Bionaire BH3930-U Galileo Digital Console Heater with Remote Control
From Holmes
Instant Sun-like warmth featuring two pure quartz tubes for maximum efficiency. This heater features a 1 touch electronic thermostat with clearview and a convenient carry handle for easy portability.
- Amazon Sales Rank: #437296 in Kitchen & Housewares
- Brand: Holmes
- Model: BH3930-U
- Released on: 2005-08-01
This is the best electric heater, period.
We are using this heater for three years and it still works great. There is really only one way to make a heater to keep an accurate room temperature - to have a remote thermostat. It's so surprising that other manufacturers don't get it, so far I've only seen Bonaire heaters with remote wireless thermostat. We use it in our daughter's bedroom and for three years the heater kept the room temperature between 68 and 69 degrees at night. We also have a LaCrosse wireless temperature sensor installed in the same room and the temperature never fluctuated more then 2 degrees from the Bonaire setting. I think it's the best portable heater on the market.
Bionaire BH3930-U with Galileo Remote
ABSOLUTELY THE BEST, provided the remote does not break. Without the remote you can set the heater to LOW or HIGH and in either case the room becomes a sauna! I have three of these heaters in my house, one for each bedroom, and with the remote they are really AMAZING (read the other reviews, they are 100% accurate). But I have broken one remote (the mode button is stuck) and misplaced another remote, and BIONAIRE does not have any additional remotes for sale. In fact they suggested that I return the heaters (even though I bought them 3 years ago at Sharper Image) and they would replace them with new BIONAIRE BH 3900, which are the same heathers but with no remote. So I think that Bionaire kileld this product because without the Galileo remote the heater is useless. That said I would pay just about any price to have two remotes, or for Bionaire to introduce a new units with BOTH a remote and an on board thermostat.
The BEST heater money can buy!
This is absolutely the best heater available. It is essentially the same as the Bionaire BH3900 (see reviews there), but this one has a wireless remote control that allows you to set it at a certain temperature, and it will maintain that temperature consistently. Just like the reviews said about the BH3900, this unit is almost silent, except for a soft "click" when it toggles on/off, as well as a slight crackling sound, which is produced as the elements expand and contract. It is very safe, as the heat comes up from the top, not the side, so the side will at most feel warm, not dangerously hot. The remote makes this heater from good to GREAT, because you can set the heater to the exact temperature that you want. No more guessing and playing with unlabeled dials. Also, you can set the remote to the other side of the room and it will only turn off after the entire room is warmed to that temperature. Then, when the temperature drops by one degree, it will kick on again to heat things up. We have a two year old in the house, so we keep this unit in his room. We can sleep peacefully at night, knowing that regardless of how cold it is outside, we know EXACTLY what the temperature will be in his room.
There is one potential problem with this unit. If you press the "mode" button too fast on the remote, it will become out of sync with the heater. For example, if you want to set it to auto-low, you would have to press the mode button three times (low->high->autolow->autohigh). If you press the button too fast, then instead of autolow, the heater will think you want it to be on high instead. The remote will still show "auto low", but the heater will be set on high. This is bad, because if you leave this thing on high all night long, the room can get close to 100 degrees! There is a very simple solution to this, however. After you press the mode button on the remote, simply check the lights on the control panel of the heater to see if it is on the right mode. I always give it a quick glance after I set it on the remote, so it is always right and it always works perfectly.
One very strange thing about this unit is that it is generally not available anywhere. The BH3900 is available at a few places, but the more advanced BH3930 is not. It is not even available from the manufacturer at the time of this writing. So if you find one, new or used, buy it!
