Buy Zojirushi Mr. Bento Stainless Steel Lunch Jar

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List Price: $66.00
Sale Price: $46.91
Today's Bonus: 29% Off

It's a great "lunchbox" if you adapt your menu to it.

First the description

The lunchbox is a Thermos Jar with a non-insulated plastic top. There are four containers that fit into the jar in a specific order.

-The bottom container is a insulated bowl. It has a gasket sealed screw on top, insulated side walls and a small vent for pressure. The most insulative of the bunch it is designed for soup or other liquids

-The next container is the biggest. It has a slide and lock insulated top.

-The third container is notably smaller and has a Tupperware like pop top.

-The fourth container is smaller yet and has the same top.

You stack the containers in the jar and then clip the top on with little side clips. The whole thing then goes in a nice nylon carry bag that also has a pair of chopsticks in a narrow plastic box. There are little pockets on the side for extra sauce packets or condiments (or I-pod video's to watch while your eating lunch).

This unit is optimally designed for the Japanese style lunch. A soup, Rice, entrée and pickled/salted vegetables. Normally you'd put your soup in the bottom container, fill the middle container up with rice. Your entrée would go in the third and the veggies in the fourth. Since the soup and the rice container both have insulated tops they stay warm. The other containers are not insulated and neither is the top. This allows some heat coming off the bottom two containers to escape so that your veggies are at room temperature. Understanding this is important. Its not supposed to keep the entire meal at the same temperature. Its supposed to keep one part hot and the other part at room temperature.

I've found that in real use the soup container stays steaming hot. The stuff in the rice container stays warm (but not hot) the stuff in the top two containers heats up to room temperature, maybe a little bit more.

Naturally you don't have to use it as designed (soup/rice/entrée/veggie) but departures require a little bit adaptation and creativity. You need to balance both amounts and what you want to keep the hottest vs coolest. Also if you have access to a microwave at lunch it kind of makes this not quite as useful since you could just heat your food up there (as opposed to heating it up in the morning before you go). You could use the whole thing as a cooler (everything remains cold/cool till you heat up what you want). That might be a better way to go if your using it for the office.

The size of the room temperature containers is not large enough to handle American sized sandwiches and breads, so if your looking to take that traditional lunch box stuff this isn't the best unit for that.

If your looking to make the most of this unit you might check out some Bento Box cookbooks. They give receipies and menu sets more in line with what this is designed to handle. In particular I enjoyed the book "Bento Boxes" by Naomi Kijima

Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go

I'll cook something up out of that and thrown in a packet of instant miso soup for a Japanese style lunch.

Pros-

Compact and efficient use of spaceIt all goes in the tube, no bag full of different containers

Allows for two temperatures in the same container Allows for flexible combinations

Lots of interesting comments from your co-workers

Cons-

Cleanup is a bit of a pain Not dishwasher safe. The soup top is a little tricky at times.

Soft plastic will eventually pick up strong smells/Stains

Two temperatures in the same container Requires a little creativity, doesn't keep everything uniformly hot/cold.

Conclusion-

As long as you understand how it works and adapt it's a great product. Might encourage you to cook a bit more healthy food and eat more vegetables.

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I bought one of these not too long ago. I thought it was a little expensive,* but I can see that I will get many years of service from it.

The construction of all the components are very sturdy, and the container is very well insulated. The bag has an outside pocket that you can use to store a napkin (or teabags, as I do) and comes with a detachable shoulder strap and an attached short carrying strap. Inside the bag, along with the thermal container, is a utensil box that holds a pair of chopsticks. Everything is quality construction even the chopsticks, which have a textured surface on the business end of them making it easier for you to pick up food with them. Whoever designed this package gave it a lot of thought.

The bottom two containers are intended for holding rice and soup; the rice container has an insulated cap, allowing you can to store hot & cold items in the same container.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with this purchase and would recommend one of these to anyone who needs a lunchbox.

My only complaints (which are minor, but included here for the sake of completeness): the instructions are in Japanese (as if you needed them), and no western utensils (you can pack your own fork). But outside of that, it's a perfect product.

*Expensive? It paid for itself in 2 weeks after I bought it, I stopped eating fast food for lunch.

** It's been 2 years since I bought yet to show any sort of appreciable wear and tear. I love this thing!

*** It's now been about 5 years. Still using it, still in darn good shape.

*** It's now been about 10 years. Still using it. No appreciable wear.

Best Deals on Zojirushi Mr. Bento Stainless Steel Lunch Jar

The picture doesn't show that each bowl has a lid. The two smaller bowls have snap on tuperware type lids.

The rice bowl has a thick, insulated lid but it's not airtight. Instructions say to use it only for rice as other contents may spill.

The soup bowl has a twist on lid that has a valve on it. However, the instructions say not to microwave the bowls with the lids on, so I'm not sure why the valve is there.

You're not supposed to put the pieces in the dishwasher, nor put any food directly into the outer container.

My lunch jar came with both English and Japanese instructions.

Honest reviews on Zojirushi Mr. Bento Stainless Steel Lunch Jar

My daughter, a high school senior who agrees with her friends that the school lunches "suck," is sold on this. She wanted to lose a few pounds, which this has helped her do despite the fact that she now eats a higher volume of food during lunch.

How? She, like all her friends, used to skip lunch and leave school famished, scarfing down the first things she could get her hands on usually high fat, high calorie junk food. This lunch box has eliminated her after-school munchies, keeping her appetite in check all day long. For the first time, she can pack hot (or cold) nutritious lunches at 6:30am, and they are still piping hot (or ice cold) when she pulls it out of her locker at 11:30. Her friends, who good-naturedly mocked her "space capsule" lunch at first, now crowd around her during lunch with their tongues hanging out, jockeying in line for her scraps. One remarked: "Your lunch container is about the same size as my water bottle, but you've got, like, a 4-course gourmet meal in there."

She's lost 10 pounds in the 2 months since she started taking her lunch in the Zojirushi jar, has gained noteriety among peers for having the "best lunches ever," has become more good-natured and less surly (better nutrition), and dances in her seat during 4th period as she waits for the bell to signal lunch period, where she can spread out her containers before her envious yet admiring friends and hold court over her "gourmet surprise" meal, trying to decide what to eat first. By her own admission, she has more energy and better concentration in class and during studies (her grades are up, by the way). She admits it's a pain to have yet one more thing to carry around in addition to her backpack (not that it wouldn't fit, but the backpack is already stuffed tight with books), but swears the payoff makes it worth the minor trouble. As a parent, it tickles me to see this self-described "laziest person on earth" hunkered over the sink at nights, lovingly and painstakingly cleaning out every container and lid (no doubt thinking ahead to the delicious and wholesome treats it will contain tomorrow).

Such a good buy, I bought another Zojirushi model better suited for my 11-year-old daughter. My kids say they will never go back to school cafeteria lunches, and have become much more nutritionally aware and involved in meal preparation. While their friends waste half their lunch period standing in line for tasteless and overprocessed entrees laden with salt, refined sugar and carbs, my kids dine on veggie chili and hot cornbread w/butter, delicious main course salads with homemade dressing, pita sandwiches and hummus, and stir fried teriyaki veggies over whole grain rice. And that's just the bottom 2 containers! The top 2 containers are perfect for fruit, tortilla chips, nuts and/or healthy desserts, all items middle and high schoolers love to eat. I'm thrilled with the product, which is solidly constructed, and which works completely as advertisied, with even better results if you preheat or pre-cool containers for 5-10 mins. We replaced the chopsticks with a plastic cutlery set, which fits nicely upright in the cloth carrier, thanks to the stretch loop on the inside.

NOTE: Like the other reviewer, I too was mildly annoyed at the Japanese-only user documentation, but then called the company at their California office (800-733-6270) and they promptly mailed/faxed English instructions. Don't even get me started on the money this saves by eliminating costly meals out and packaged foods. Excellent, excellent buy that has already paid for itself tenfold.

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We purchased the Bento box, based on the good reviews on Amazon, and initially had a good experience with it. The concept is obviously sound (with centuries of testing!), although we were concerned by the apparent flimsy security of the insulated tub "rings" on one container (the little rubber inserts for insulation). The center "plug" fell out after a few weeks use, and would not stay securely inserted thereafter. We called the manufacturer, and were curtly advised that there was NO WARRANTY on the product whatsoever! We were invited to purchase replacement plugs for nearly $3 each, plus $3 shipping, which we did, begrudgingly. We filled out a customer service feedback form online, hoping that perhaps the lack of service provided by phone was an anomaly (It's not so much the additional expenditure that bothers me, as the company's complete unwillingness to stand behind their product. That's disconcerting, to say the least).

UPDATE: The company just called and threatened legal action based on the above review...!? Way to go, customer service! I am leaving 2 stars for the product, but the company behind it gets zero stars. Purchase at your own peril, and in the knowledge that you are paying mor ethan $40 for something that will likely break, and has no warranty for anything but the large outer casing.

Discount Danby 34 Bottle, Built-In Wine Cooler (Black) (34.06"H x 15"W x

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We purchased the Dancy 54 Bottle Wine Cooler in stainless steel and within 4 months of operation, the unit ceased to cool and one side overheated.

As Danby claims to have a one year warranty, we called Danby and found that since we had purchased the cooler at the beginning of our remodel and did not install the unit until the renovation was complete, the warranty would not be honored as we were a mere two weeks past our warranty expiration date.

We let Danby know that the unit had only been in use for under four months, whereupon we asked if Danby would not honor the warranty, would they at least sell us another unit at cost, at which point Danby stated that they would not. Too bad, so sad, you'll just have to fork up another $900.00 for another unit, sucker.

PLEASE NOTE that you cannot get Danby wine or beverage coolers serviced, states Danby customer service, as they are "contained units" which means the entire unit has to be replaced under warranty, not just the cooling elements. If it breaks during the first year, they will OSTENSIBLY send you a new unit. But who knows if they will even honor their one year warranty, based upon their reluctance to handle the simplest of customer service issues with us. It took days to get to a representative and even then they completely refused to stand behind their product.

After several tries with Danby customer service to no avail, we contacted the President of Danby, whom we were sure would make this situation right but were completely ignored. I'll bet he gets a lot of calls and mail about this very thing. Do yourself a favor and save on shipping put $900 IN A PILE AND BURN IT rather than buy any Danby product. Better yet, buy another brand, as we did. Our new cooler works just fine and it can be repaired if it breaks, as it is 21st century technology. Our new unit was cheaper, too, and is better looking.

Come on! It's a little fridge, not rocket science, and they can't get a $900 wine cooler to work for more than four months without breaking down? I'd be interested to hear from any other Danby wine cooler purchasers as I have a suspicion that these units are manufactured to meet planned obsolescence of approximately one year as a means of bilking the consumer.

Yes, you heard me, Danby, if you read these reviews: Your customer service reps were too practiced in their denial of warranty coverage for us to believe that this is an uncommon occurrence. We'd also like to hear from you, Danby, since we've not received a reply to any of our communications for several months now.

CAVEAT EMPTOR!

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Don't buy one of these -I received one that was DOA. I could actually see where the copper line coming out of the compressor wasn't connected. Danby wanted to send someone out to fix it. They gave me three "authorized repair" phone numbers in the Bay Area, but none of them would come to San Francisco. After going back and forth between Danby and the retailer, finally the retailer took it back and send me a new one that works for now.

Terrible quality. Even worse customer service by Danby.

Best Deals on Danby 34 Bottle, Built-In Wine Cooler (Black) (34.06"H x 15"W x

I'd never buy another Danby wine cooler. I can't beleive how loud this unit is. It is so bad, I have to unplug it when we have company as it is too distracting.

Honest reviews on Danby 34 Bottle, Built-In Wine Cooler (Black) (34.06"H x 15"W x

Not happy with the wine cooler. It is too loud, with disturbing humming in the kitchen.

Otherwise, the shelves are little tight for the mentioned number of bottles to be stacked.

Item looks somewhat "cheaply made" and flimsy.

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I installed this wine cooler where I had an existing 15' cabinet/drawer. Install was easy, the fitment is great. It doesn't make much noise while running, about the same as a regular fridge. It's packed with lots of useful features such as: roller shelves, temp display with digital readout, reversable door, lockable door, LED lighting, etc. We are very happy with it.

Cheap SEI Cartwright Convertible Electric Fireplace

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List Price: $563.25
Sale Price: $540.36
Today's Bonus: 4% Off

Purchased this product as a more attractive space heater for my bedroom. The actual fireplace was delivered before the cabinet so don't be alarmed if you receive separate shipments. Putting the cabinet together was very simple and can be done by one person with little mechanical skills. I would recommend using wood glue to keep the wooden pegs that help hold the pieces together better. The wood stain and slate frontage piece look terrific and I have received compliments after I set it up. The remote makes it easy to control. I use this in a bedroom that has about 400sq feet with high ceilings and even at half heat mode, it kept the room warm. A great look to any room; I am very happy with this fireplace. I hope you enjoy it as much!

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Totally worth the money! It is a quality piece. I was able to assemble it myself (it was that easy) You only need a screwdriver and it was a good thing since thats all I've got :) It locks together securely and know that no matter how many times I move, it can take it! Wasn't quite sure by the description of all that it was capable of, so I'll let you know. You can manually adjust or use the remote to turn it on/off (both just the fire effects and/or the heater), adjust the brightness of the logs from off to super bright, adjust the flaming effect from off to high effects (which is a little added niceness that I didn't know I was getting). And the switches and dials are hard to get to (I had to use a pencil to switch it on) which is nice because I'm not worried about my small children being able to play with them. I have nice new things but this is definitely the nicest thing in the room :)

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I bought this in January and the mantle came damaged. I called costumer service for the company and I got a REAL person and they said they would send a new one out. It arrived within the week. The fireplace looks and works great. I use it in a large open room and am happy with the heat it generates.

To assemble it took 2 people to slide the front panel(s) on because the hardware didn't hold it together real well. I recommend some glue for the dowelsthey were a little loose. When you attach the sides to the front make sure you pull the sides toward the middle. I had to redo this part because I couldn't get the top mantle on (the side leaned out a little too much on the one corner). Otherwise installation was pretty simple.

Honest reviews on SEI Cartwright Convertible Electric Fireplace

Received fireplace yesterday, it was easy to put together and looks great. Only issue at all was the wooden dowels are a little loose in some holes so I applied a little Elmers wood glue to the dowels. The fire box's fake flame isn't as realistic as the top of the line units, but it looks good. The wood work is very nice and absolutely looks great. For the price we couldn't find anything that comes close to looking this good in local retail stores. Ordered the fireplace on a Monday morning and received it Wednesday (2 days)with regular shipping at no extra charge. In all we couldn't be happier with this purchase.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for SEI Cartwright Convertible Electric Fireplace

We purchased this electric fireplace to sit in the corner of our living room. It has an attractive physical presence and looks nice in its location. It is substantial and well built. The ability to turn on the "flame" without the heat is a nice touch.

It is shipped in two packages one includes the cabinet and the other includes the heating unit. The cabinet is extremely well packaged and one would be unlikely to obtain it in a damaged condition. I was impressed with how well they packaged it.

But we were a bit disappointed in the "oak finish". It does not match the rest of our oak furniture as it has a darker finish (darker than the pictures show it to be). Still, it is quite attractive and "COZY IN KENTUCKY", who stated below that it looks better than the pictures, is correct.

Assembly is easy, but will take some time. Set aside an hour or two and use wood glue on the wooden dowels as others have suggested. While it is much easier to assemble with two people, one person can handle the task although it could be awkward to do so. An electric screwdriver is a great help. Instructions were supposed to be included, but were not included in my packaging. All else was as it should be. The instructions are easy to obtain and seem to be commonly left out of the package as SEI has spelled out how to obtain them in their FAQ. A simple call, or email, will result in the instructions being faxed or emailed directly to you. Unfortunately, SEI is not open past 5PM CST on Friday. If you have plans to assemble the unit over the weekend, and your instructions were not included, you will be out of luck until Monday. I found several people across the internet trying to locate the instructions and in the same fix as myself.

Overall, this is a nice unit, easy to assemble, works as it should, and is quite attractive. If you are looking for a reasonably cheap and good looking electric fireplace, you should consider this one.

Review of Optimus H-1322 Portable 2-Speed Fan Heater with Thermostat

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This little heater didn't look like much on the shelf at the store where I bought it--plastic casing looked flimsy, and I worried it wouldn't last. The 3-year warranty, however, gave me a boost of consumer confidence, and I decided to give it a shot. When I got home and took it out of the box, I was disappointed. The casing indeed looked flimsy, and I expected the unit be bigger, especially in terms of depth, based on the dimensions of the box.

I was surprised then when it turned out to pack quite a punch! It warmed up its surroundings immediately, and I ended up leaving it on all night--it kept the room comfortably warm all night. It doesn't seem flimsy at all any more--just a lightweight unit that does a surprisingly good job! With confidence borne of the 3-year warranty, I'm entirely satisfied with my purchase. I'm glad I took a chance on this little heater.

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IT is ok, but not as nice and warm as the radiant Optimus I bought last year but was recalled. It is nice and small, good right next to my chair and I do like the cooling fan part in case It gets a little to warm in the room. Very light weight and easy to use.

Buy Vantec Stealth 120mm (4.72 Inch) Cabinet Fan + Ac Power Adapter

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UPDATE 11-20-11

Here's a link to where we got the idea from in the first place. We added our own touches (carpet squares on the door fronts, computer fans for airflow), but this is the source of our inspiration (in fact, we copy-catted most of the foundational design!): [..]

ORIGINAL REVIEW

I'm sure the manufacturer never DREAMED of this use, but I'm really hoping our solution can help others in our position, as this solution is the best we've found yet in over twenty plus years of being cat guardians!

So, we have multiple cats, and that means multiple litter boxes. As always, the trick is where to put them without them being ugly or stinky. This is particularly tricky in a one bedroom of under 800 square feet.

We solved the "ugly" problem by using Ikea kitchen cabinets along a wall, spaced apart, topped with countertop. By spacing the cabinets apart, it creates a sort of tunnel for the cats to walk down (it's only 24" deep) to where the cabinets meet the wall. We cut holes in the sides of the cabinets so the cats can enter into the actual cabinet. Metal mesh grating on little "blocking" strips attached to all the cabinet sides makes a sort of "raised floor" above the actual bottom floor of the cabinets this helps to control litter tracking from paws. We are able to fit two large size litter boxes in each cabinet (in an "L" configuration) remember, the mantra is one box for each cat PLUS one more!

For the doors, we just stuck carpet tiles onto the Ikea cabinet door fronts voila, an added bonus of kitty scratching posts! When the cats get the carpet tiles sufficiently shredded that they start to look grungy, it's easy to pull off the "dead" tile and stick a new one on.

And since the doors open in front, cleaning the boxes is very easy, too (we did have to add velcro strips along the edges of the doors to keep the cat from popping them open while trying to cover their "output" for some reason, our cats seem to believe that they can pull the sides of the cabinets down to bury their "treasure" :-)

All of this has led to people entering our home and NOT EVEN BEING ABLE TO FIGURE OUT WHERE OUR LITTER BOXES ARE until we tell them how sweet is that?!

However, there are still the times when high humidity (esp. in summer) causes our clumping litter to overclump....or the times when a cat will just really "light up" the boxes with some of the most incredibly-smelling "outputs" one could imagine. This would send us running for the room scent sprays, but that stuff isn't cheap, and there were days when we were going through a LOT of it pretty quickly.

We realized that the true problem was there was NO air circulation inside the cabinets. So we bought this fan (and another one by a different company), cut holes in the sides of the Ikea cabinets, and installed these (higher up, right under the level of the countertop). We were lucky that we put the cabinets against the wall, so we had an outlet to plug this (and the other one) into.

IT"S WORKING GREAT!

The clumping litter doesn't clump nearly as much as it used to (when it does, it's more because it's doing what it's supposed to, and not in reaction to high humidity so much), so we're spending less on litter. And the air circulation makes opening the cabinet doors to do the (multiple) daily litter sifting a FAR less offensive olfactory experience (and yes, while the fans do circulate the air from the inside of the litter cabinets out into the room, NO, the smell is NOT really noticeable in the room...but we also have bamboo charcoal AND stick-on air freshener discs inside the cabinets as well).

These little fans work so well that we just ordered another one, to increase the air circulation even more.

BTW, the fans are VERY quiet our cat water fountain is louder than these fans (our fountain is actually the size sold for ultra large dogs, so we only have to refill once a day, and that's mostly to ensure our kitties always have super-fresh water).

Right after we installed the fans, we were concerned that our cats might not like the low hum (we have two real prima donnas who object to nearly ANYTHING that isn't already part of their normal routine or world-view). Pfft....they all acted as usual, not a single problem or objection of any kind. We suspect that all of our furry family members are rather more pleased, too, given that it's FAR less stinky now in their toilet area.

So this is a super little fan, and again, while I'm sure the maker never thought in their wildest imaginings that it would be put to THIS use, it's a GREAT solution for those of us facing the ages-old conundrum of how to deal with the litterbox issue.

I hope this review (and description of how we solved that ages-old conundrum) can help others looking for a reasonably cheap solution the Ikea cabinets with metal mesh squares to make the raised flooring AND the carpet tiles (bought on closeout sale) cost us less than $200 total.

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Buy Open Country Dehydrator Gardenmaster Digital 1000 4-Tray

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List Price: $170.99
Sale Price: $147.90
Today's Bonus: 14% Off

A lot of research went into choosing this dehydrator. While I like the look better of some of the square, black models on the market, the functionality of this machine won out. I liked that the heating element is on top, so if there are any drippings I don't have to worry about it leaking into the motor. There is a fan that evenly distributes the heat to make it faster and more efficient. It is also extremely easy to clean. All of the layer come apart and can simply be wiped down. The thermostat and timing features are easy to operate and read and it comes with a great instruction manual that helps you determine the heat and time setting of a wide variety of foods. Finally, I liked that additional trays can be purchased and up to 20 trays used at a time. I purchase large quantities of fruit when it is in season, and can now process it quickly. I sat on the sidelines for a long time looking at dehydrators but when I finally jumped in I'm glad I chose brains over beauty. I have and would recommend it to anyone considering a dehydrator.

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Previously used the 500 watt Open Country Dehydrator and it worked great. This 1000 watt dryer is awesome. Ordered 2 extra trays to expand drying capabilities. Makes great jerky.

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Best dehydrator I've ever owned. My family loves the 12 pounds of top steak I've made jerky using it and it's great. Thanks Amazon for having the best price on it.

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The Open Country Dehydrator 1000W can only be seen as a kitchen appliance that is something you really need for a real purpose....ultimately one can eat only so much beef jerkey or dried fruit.

Best CDN Digital Programmable Probe Thermometer Deals

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List Price: $32.00
Sale Price: $24.71
Today's Bonus: 23% Off

Having burned out, drenched, accidentally kinked, and destroyed enough Polder probes to fill an oven, I finally threw in the towel and went elsewhere for a digital probe thermometer. CDN's Proaccurate may finally be the end of my search for a worthy successor.

Digital probe thermometers are a godsend for cooks who like to set it and forget it when cooking. You want that steak done to exactly 145 degrees? The probe thermometer will tell you. Just stick it in the meat, set the finished temp, and let the beep tell you when it's exactly medium rare. When it works, this kind of thermometer is indispensable.

Therein lies the rub, though. "When it works...." Most of the digital probe thermometers on the market suffer from the same chink in the armor--their probes are flimsy. Not only are the wires inside the probe itself thin when compared with the braided metal housing that holds them, but they can't take the heat, either. Most probes top out at a little over 380 degrees. You run the risk of burning it out when checking oil temperatures, something every probe should be able to do. And if your oven cycles its heat on and off, you could have it set for 350 but it may vary between 300 and 400 while cooking for twenty minutes or more. The result is a cooked probe.

But not with the CDN Proaccurate. The probe cord itself is significantly thicker (fifty percent or more, from my guess) and the temperature tops out almost a hundred degrees higher than the other guys at 482. Plus, unlike the other guys, this unit carries a full five year warranty--including the probe. You can't find that in any other digital probe thermometer I've seen.

Pros:

* Probe withstands highest heat I've seen offered--482 degrees F--and is far more hefty than competitors

* Meat selector settings (Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Turkey, Pork, Veal) with doneness levels

* Accurate. Approved for Food Service Industry usage

* Twenty-four hour count down and up timer

* Large display

* Includes wall mount, magnetic attachment to metal surfaces, and is free-standing

* Good price point

* Five year warranty

* CDN was swift in answering e-mailed questions I had about the unit

Cons:

* No seconds displayed on timer

* Design won't be confused with anything coming out of Europe :-)

* Non-intuitive operation on a couple functions

* Plastic case is not heat-resistant

* Tiny indicator makes it hard to tell if the unit is running when using timer

* Alarm is not as loud as other units out there

* Probe still prone to water damage (no dishwasher)

* Hard to read times less than ten minutes due to shadow of case on digits near the right side

Overall, as a new user my review is positive. Time will tell concerning ruggedness, but I am hopeful given the clear difference in probes between the CDN and other units out there. This CDN model is almost worthy of five stars, but the lack of seconds on the timer is a bad design decision from my point of view. I know from experience with other units that watching those seconds roll by gave me some assurance from a distance that the timer was running.

So for all you Polder and Taylor users who are exasperated with probe failures on your thermometers, this CDN may be what you've been looking for.

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I am a big fan of probe thermometers, and I have owned and ruined several of them; each a different brand. The CDN is the most accurate and can withstand high heat best on the market in this price range. I have owned this thermometer for over a year now, and in this time it has:

1. Been rained on at least 5 times.

2. Dropped in our pool.

3. Been hidden in our sandbox.

4. Been dropped on hot coals and backing partially melted.

Each time this thermometer has miraculously come back to life and worked perfectly! The original battery is still going.

If I had to purchase a new one, it would be this thermometer!

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After much research into these devices, I decided to purchase the CDN brand for my husband as a gift. I chose this brand since it had a higher temperature range than that of the other brands available. This one goes up to 482degrees. So far he seems to love this thermometer. It seems very accurate in reading the internal temp of the meats. He loves that it allows him to program what type of meat and for beef the taste(rare,m.rare,med,well). The cable connecting the device to the probe seems to be pretty strong--braided wire. I have seen other devices by other brands that the cables "burn out". This was one of the deciding factors in purchasing the CDN brand. My husband loves the magnetic feature that allows him to stick it to the side of the oven! I am also excited to see the thermometer comes with a clip for candy making and frying. I havent had a chance to use it for this purpose yet, but it makes the device much more versatile & useful. The temperature display is quite large and easy to read...so it will work good for someone who cant read small print. I would actually give this product 4 &1/2 stars. The only reasons I would deduct half a star are: 1)the casing is plastic (cannot use on BBQ)and 2)the timer beeper isnt that loud (you cant hear it if upstairs or more than a room away, so you need to stay in earshot to hear the timer go off). All in all its a great product. I would recommend it. Buy it and you will never have dried out or undercooked meat again. Its well worth it! The chef in your life will thank you!

Honest reviews on CDN Digital Programmable Probe Thermometer

The thermometer looks really good at first. Great range for candy making (unlike one of the more inexpensive models that Amazon sells) and reasonable wire length. For the past two months its been great. Then it suddenly gave poor measurements (based on salt free ice water, fully equilibrated, and salt free boiling water). It is approx 25 degrees below what it should read. So I'm sending it back. The unit comes with a 5 year warranty. We'll see what type of response I get.

Update: ended up getting a warranty replacement. This too worked for a while and then failed. Stay away

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I found myself doing quite a bit of research before buying a digital probe thermometer... it seems that each brand and model has it's 'gotchas,' so unless you spend several hundred bucks on a laboratory grade thermometer, you're gonna have to deal with one or more disadvantages... unreliable probes, inaccurate readings, inconvenient menus, inadequate range, flimsy construction, etc. The questions I ended up asking myself were, what are the most desirable qualities, and what are the disadvantages I could live with?

First and foremost, I wanted one that was reliable. Unfortunately, every single model contained reviews from folks whose thermometers didn't make it a month let alone a year. So the next step was to look at the frequency of problems, and perhaps more important, the warranty. CDN was the only one with a five year warranty (one that they seem to cheerfully honor, judging by feedback), so that went a very long way toward making my decision.

Next was temperature range... most digital probe thermometers peak out at under 392 degrees. I didn't feel that was enough so there was another point in favor of the CDN, which is one of the very few that tops out at 482 degrees.

Finally, it came with a metal clip for use on the rim of saucepans, stockpots and so forth... why this cheap but useful little accessory is an optional extra purchase with many other models is a testament to the idiocy and greed of companies who want to get the product out there for the cheapest possible price and then hit you up later for things they should have provided in the first place.

Now that I've lived with the CDN Proaccurate a month or so, I have to say I'm pleased. Tested against two other thermometers the CDN seems accurate, and though it's response seems a bit slow, it's not really meant for instant readings anyway. Other minor gripes? Well, it's not very intuitive when it comes to setting some of the functions... but once you use it a few times you get used to that. Probably my major disappointment is that the timer counts only hours and minutes, no seconds... this coupled with the very small blinking indicator means that it's difficult to tell when it's running. As I said, these are minor gripes... overall I'm extremely pleased with this purchase.

Cheap Honeywell Safety Sentinel Electronic Ceramic Tower Heater, HZ-385BP

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $79.99
Sale Price: $49.95
Today's Bonus: 38% Off

Update: My 20'x 20' master bedroom with a 15' vaulted ceiling is just too big for this heater. It runs continuously and can only warm the room 7 degrees above the temp of the rest of the house. It looks like I will need to switch back to central heating, since no electric space heater goes above 1500w.

Overview: Overall this seems like a great little heater, the handle does make it hard to carry, a slight curve in the inside of the handle would have made all of the difference in the world, but I had already read all of the complaints regarding the handle before I bought it so I knew what to expect.

I am using it in a master bedroom that is approximately 20x20 with a high 15' vaulted ceiling. I will find out tonight if the room is too big for this little heater. I also have it plugged into Kill-A-Watt to approximate how much it will cost me per month to run, but more on that later.

Problems: One big gotcha, big enough to almost make me take it back because I thought it was not working, was that the tip-over sensor does not work on thick carpet. After unboxing it and plugging it up nothing happened, so I looked all over it thinking maybe it needed a fuse or something. Finally figured out that the carpet was so deep that it thought it was tipped over so it would not come on. The remedy was to place a piece of cardboard between the carpet and the underside of the heater so that the tipover sensor would be pushed up inside the heater. A gravity based sensor or a more sophisticated pressure sensor would not have this problem, but it would probably drive up the cost.

Quality of Materials: Seems about on par for the price range, mostly plastic, I believe the grill in the front is metal, a nice touch is the heat indicator alerting you to when the grill is hot to the touch. It definitely is not 'cool to the touch' within a few minutes of running I would not recommend touching the front grill. As others have said, moving the heater when it is hot is a challenge due to the poorly designed handle.

Annoyances: The brilliant blue light in the front is quite annoying at night as others have mentioned. I am considering opening up the heater and just disconnecting it, but I'll give it a few days before I decide. Also, as others have mentioned the fan is really loud, its almost as loud as a window AC unit, and it did wake me up a few times during the night.

Ease of Use: Knobs and buttons are clearly labeled, unpacking was a breeze

Now the fun stuff: Most people buy a space heater to save power, the thinking being of course is that heating one or two rooms of a house is far cheaper than heating a whole house. I do not claim to be a HVAC expert by any means, but what I can tell you is that if used improperly a space heater can end up costing just as much if not more than a central heating system. For example, I intend on using my space heater from around 10pm each night until around 7am in the morning (9hrs). This heater uses 1500W of power which equals 1.5kW/h. So if this heater were to run continuously for 9hrs a day, 7 days a week for 30 days it would consume 405kWh x 0.097 which TECO charges per kWh = $40/month. So this one heater has the potential to cost me $40/month.

Of course in the previous example the heater ran continuously, which would mean the room is too big for this heater, if that is really the case then I have other problems. But it does go to show that these heaters can still rack up electric bill costs. To be certain I am saving money with this heater, I am using Kill-A-Watt to see how much it is actually going to cost me per month, I would also recommend putting a heavy duty timer on your outlet such as this: Intermatic TN311C 120 Volt Heavy Duty Grounded Timer to ensure it does not run during the day when you are not home.

Obviously my results will in no way be comparable to anyone else's results due to many variables: square footage of the room, outside temperature, building materials (i.e. block holds heat better than wood), insulation, etc. But I would recommend to anyone expecting to save power with one of these to do your own power usage testing instead of just assuming heating one or two rooms is cheaper than heating a whole house.

Scary stuff: Using the same .097/kw/h rate above and imagine placing this heater in a place that is too large for it to heat, thereby causing it to run 24 hrs/day. This one heater would add $104.76 to your power bill (((1.5kW * 24hrs) x 30 days)) x .097cents per kWh) = $104.76. Moral of the example is, make sure you put it in a room it can handle, make sure the room is reasonably insulated and the door(s) are closed as much as possible, and whatever you do, don't leave one of these running when you are not home unless you have to.

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Even though this model is not the top of the honeywell line, I'm glad I made the decision to go with it. I have three other brands in my home and none can compete with this model. Heat fills the room quickly and there is a positive difference in the electric bill. And by the way....I shopped around and couldn't find anyone that beat the amazon price.

Best Deals on Honeywell Safety Sentinel Electronic Ceramic Tower Heater, HZ-385BP

After reading some of the negative reviews of this product, I was a bit wary about buying, but it was recommended to me by a source I trust.

As it turns out, there is NO beeping sound when the temperature changes, and as for the annoying light...I've had alarm clocks that were worse than the light from the tower heater. If the light bugs you, all the more reason to snuggle under the blankets. I love being able to set the timer on the heater and crawl under the blankets, and not having to crawl out to turn it off!

Honest reviews on Honeywell Safety Sentinel Electronic Ceramic Tower Heater, HZ-385BP

Initially when I purchased this a month back, it was heating up pretty good. The only problem I had was that the temperature difference between the heater turning off and on again was like 4 degrees. This created both cold and hot zones.

After about 3 weeks, the automatic shut-off got activated and the heater stopped working. There is instruction on the cord that advices you to unplug the heater and wait for 10 mins before using it again. I followed it and it again started working. But after another week, everyday, the auto shut-off would kick-in within like 5 mins of switching on the heater. After that it was consistently just working only for 5 mins and then will automatically get reset after about several hours to only run for another 5 mins. It became so frustrating that I returned this back to Target.

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I've used this heater for over 1 year now and I am still extremely happy with it. It heats up a room quickly, it is portable and my kids carry it from one room to the next. It has a great thermostat. I highly recommend this product. The noise is minimal.

Cheap Mr. Heater 10,000 BTU Natural Gas Radiant Vent Free Heater

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $193.26
Sale Price: $178.83
Today's Bonus: 7% Off

Quiet operation, odorless, and efficient. Surprisingly, this small natural gas heater works great in my 2500 sq.ft home. It can not heat the entire home when it is below 45 deg outside yet works well as a supplemental heater to my central heating system. I have it running 24/7 for the past month and it has saved me at least $60 in utility bill.

Note: this smaller unit does not come with an internal electric fan.

The heater produces significant infrared heat from the front so be careful about placement and location. I have several CO sensors throughout the house both high and low and there has been no detectable trace of carbon monoxide so far. Will be buying a CO2 sensor to monitor the air quality just to be safe as I plan to run it 24/7 for several months. CO2 is heavier than air, if the heater is placed higher than the ground by several feet, the automatic internal pilot light will not stop the heater until the pool level of CO2 rises high enough. This would put small pets that sleep below the heater's level in danger especially at night when there is no movement in the house.

Overall, I am happy with the product and ease of installation.

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Buy Lasko 5307 Oscillating Ceramic Tower Heater, 16-Inch

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $42.99
Sale Price: $34.42
Today's Bonus: 20% Off

I've had mine about a week. Initial impressions so far are all very positive! This model is yet another 1500 watt ceramic heater and there is no shortage of them from several makers. Initially I set out to buy one of those fake portable fireplaces or wood-stoves with the visible fake fire inside. Reading all the specs and user reviews I could find on every one of those fireplaces and stoves it seems the maximum heat they put out is exactly the same as this far more compact and much less costly Lasko heater. About 1,500 watt power consumption and approximately 5,100 BTU heat output is the most you'll find in a portable room heater for home use. I settled on the ceramic type because of the rapid heating since I am only going to run it when I'm in the area where it is located. Ultimately since I only need an auxiliary heater a few months out of the year I decided that I really didn't want a fake fireplace or wood stove collecting dust the other 8 months of the year when I didn't actually need to use it. The Lasko is very compact stowing under the bed out of the way when not needed and is easily portable with a built in recess to use as a carry handle in the top back of the unit. I also read reviews about how the fans in some of the portable fireplaces/wood stoves were very noisy which next sent me looking for a very quiet ceramic heater. The word QUIET kept coming up in reviews of this Lasko heater and mine in fact makes hardly any sound at all! You do hear a low hum but that is all the sound mine has made so far and it does not interfere with TV or music enjoyment. The cable is 6 feet long.

I compared numerous brands of ceramic heaters with built in fans including Bionaire, Sunbeam, Honeywell and others. The Lasko warranty is 3 years which is the second longest warranty out there as the Bionaire has a 5 year warranty. The Lasko oscillates, it is very compact and is stylish looking more like a stereo speaker than a room heater. I also own a Lasko high velocity utility fan that continues to serve me well. Collectively those were the deciding factors in choosing the Lasko brand. Bionaire makes a good product as evidenced by their longer warranty, but their user reviews were not as strong regarding reliability on similarly priced Bionaire models.

The Lasko oscillation function was difficult to visualize before plugging it in, but how it works is that the entire unit except the small black base pivots silently left to right then right to left in a travel arc of about 45 degrees when you press the silver OSCILLATION bar on the control panel. Press the oscillation bar again and it stops moving immediately wherever it is at that moment. Now that I've used it the oscillation does actually seem to speed warming of the entire room and is a worthwhile feature I would definitely want again.

After looking for a space heater with a UL Seal I could not find one! I also looked for a heater made in the USA or at least North America and could not find one of those either. While made in China like the others and there is no UL seal, this one seems well made, sturdy and works perfectly. This heater is not easily knocked over, has an overheating safety shutdown, and is safe around pets or small children as it only gets warm to the touch. It has a red LED power light that is always on when the unit is plugged in whether turned on or not.

I would not hesitate recommending this Lasko portable ceramic room heater to a friend but encourage you to shop around as your needs might be different from mine. For example, an oil filler radiator type heater makes more sense if you plan to run it about all the time. If you need quick heat in a small to medium sized room for a few hours per day then a ceramic is probably better for your needs than the oil filled radiator type you run about all the time.

There are 4 settings on the operation switch which are OFF, Fan Only, 1 for Low Heat and 2 for High Heat. On high heat it consumes 1,500 watts, on low heat about 900 watts. The fan is always on when the heater is actually heating and cycles off when the thermostat turns off the heating element. The fan only has one speed but it is adequate enough to double as a small personal fan in hot weather making this unit more versatile than I expected when I bought it. The "fan only" feature may keep it out from under the bed in the summer but it won't replace the high velocity Lasko utility fan I own that moves a ton of air.

This unit's thermostat is easy to use. Once the room is at the temperature you like, slowly rotate the thermostat left until the unit cycles off and it will then cycle on and off to maintain a comfort level that is in the same ballpark.

I have turned down the thermostat on the main heat to 60 degrees and using this unit for the small area where I spend most of my awake time to make it more comfortable. Hopefully it will save money by not heating the entire place to 70 degrees. All on it's own it will heat up about 150 Sq Ft. to 70 degrees on high setting in 30 to 60 minutes, then cut it to low and it will maintain room comfort indefinitely. If you use a 15,000 BTU AC unit to cool an area, you can not reasonably expect one 5,100 BTU portable heater alone to heat the same area unaided, because you probably would need three of these units. When using in an area much larger than about 150 sq. ft. you may find you have to run it on high all the time to get much benefit. In order to get the maximum economy a space heater like this should be ran on high for about an hour at the most to warm up the room then reduced to low to maintain the temperature. If you find it is running on high all the time without warming the room enough so that you can turn it down or have the thermostat cycle off then you probably need to add a second or even a third one. The 150 Sq. Ft. rule seems to apply to all these 1,500 watt room heaters. This unit is not intended to heat an entire home, floor or even apartment unaided. Think of this as a whole-room heater, not a whole-house heater.

There is no remote control or digital thermostat control on this unit, but those features add a substantial amount to the price and I don't mind manually setting the thermostat. Other Lasko models are available with those extra features if you need them. I only use it when I'm up and around so I don't mind turning it on and off, changing the power setting or setting the thermostat manually. The last thing I need is yet another remote control to buy batteries for and lose in the sofa cushions.

So far as operational cost in concerned, it is easy to calculate based on your cost per kilowatt Hour for power. On high any 1500 watt heater like this one uses 1.5 KW per hour when actually heating. Here I pay 13.9 cents per KWH so it costs me about 21 cents per hour when heating on high setting in constant use. On low setting when heating it uses about 0.9 KW per hour so that costs me about 12.5 cents per hour of constant use. Your cost per KW Hour may be lower or higher so you'll have to do your own math. I run mine on low except for the first 30 minutes or so. If I ran it on high constantly heating for 24 hours it would cost me about $5, on low it would cost me about $3 for 24 hours of constant heating. I only run it about 8 hours per day and mostly that is on low, so the most it will cost is about 30 dollars per month, but that is not counting what I save by cutting down the thermostat on the whole house. The Lasko doesn't run continuously and it cycles on and off maybe running about 60% of the time on an average day here which is about 50 degrees outside for a high temperature and 30 for a low. It should save me some money over heating the entire house to 70 degrees, but I'm not sure exactly how much yet. I do know I am warm in this room and the main heat isn't running nearly as often or running quite as long when it does run.

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I was very reluctant to purchase this heater and did so based on the only 3 reviews I could find. I have a basement room in my house that can get pretty chilly during the midwest winters (approx. 20 degrees outside = 55-60 degrees inside).

I thought about the infrared cabinet heaters that have become so popular but didn't have the $175-$300 to pay for one at the time. I have to say, I am extremely impressed with not only the quality of this little heater (the size of a surround sound stereo speaker) but with the effectiveness at heating the room (approximately 400 sq. ft).

Very pleased... I think you will be too.

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I have the "designer" version from this maker and wanted another for the bath downstairs so took a chance on this one. It is a different style but basically the same quality. Was not disapointed, it is just as well made and trouble free as the designer one and heats up my bath very nicely. Also it has a nice long electrical cord which makes it easy to place where you need it. I expect to use them both for years to come.

Honest reviews on Lasko 5307 Oscillating Ceramic Tower Heater, 16-Inch

I live in a 40 foot, 1 bedroom trailer. I need a safe way to heat during the winter months. I have 3 tiny dogs and 2 cats inside. It worries me that they would knock papers off of the computer desk, catch fire, and burn the place down! At first I bought one heater and I love it! Very quiet, warms up quickly, no extremely hot surface to catch paper on fire! I liked the first so much I bought a second for the bathroom/bedroom end of the trailer. I can't tell you how awesome these heaters are! For the first time since I have lived here, I have quiet, consistent heat and the front end is as warm as the back end! When the temperature is right, I click the dial and it keeps the room that very temperature! Note: Walmart sells these heaters for $32.97 each.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Lasko 5307 Oscillating Ceramic Tower Heater, 16-Inch

I have owned other Lasko heaters in the past and I always find them to be better than other brands out there such as Honeywell, Delongi etc. This little heater warms my 400 sq ft living room to a very comfortable temperature. I only normally keep it set to low and never need high except on the coldest of days in which I will turn it to high for about an hour and then down to low the rest of the day. I highly recommend this heater, it get's the job done!

Discount niceEshop® LCD Digital Thermometer for Refrigerator/Fridge/Freezer

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $8.33
Sale Price: $5.46
Today's Bonus: 34% Off

I ordered two of these thermometers. Subtract one star because the product description clearly states a 2 second sampling rate and 1.2 meter wire. The little slip of paper that comes with the thermometers clearly states a sampling rate of 10 seconds. Testing revealed a sampling rate of 9 seconds. The wire on both thermometers measured 29 inches. That's a lot shorter than 1.2 meters.

Subtract another star for quirky electronics. Each thermometer shipped with two batteries. The battery compartment holds two batteries. I installed the batteries in one thermometer. Nothing happened! No worky! I installed the other two batteries into the second thermometer. Nothing happened! While trying to resolve the issue, one of the batteries fell out. Low and behold, the thermometer turns on. I then removed one of the batteries from the second thermometer. That one started working too. The thermometers work if you install only one of the two required batteries. Oddest thing I've ever seen.

In addition to testing the sampling rate, I also tested precision and accuracy. The two thermometers stayed within two tenths of a degree as I moved them from room temp to freezer to refrigerator. Both thermometers were within two degrees of the temperature as measured by other thermometers. This works for me.

Be forewarned, these are shipping from China. Two other sellers have an identical product under different listings. I chose this seller because it did NOT specify the item as being shipped from overseas. On May 1, I received a shipment notification email with an expected delivery date of June 12!!! Luckily, they arrived on May 11.

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I bought a new freezer after my old one quit on me and I lost $100 worth of meat.

I wanted a thermometer to mount on the outside of the new freezer so I could keep

tabs on the temperature and I figured that $5 was not too much to invest. It works

great and I couldn't have asked for much more. That is, after I got used to the

fact that it only displays in Centigrade. Not really a big deal. I just had to

make a simple calculation to see what zero fahrenheit was in Centigrade. I

can really recommend this little thermometer.

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I bought 2 of these hoping to use them for my beer brewing activities (monitoring mash temperature and fermenting temp). After installing the LR44 batteries that came with them, I sat the side by side on my desk. After 10 minutes they were different by 5 degrees. I then put them both in my refrigerator, and they were still 5 degrees apart. What gives? Which one is correct? Guess I need to go back to the good old stick thermometer to calibrate these.

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Actually would have been great for twice the price. Works and appears to be fairly accurate compared to another thermometer I own.. either that or they are both screwed up the same way :-).

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Beware it is only reading in Centigrade and not Fahrenheit, it has no on /off . the instructions was for another product. I hope the battery's last a year or better.

Reviews of Aube by Honeywell CT241-01/U Universal Low Volt Thermostat Phone

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $84.99
Sale Price: $79.94
Today's Bonus: 6% Off

Purchased this Aube by Honeywell CT241-01/U Universal Low Volt Thermostat Phone Controller to work with a TH140-28-01-B/U Hydronic Heating 7-Day Programmable Thermostat.

I am using it to control a millivolt operated stand alone gas stove that provides backup heat to my home when I travel.

The Gas stove keeps the house at 40 degrees so that the house does not freeze up. Make a call home 3 hours before arriving home, our house is 65 when we arrive.

This unit requires an additional 12 volt dc power supply when used with the TH 140 T stat. The th140 does not supply it's own power and this unit is only a sophisticated switch.

I had an old cube type 12 volt dc power supply from a long dead portable phone that I used. You can probably find what you need at goodwill.

There is different Phone controller that is recommended if you only want to control a thermostat. It provides the 12v output for the TH140 thermostat.

However, I bought this one so that I have the option of controlling my watering systems and other electrically controlled devices remotely if I desired.

This phone controller has 4 sets of normally open spst dry contacts. The contacts are rated at 1/2hp at 120 volts ac. See the spec sheet or contact the manufacturer for other ratings. Each can be toggled on or off during your phone call home.

You can also check the status of each without affecting the output while on the phone to the controller.

It does work with an answering machine. It is password protected.

These are actual relay contacts so there is no leakage voltage across them unlike triacs. You could use it to control a suitable power relay to turn off or on practically anything that

is electrically powered. Consult an electrician.

There is a switch on the back that allows you to use it with an answering machine if you so set it. Make your selection before you mount the unit.

I had to plug the answering machine directly into our unit to make it work in my situation. We have very low voltage on our phone lines here, as we are in a remote area. It is not unusual for us to have problems with phone machines, modems etc. When the phone controller was in parallel with the answering machine/cordless phone base, the phone controller would pick up, but the line would continue to ring until the answering machine picked up.

The phone system did not sense the Phone Controller picking up and continued to ring the line.

That did not work. Moving the answering machine so that it plugged into the provided jack on the Ct241 solved the problem.

Relocating the wireless phone base was a small price to pay for coming home to warm house after being away for days or weeks.

This unit works as advertised. Tested it today when returning from a trip. It was nice to walk into a warm house.

I found it easy to install but being a former industrial electrician I would. The instructions do include some simple drawing, but do not mention the need for power relays on heavy loads such as a water heater. I have no comment on this.

I called the manufacturer before purchasing it for my project, I recommend you do the same. They were very helpful. I would recommend a phone line surge protector be installed with this unit.

Might save you replacing it after a lightening storm.

The results were well worth the time spent installing it.

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Purchased unit to turn the heat on in our cottage in northern Wisconsin as we are driving up there. The unit works as promised. However there should be some instructions with the unit to give you an idea how to hook it up. There are none. Our existing thermostat is a simple 2 wire unit and so I connected 2 new wires to the existing connections and ran the wires to the ct241. It sounds simple and it is. I just wish they would include that in the instructions.

The other observation I have is that you need to turn the ct241 off when you get there and then use your regular thermostat. Otherwise your heater will continue to run and will NOT turn off.

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I purchased two used, "like new" units from Amazon. Upon arrival I tested both units. Of the 4 channels one had 2 that did not work, the other had 3 that did not work. It appears they are reshipping returns without any reason to think they work. I will return them, but this is a waste of my time. I will give a new one a try.

Honest reviews on Aube by Honeywell CT241-01/U Universal Low Volt Thermostat Phone

Works great just as they said it would.

We use it to control emergency siren for gated community.

We can now call in an emergency rather than go to location in a severe storm.

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Great way to kick on the heat when you are headed to your vacation home, warm and toasty when you arrive.