loft buildings in new york city with a central boiler that also occationally goes down completly. So I have given then out to the few tenants who have complained, and I don't think I've gotten any further complaints from any of them about heat after they get one. That's number one reason I love this unit. LOL

The BIG number 2 reason is I have one at home and love it. Mine has worked perfectly for about 3 years, and I had another one before that in another place that also was great. The digial termostat control works perfectly - that maybe being my #1 fav about it. That combined with the 3 power settings. I had it on a circuit with other stuff and it would all pop the breaker. But only if on full power. Put it 1 or 2, and it was fine, and it still heated the room very well (maybe took alittle longer to warm up from cold, but once at the room temp you want keeps it there, no difference.)

It loses one star with me becaue the wheels are a little to cheap - 3 of the 4 on mne are now broke, although it is on a roughish stone fireplace threashold, and my wife may have been rough with it, but still.... I would tell Honeywell to spend an extra nickel each wheel for just one step up in the very long line of very cheap chinese all-plastic wheels. And I tell you to roll it gently and lift it when necessary. Also, maybe the controls could be more intuitive, and I never tried using the timer (it has a timer? who cares?), but it IS simple, and once you know it, it's easy.

I do reccomend this product.

Hope this helps
Steve in NYC

I purchased this radiator at Target and it worked ok for about a month. After that the temperature setting malfunctioned and it wouldn't stay where I set it. It would overheat, sometimes getting to 90 degrees. This morning it must have shorted out and actually was on fire. Could be a faulty machine, but if the thermostat starts malfunctioning I'd return it right away.

Like many others, we also purchased this unit at Target over a year ago and used it for about four months last season. It warmed our bedroom very well and the digital features were convenient. A few weeks into this season however, the unit has appeared to burn out - and does not turn on at all. Without a receipt, Target is not taking responsibility and we have contacted Honeywell directly and are awaiting response. Hopefully, their customer service is more reliable than their product.

RT

Mine hasn't shut off on its own like others mention here. Mine came from Target and it is still new though. The thermostat has a +/- 2 degree offset. So if I set it to 70, it will run till the area is 72 before it turns off and then it will wait till the area is 68 before it turns back on. This is good so the unit isn't constantly going on and off to maintain an exact temperature. Other reviewers haven't mentioned this. Is this how others are also?

I bought one of these at Target (where the price is, incidentally $20 less than Amazon's), and it worked well for exactly one week. During that time, I had only two quibbles:

> The thermostat read about four degrees too low -- but it's easy enough to set the control for four degrees less than the temperature I wanted.

> The electronic controls are reasonably intuitive, except for the timer feature, which is just bizarre -- if you inadvertently set the timer, you'll have a heck of a time disabling it. And it's a shame that all the settings are purged when the unit is shut off (or when it shuts off automatically). The next time the unit is powered up, it will revert back to a 70-degree setting, which -- especially when coupled with the 4-degree-too-low thermostat, is far too warm for my application. And it will default to the highest setting, which isn't what I want either.

The heater produces nice, even heat. Like all oil-filled heaters, it takes a few minutes to get up to working temperature, but that is not a drawback. In fact, I like this feature of oil-filled heaters.

The reason for the one-star review is that yesterday, the heater simply shut off and would not power up again. At first I thought there might be an overload protector, but there isn't one, and even after waiting a day, it still wouldn't power up. (And yes, the outlet supplying the unit is functioning fine).

Fortunately, Target has a fantastic return policy (I had lost my receipt, but they generated one when I handed them my credit card), so this heater didn't cost me anything except time and trouble. But I would strongly suggest you avoid this model. It's nice when it's working, but judging by several of the reviews here, the electronic control unit is simply poorly engineered (a bit ironic given that Honeywell is a pioneer in control devices). Save money and trouble by buying a unit with a conventional control unit.