Thursday, October 31, 2013

Cheap Minuteman International X800115 Wood Bellow

Minuteman International X800115 Wood Bellow
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
List Price: $64.99
Sale Price: $33.51
Today's Bonus: 48% Off
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I ended up returning the bellows. At first look it was nice enough for the price. The problem I had was with the intake hole at the bottom. Too much of the exhaled air goes out through that hole as well when you pump it. A simple fix would be to tack a small piece of material inside the bellows to act as a check valve to prevent a lot of the air from escaping when it's being pumped.

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Was a little smaller than I had envisioned it based upon the measurement, but nice quality and performs as expected. Because of it's modest size it hangs nicely with the rest of the fireplace tools without overwhelming our space.

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This bellows was smaller than the picture on the website. While it still provides the needs at this moment, it was not exactly what I thought I was purchasing at the time.

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I purchased it for a gift. It works as good as the one I paid $85.00 for. I would highly recommend it!

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The tool works as intended but it is poorly made . The handles don't meet properly .I guess I should know better and resign myself to accept poor workmanship of anything made in China !!! I was brought up in Switzerland and we always had the best quality !!! CH has little natural resource except hydro . Well , my data is four decades old . I still have clothes I brought over then !!! Now , that is quality !!!

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HomArt Large Decorative Robin/Oriole Birds Matches Review

HomArt Large Decorative Robin/Oriole Birds Matches
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
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Let me tell you first that I love HomArt Matches. The designs are great and they make a great gift. I was really happy to get these, but when I opened my package the HomArt matches were covered with tape. These are decorative boxes. Why would they do that? Amazon is replacing these, but I don't hold out for much hope. I blame this on a bad distributor.

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Buy Woodeze 5SA-8053 Speedy Cleaner - White

Woodeze 5SA-8053 Speedy Cleaner - White
Customer Ratings: 4.5 stars
List Price: $14.72
Sale Price: $11.00
Today's Bonus: 25% Off
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We used it to clean the glass inserts on our fireplace. Not sure that other more general products might not do as well at a lower price.

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This works great for cleaning a dirty wood stove. I also tried this on old windows that had tree sap residue that would not budge with Windex, paint thinner, or anything else. For some reason I thought about this speedy white and tried it on the stubborn windows. Years and years of build-up came off the first try. Spray on, let sit for a few seconds, and wipe...clean as can be. But be careful not to get too much on the paint.

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Speedy White works as advertised. It removes soot stains very readily, as it claims. Be aware that it streaks pretty badly, however. You may have to clean the glass using a normal glass cleaner after the application of Speedy White to remove deposits.

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Buy Creosote Sweeping Log For Fireplaces (Pack of 2)

Creosote Sweeping Log For Fireplaces
Customer Ratings: 4.5 stars
List Price: $42.73
Sale Price: $31.93
Today's Bonus: 25% Off
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I live in Alaska and heat with spruce exclusively; not because I can't afford fuel oil but because I like the quality of warmth of a Blaze King woodstove with a glass door. My stack is 25 feet high. I noticed that the cap on the stack had some closure of the vents and burned one of these logs. DON'T TAKE THE WRAPPER OFF THE LOG!! BURN IT WITH THE PLASTIC WRAPPER as it says in the instructions that I was too dumb to read before using the first log. Read the directions twice and follow them. Big improvement in my stack air flow. My friend uses them too and reported great results. After a house caught fire New Year's Day, 2010 in the next subdivision, I determined to burn one of these logs every two weeks during heating season. The house which burned to the ground had a stack fire. A real stack fire sounds like a jet engine when all that creosote catches fire and will scare the hell out of you.

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I burned one of these in January last season. After a couple days I started hearing creosote falling. On a warmer day I shut the stove down and opened the clean out and got a good bit of creosote out. I went to clean out my chimney after last season and my brush got seriously wedged in the top of the chimney,after I finally got it out I looked in there with a flashlight and there was only creosote at about the top 1 foot of the chimney and a very small amount lower down. The stuff was so loose I was able to knock it all out with the brush rod. Got it clean as a whistle. This season I will use one every 2 months like the box says. Great peace of mind.

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The Creosote Sweeping Log works very well. They light readily and burn well, treating the existing creosote on the inside of the stove and chimney. Thereafter, the creosote hardens and falls off into the ash pile and burns up.

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I use two of these logs through out the burning season. It does loosen up the soot build up making it easier the clean the chimney, which I do once a year with a stiff chimmney brush. Even with using the cresosote sweeping log you still have to swept/brushed the chimney as expected.

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The product does work..no doubt. But I think it has rather slow results and for the usage it's expensive. But I guess it's paying for convenience. All you have to do is light a match. Seems to work better with a good draft going (an existing fire) before adding the log. But I think the Rutland 44 remover is a better deal, but if you only need an occasional creosote 'tune-up' this will work. I'd have given 4 stars except for the cost per use.

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Cheap ProCom Blower for Dual Fuel Fireplaces - Model# FIB100

ProCom Blower for Dual Fuel Fireplaces - Model# FIB100
Customer Ratings: 3.5 stars
List Price: $119.99
Sale Price: $49.00
Today's Bonus: 59% Off
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seems t blow out a little hea but nothing substantial. It makes more noise than it serves a purpose for in my opinion. It was difficult to install as well since the instructions were not real clear. It goes all the way in the back of the fireplace on the bottom and it blows air up the back of the firebox and it comes out the top by the hood. It only uses like 18watts when its energized so at least its not going to raise your electric bill too much. ,

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very quiet throws out heat very nice unit easy to install would recommend it for every stove. its a must

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Makes a little more noise than preferred, but otherwise well worth the money. Kicks on and off with thermostat already installed.

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I purchased this to go with the Procom Firebox I purchased. Quite simply, it dfoes what it says and does it well. This is available elsewhere bu Amazon had the absolute best price.

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I was very disappointed in this blower. You cannot feel any air blowing from the fireplace when this in on.

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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Reviews of Real Flame Gabrielle L6700-X-AW Electric Fireplace in Antique White

Real Flame Gabrielle L6700-X-DM Electric Fireplace in Dark Mahogany - MANTEL ONLY
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
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I fell in love with this at first sight, unfortunately the color is not antique white. It is more of an antique yellow. A canary yellow to be exact and the mahogany slates are not mahogany but black. I would have never purchased this color or have even given it a second thought had I seen it in true color. It's still a beautiful piece but just a warning to those who are really hoping for a mahogany and antique white fireplace.

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It is beautiful well constructed and is an addition to the master bedroom remodel that really brings the room the warmth and comfort feeling we were seeking. The fact that it is alcohol burning means it is a safe alternative and with kids in the house that is a HUGE selling feature.

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Best LIFESMART Amish Inspired Power Plus 1200 Square Foot 6 Element Deals

LIFESMART Amish Inspired Power Plus 1200 Square Foot 6 Element
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
List Price: $399.00
Sale Price: $119.95
Today's Bonus: 70% Off
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This Lifesmart heater is a good buy for me and I own just about every different type of space heater available. To start, don't expect it to heat 1200 sq ft, and don't expect the wood finish to be outstanding. The wood finish is not bad, but if viewed in direct sunlight you can see all the imperfections in the wood, though acceptable but not for a picky person. You can always refinish the wood, or darken the stain, so it does not bother me. The buttons make a beep sound when pushed, this could wake up the baby. The thermostat when cycling off and on make a faint clicking sound, this could also potentially wake up the baby.

Now for the good stuff. It is a super solid unit with nice smooth casters for rolling, weighs in over 40 pounds. The electronics are really nice, the thermostat has a 2 degree F. range. If you set it at 67, the temperature will go from 65-67, shutoff at 67 and then turn back on at 65. When it shuts off, the fan continues to push residual heat, the fan does not shut off.

I have a killowatt tester. On low it uses 940 watts, on high it uses 1360 watts, the fan alone uses 32 watts. Don't let the low scare you because the on off cycles can turn it to 500 watts or less.

It seems to push a lot of heat. I was expecting to feel the warmth of the infrared like a typical infrared heater. For some reason I could not feel the infrared, maybe most of it gets soaked up with the copper, but some must also come out. Maybe just not enough to be plainly noticeable.

I was originally thinking this would save me by taking over some work from the furnace. Instead it is saving me in a different manner. It is not powerful enough to heat my main area. I have a 4000 sq ft home. I found it works much better in our bedroom. We were using a space heater on high 1500 watts all night to supplement the furnace. I can keep this Lifesmart on low and set the digital thermostat and it cycles on and off and it does the job using under 500 watts. My calculations are at about a $50 savings per month using it in this manner. Just because it worked out for me, it does not mean it will work out for you. I was originally disappointed that it did not help the furnace with my main living area and was disappointed I did not feel the infrared. I was thinking it was a bad buy and no real use for it. Then I started trying to figure where it might work better, and am satisfied now.

One test I did, I took my next best heaters, a new model Lasko Cyclonic Ceramic Heater 5840 and a Lasko 5812. On a cold night near 0 night, I set it to 3 degrees above the rest of the house, and the most they could do after hours on high is 2 degrees above. I then took the Lifesmart and set it at 4 degrees above, and to top that off I set it on low. In 10 minutes it hit a degree warmer than the other 2 heaters could do in hours of work. So it is doing something, that's for sure. It is just not readily apparent as I would like it to be. I wanted to feel sunshine type heat. I didn't get the infrared feel. I am still very happy with the buy. I figure it should be free in 4 months of operation with the savings. I will recommend this to anyone who is not too picky on the wood finish. This ended up being my best space heater.

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This heater works as advertised. I have had it more than a month so the electric bill came in and met my expectations. I turned down my 3500 sq.ft. home central heat from 71F to 69F. No use heating the entire house with all the kids gone. I use this heater for my bedroom during the night and set it for 73F. It brings the room to approximately 71F and turns off. Then it comes on for a minute for two every 15 minutes to maintain the temperature. I went to Harbor Freight and purchased a Digital Electrical Usage Tester to see how much power this heater is actually using. Turns out it uses 1350 Watts, 114 volts, and 11.8 Amps. If it stayed on all night this would be a energy hog, but since it only comes on approximately 4 times per hour, for a minute each time, the energy use is much less than my central air. Therefore my energy use went down for this past month since turning down my central heat and using this heater to heat my bedroom. Overall it met my expectations. Only one thing I had not anticipated is the smell of new wood and glue the first two weeks as the heater broke in.

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I bought this heater, exact one for 170 shipped off a seller on ebay. This product works so well in my apartment (1000 sf) that we use it as our only source of heat. The built in heater that came with the unit was costing me 70 dollars in gas bills and up a month to heat the apartment in the winter. I was fed up with paying so much for the bill that I decided to take the plunge and buy this... I keep the unit on Low all day and all night. The unit peridocly shuts on and off (approx 1-2 min every 40-60 minutes) to cycle the heat around the house when the temperature dips below the degree listed on the face of the heater. Right now it is 40 degrees outside and my house is a comfy 72 (listed on the home thermostat, when the lifesmart heater is listed at 72). My new bill for electricity cost me compared to the previous month (no heater) only 10 dollars more, likewise my gas bill went down 70 dollars as compared to the previous month with the apartment heater on. Overall a really great product.

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the heater works well but not up to the advertised level they suggest. it does well in our 700 square foot home. 1500 square feet would be quit a strech for it i would think. but it does do a decent job and we are happy with its performance.

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This Lifesmart heater caught on fire in the middle of the night. There were actual flames coming out of it. It was sitting alone with nothing around it within 3 feet. We drug it outside and put the flames out with a hose. It thankfully did not hurt anyone since the smoke alarm alerted us to the situation. It did cause smoke smell damage that is still present. The manufacturer was contacted and they wanted to replace it with a lessor type heater ($99.99) and offered $50.00 for the damage. They stated that in 99% of the time that this happens (does it happen frequently?) it is the outlet that is the problem. This particular outlet is functioning fine and there is no damage to it. The fire started inside of the unit, not at the outlet. The house has to be repainted and the furniture cleaned which will cost much more than $50.00. This has been an unacceptable suggested resolution from this company. I would not recommend this heater simply because of the manufacturer's statement that "when this happens" which tells me that we are not the first customer to experience this. If it was a first time occurrence and they were responsive that would be one thing. This sounded like it was just another incident.

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Discount Fireset Fireplace Tool Set, Antique Bronze 5 Pc

Fireset Fireplace Tool Set, Antique Bronze 5 Pc
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
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We wanted a good, sturdy fireplace set that also wouldn't break the bank. We found it! The color is just right to go with our furnishings and fireplace doors and is a nice weight and good, usable tools. We hope the shovel will continue to do well since on our previous one, it broke very quickly while trying to shovel out ash. If that continues to hold, we are happy!

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Review of Pleasant Hearth 23-Inch Pearson Heritage Media Electric Fireplace

Pleasant Hearth 23-Inch Pearson Heritage Media Electric Fireplace
Customer Ratings: 3 stars
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It is very pleasant hearth indeed, it is a very nice dark cherry solid wood, not particle board which makes it nice. it is the size of a bedroom dresser and the fireplace is a very nice touch to create the mood or just to keep warm.

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What is the color? Have not purchase yet I think it's the color I'm looking for price is right!!!

Anyone purchase

Atwood 55" TV Stand with Electric Fireplace Reviews

Atwood 55' TV Stand with Electric Fireplace
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
List Price: $1,899.00
Sale Price: $1,599.00
Today's Bonus: 16% Off
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This is a beautiful piece of furniture and is very solidly built. It was packaged very well to prevent any damage in shipping and was easy to put together.

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Saturday, October 26, 2013

How to choose Unique Amish Fireplaces

Did You Know?

The Amish produce great looking fireplaces. I suppose the title gave that away, but the spoilers end here. Not only do they look good, they’re also portable fireplaces that are probably more technologically advanced than your own fireplace at home. While we’re here clicking away at keyboards, Amish craftsmen are hand carving the wooden mantles that are the hallmark of their fireplaces. I’ll guide you through some background information about the Amish people and what makes their fireplaces so unique.

Background

The Amish migrated to Pennsylvania primarily from France and Germany starting in the 18th century, and continued to settle in many other states as well. Each community varies in their adherence to tradition and retention of their cultural identity. Many, but not all, communities primarily speak Pennsylvanian German, for example. Generally speaking, the Amish are known for their strong emphasis on family, community, pacifism, self reliance and faith. Many dress in plain clothing, which varies based on gender, age, and weather. Long dresses and aprons are common for the women. Men usually wear suspenders and dark trousers with their shirts.

Often times their avoidance of most modern technologies is misinterpreted as an irrational fear. In reality, they simply want to maintain community and family cohesion, which is arguably weakened by relying on some modern devices. They rely primarily on resources and services available in their community, which strengthens the community. Electrical devices that reduce human interaction are limited to foster personal communication. The self reliance they maintain requires them to have an excellent work ethic and dedication to their craft. The Amish are regarded as expert craftsmen of wooden furniture, especially portable fireplaces.

Fireplace Mantles

Amish woodworking skills are passed on through generations. Their mantles are made from actual wood, as opposed to particle board or laminate. Materials are carefully selected for the specific piece being carved, which results in a higher quality fireplace mantle. Almost everything is handcrafted by them, with the rare aid of pneumatic devices. Nothing is mass produced however, which means each Amish fireplace is unique and beautiful. The Amish make several different styles of fireplaces. Some are carved with mostly straight accents and other clean lines for a modern look. Others are ornately carved with intricate details on the face of the mantle. Lighter hued mantles are usually made of oak, while cherry and mahogany create a darker but richer look. Some fireplaces sit flush with the floor, while others are supported by carved legs or wheels for easy portability.

Quartz Heaters

Amish produce mantles for electric fireplaces, but do not produce the components of the quartz heaters. These heaters are powered by standard home outlets, without the need for installation. This means you do not have to worry about having firewood available, or cleaning up ash and debris around the fireplace. For people with respiratory complications, they are a great way to avoid agitation by smoke while still enjoying stylish home heating.

Quartz bulbs provide the heat for these fireplaces. They are mostly made of a tungsten filament surrounded by a quartz bulb. The heat they provide is in the form of infrared energy, which can be directed by reflective surfaces, without the need for a noisy fan. Quartz heaters are ideal for heating small rooms and spaces quickly where large heating systems would be wasteful. The heaters are disguised by artificial logs with different lighting effects to produce the look of dynamic flames and glowing embers. These features can even be turned on without the heat if you’re already comfortable and just want to enjoy the atmosphere it creates.