Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 It simply does not produce enough heat. December 25, 2008
El Barto (DC USA)
If the DeLhongi MICA Panel Radiotor HHP1500 were anything other than a room heater, then it would deserve an excellent rating for its sleek design, ease of use and low (actually, nonexistent) noise levels.
Unfortunately, it IS a heater, and as a heater it is a failure. The reason for this is simply that it does not produce enough heat. Even at its highest setting (which, given its poor output, is pretty much the only one you will use), it gives too little heat to noticeably warm anything beyond nine square feet in front of it. You will never have to worry about it catching fire because it simply does not get hot enough for that to be an issue.
Making matters worse, the DeLongi's power chord is a mere four feet long. As it is placed directly on the right side of the (2-foot wide) heater, this gives you a grand total of two feet of distance if you want to put it somewhere where the only available socket is on the left-hand side. Of course, you could easily use an extension cord, except that the DeLonghi manual explicitly recommends that you not do so. So in addition to failing to warm a whole room, it also forces you to put it right next to the wall socket.
Unless you are prepared to install at least two DeLonghis in a room (in which case, why does your house not have central heating in the first place?), the DeLonghi is not a good option. Like a car that looks fast but cannot be steered properly and has lousy mileage, it is an excellent conversation piece- and a lousy buy.
 Fast & effective, but keep toddlers & pets away December 7, 2008
Brad
I have mixed feelings about this heater. I like the innovative design, but it has some shortcomings. Consumer reports listed this as their #2 Rated space header, and after having bought one based on that recommendation, I can see why it was #2 and not #1.
THE GOOD:
* DESIGN/OUTPUT: This unit is lightweight, and heats up fast (much faster than an oil radiator). Also, rather than older models using electric wires that glow red hot, this unit has a large 2 dimensional flat panel (behind a grill) that doesn't get hot enough at any one point to glow visibly - which reduces it's fire hazard. There's also much less of the ozone and acrid smell you get with older coil heaters.
* QUIET: There's no fan, so it's very quiet.
* MOUNTINGS: This unit can be mounted one of 2 ways - either on the floor atop it's detachable wheel brackets (easy to install, and very stable), or onto a wall with an included wall bracket (which, if your room layout permits, can be a real space-saving boon). I'd have liked to see a better wall bracket, and controls on the front rather than on the side (hard to read if mounted to a wall), but oh well.
* ANTI-FROST SETTING: According to the manual, if you set the thermostat to "*", and the output to 2 (High), it can be used to help prevent frost in an unheated room, by automatically cycling on below 41F.
THE MEDIOCRE:
* SAFETY: The box cover shows a picture of a pair of hands and the word "SAFE" in large print. I find that to be a bit misleading, because when this unit is set to HIGH (Position 2) in a very cold room, the front grill will slowly get very hot ... not hot enough to pose a serious fire hazzard mind you, but definitely hot enough to cause yelps, minor skin burns, and melt certain types of plastic and nylon on casual contact. Granted that this only happens in very cold rooms in which the unit has to work for extended periods at full power, but IMO, this still makes unsuitable for floor use in rooms frequented by toddlers and/or pets - it those circumstances, it should be wall mounted (out of reach) instead.
* THERMOSTAT CONTROLS: The knob is analog, albeit marked with 7 positions - * (anti-frost), and 1 (cool) through 6 (max warm). Accordingly, it requires trial and error to get the thermostat's kick-in point where you need it to be. IMO, the unit would be significantly improved by adding a digital thermostat.
* OUTPUT CONTROLS: This unit only has 3 settings: 0 (off), 1 (750 watt), and 2 (1,500 watt), and it has a big red LED. First, two settings is not enough ... at the very least, there should be 3 (Lo, Med, High). Second, the LED stays lit all the time, and merely serves to indicate whether or not it's plugged into a live outlet, not whether or not it's cycling on. A simple design change would fix that: they could mount a 2-color LED that would be off when the unit was off, green when the unit was on standby, and red when the thermostat kicks in the heater.
* POWER CORD: The maximum output of this heater (1,500 watts on setting 2) seems a bit close to the maximum rating of it's power cord (which looks like 1,800 watt lamp cord). The manually even says that it's normal for the cord and plug to get warm ... uh, yeah. The unit needs a cord with a higher maximum wattage rating, and it'd be nice if it were slightly longer (and had a space to coil it) as well.
Bottom line: It's a good, and innovative, space heater - but anyone with young children and/or pets should be careful how/where they use it.
good, not best but good buy all around November 16, 2008
Eric Sayward (La Crosse, Wi USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This unit is good if left on, it uses less electricity, but doesn't heat as fast as a hot air heater.. I got this unit because it saves energy thus money, and it does exactly what i needed it to do. I suggest this unit if you want to heat areas that do not have high in and out ( as in outdoors) traffic, and you are trying to save money on the heat bill..
Great for basements!
 great space heater October 30, 2008
D. Marcoux
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This space heater heats the room quickly, quietly and then maintains at the desired temp. I think it has a nice sleek look and will consider wall mounting it if we have a dog in the house. It's pretty much exactly what I was looking for. I had a difficult time finding this model which was reviewed highly in all of the resources I found. Amazon was really the only one. Not sure if DeLonghi is stopping production of this model or what....but was glad to get my hands on it.
 Good for Small rooms October 7, 2008
J. VanderLek (Cheshire, CT)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
After researching for safety, quality and price - this is the heater I chose to try and keep us warmer this season.
I was very disappointed that it did not make any noticeable difference in our living room, which is a small room. It did fine, however, in the bedroom, which measures about 14x14. I would not recommend this one for any room bigger than those dimensions.
On the plus side: It is absolutely quiet. It doesn't smell (as some reviews noted) and it is not bulky. It's also not so hot as to burn you if you brush by accidently. The backside of the unit stays rather cool. All the heat seems to come off the top ... not so much off the front panel, really.
Last note: this cost 84.00 w/Connecticut sales tax at Home Depot.
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