Dr. Infrared Heater DR-988 Heater, Standard, red

I had a 4800 watt electric heater in my garage and did a decent job heating it but I needed something with a little more power. I know I should have gas for something this big but until then I'm very satisfied. Gets it up to 20 degrees from about 5 degrees in a couple hours. The fan is more powerful than the 4800 so it moves more air, however it is noisier but it's a garage and I'm not reading books out there, I'm wrenching on cars so it doesn't matter to me. Also, the thermostat knob feels a little flimsy but it's doing it's job. Overall, I like the heater and we'll see on longevity and durability. I'll update as I've only had it a month. Update: First cold winter in northern Ontario. Kept my garage at 10 C at lower setting until I needed it to work out there. Turned it on high, went to 20 C in 2 hours. Working like a champ and I'm using it daily. Wasn't crazy on electric bill either. Best purchase. Still will update if it fails.

This unit is better than my previous, slightly smaller unit, 4600 watt. The housing is bigger and so is the heating element. So, the heat coming off of the fan is all warm. Not like my old heater were the heat only could be felt near the side, and the centre of the cone of air would blow cold. Just got it today, but already better than my old unit in terms of the amount of heat that comes off of it. You can stand near it and feel the heat coming from it. Should make a difference in the garage.

The positives are a good price and a heater that throws out quite a lot of heat. It is rated for 5600 watts at 240 volts, which is close to 20,000 BTU's. That is similar to many small gas heaters. Keep in mind that you need to use #10 wire and have a dedicated 30 amp circuit breaker in order to use this heater. It seems to work well and appears pretty well made, but only time will tell. There are a couple of issues, however. As the picture and manual make clear, this does not have an on-off switch. Instead, it only as an adjustable thermostat. The manual recommends unplugging it when not in use, which can be a little inconvenient and does put wear and tear on the large 30 amp power needed for this heater. The specs indicate the thermostat is rated for minimum on temperature of 37F, so if you leave it plugged in and the area gets below that, it will come on when you are not present. I have not verified the accuracy of the thermostat. The heater's fan is quite loud, so if you need a quiet area, that could be a problem. I also had a great deal of trouble registering the product on the company's website. One of the information fields on the registration webform (owner's telephone number) would not accept my number telling me to enter the correct format without specifying what format is required. After spending a lot of time guessing about the format, I finally got the correct one and it accepted the registration. I told customer support about their web problem and they did not seem interested in helping. They suggested a solution, but it did not work.

This heater was an excellent purchase. I did not purchase it lightly, without careful review of what other purchasers were saying in their feedback..... and for me it rates 5 star. I received it within 3 days of my purchase, and after wiring the appropriate outlet from the electrical panel, and making a 15' extension cord for it, I finally tested it over the weekend. My shop is insulated and approximately 800 ft2, with a woodworking area in one half and a motorcycle shop with hoist in the other half... and work benches separating the two.... so the shop is a little broken up. The extension cord allowed me to move the heater around as desired, and within 15 minutes of it's initial start up, the shop was warm enough to work all day in jeans and a t-shirt. Yes, the fan is a little loud but not unexpected for a commercial heater..... Is as effective as a woodstove? or commercial gas fired heater? no.... but without those options available, it worked really well, and exceeded my expectations! I am a very satisfied customer, and am now looking forward to a winter of pulling wrenches on motorcycles and working in my shop, warm, and happy......

Grwat price and as expected plus a bit more for the valiue. Switch buggered up a bit but jist running on auto anyway. Keeps a 25x25 insulated garage at plus 10 deg C in -40 deg weather. Gets there in about 4 hours from frozen. Not super warm but good working temps for the depth of winter. At -20 C had to shut it off because it was too hot in the garage. Great heater would recomend for any occassional shop work or weekemd warriors. Not suitable for full time heating as hydro is $$