Best Biddeford 5202-505222-100 60 by 80-Inch Quilted Skirt Heated Deals

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List Price: $89.99
Sale Price: $63.00
Today's Bonus: 30% Off

After just a year, my husband's control goes to "E" (for error?) when he'd move. The cord at his feet is always fully and tightly plugged in--so it seems to be a short in the actual surface area of the pad. Nothing we can fix. (We are both slim, with no pets or kids in the bed too. I haven't even washed it either.) Another drawback, is the plug-in being right where each of our feet are at the end of the bed. I'll definitely look for another brand.

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Within less than a year, this item has heating elements that no longer work, leaving many cold spots in the bed. Additionally, the part where the cord plugs into the mattress cover is right where your feet hit. I'd take this back if I still had my receipt.

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This heating pad is GREAT! You can feel the coils a bit if you just use it alone, but if you put another mattress pad over it, you can't feel anything besides the plug connection at the bottom, and that is not bad. AS for the heat, it is great for taking the edge off a cold bed before you go to sleep, and keeps the bed nice and warm without being hot!. I would recommend it to anyone. Controls are very easy to use and it is easy to set up. The dual controls are great since my wife likes it quite warm, but I like to turn it off after getting into bed.

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The only complaint is the wires are quite noticeable.

I bought this model because it has dual controls and dual wiresets.

I won't ever use it, but my wife commonly "freezes" at night.

She says it's wonderful.

She usually runs it at 6 (out of 10) and is quite comfortable.

Bonus when one controller or wireset eventually breaks, I can swap it for "mine" and use it even longer.

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So aggravated! I bought one of these first. Got it home, unpacked it, plugged both sides in and turned them to "H" one at a time. One side worked fine and the other went to "E" for error within two minutes. Made sure the cord was not compressed or tangled, unplugged it and plugged it in again. Still the same error. Switched the actual plug from one side of the mattress pad to the other, and it still did it. Returned the product for a new one since I REALLY wanted this product. The new one did the EXACT SAME THING! Tried everything...different outlets, switching the plug from one side to the other, tried keeping heat setting to a lower number...STILL ERRORS OUT. So frustrating.

Buy Traeger Digital Thermostat Kit BAC236

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List Price: $74.22
Sale Price: $69.99
Today's Bonus: 6% Off

I own the Traeger Junior, and I was unhappy with the medium setting on the three position temperature switch (it was too hot, often close to 300 degrees), so I decided to upgrade.

I recommend installing the new controller by removing the hopper:

1. Remove the two screws on the old controller.

2. Remove the pellet hopper (it's only held on by 4 screws). I also removed the 4 screws on the bottom of the hopper to make the final installation easier.

3. Feed the old controller through the front of the hopper. This will allow you to completely remove the pellet hopper and get it out of the way.

4. Install the temperature probe (RTD) per the directions; the diagram isn't great, but it's much better than the written directions.

5. Cut all the the zip ties.

6. To keep from improperly connecting the wires or having to study the wiring diagram, simply disconnect the old wires (pull apart the molex connectors with a slight rocking motion)and reconnect the new wires ONE AT A TIME.

6. At this point your done with the connections. I turned on my Traeger briefly to make sure the fans turned on and the LED illuminated. Make sure there aren't any wires interfering with either fan.

7. I used lots of zip-ties to clean up the installation.

8. Feed the new controller through the hole in the hopper.

9. Attach the hopper

10. Attach the controller

11. Look under the hopper to make sure there aren't any wires interfering with the fan(use more zip-ties if necessary), and install the bottom of the hopper.

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I am a college student, so I bought the junior Traeger model, which does not come with the digital thermostat kit. After smoking my first set of ribs I went straight to my computer and bought this because controlling the temperature with the 3-speed was quite a pain. Many burger patties and racks of ribs later I am still completely satisfied with my purchase.

Note: This takes a bit of work to install, so unless you are at least somewhat comfortable working with electronics then I would find a friend who is to install it. Still, don't let this deter you from buying it. The kit does not require any soldering to install.

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got thermostat quickly and in great shape, have older grill with smaller hole, followed instructions and fit in. turned on and works great have grilledand smoked several times since.

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Installed on a Traeger Junior. Works great, with some limitations.

-Install was pretty straightforward, but you should be comfortable with hand tools, and confident in disand re-assembling things. Also, have zip ties available. I took the advice of the reviewer who pulled the whole hopper/firebox assembly out of the grill first. Great idea!!! Just make sure you empty the hopper first. You'll still have pellet spillage from the auger tube, but totally worth the effort. Keep in mind you have two fans to keep the wire bundles clear of when you're putting it all back together, and you'll do fine. The only fairly tricky part (or advanced finesse part) is re-mating the hopper/firebox assembly to the grill body after the thermometer probe is bolted inside the grill and the lead has been run into the hopper body. You'll figure it out. I am experienced and competent with this sort of task; a proper, professional conversion to this thermostat took me about 45 minutes. And two tallboys.

-Performance and fine-tuning are much improved over the 3-speed controller, and that's exactly what I wanted. This unit totally delivers. The feedback from the digital grill temp indicator is nice. I compared the digital display to a calibrated grill thermometer over a 3-hour smoke. Concurrence ranged from spot-on, to +/20 degreesF. This is likely due to the vertical orientation of the Traeger controller's probe. Overall, the onboard digital display is useful and can be considered a decent general guide to average grill temp over time. You will still need to periodically monitor your grill to ensure that you're not going over/under your desired grill or smoke temp. If you're pretty hands-on (OCD?) like me, upgrading to this unit will not give you true "set it and forget it" capability, but it is MUCH better than the stock 3-speed "dumb" control.

-Be aware that there is NO feedback from the temp sensor to the auger drive! They are separate! The temp on the grill does NOT influence the behavior of the auger timing. What you get with this unit is a much finer resolution control of the auger's dump behavior (by virtue of the increased number of set points on the dial), plus a feedback from the digital display of what's going on inside the grill temperature-wise. The dial setting and the digital readout are VERY roughly correlated, but actual working temp on the grill varies depending on ambient conditions, wind, moisture content of pellets, etc.

-Startup sequence is pretty genius. Once the new control was installed, I ran a test burn on the grill by powering on and setting to "smoke", per Traeger's startup advice. After about 3 minutes, I got really worried and thought I had a runaway controller! Set at smoke, the grill temp was 450+ degrees once it got going. I was not happy, but let it run a bit longer. The auger speed settled down (once the fire was well-established), and all was well. It appears that the controller is programmed to run a startup sequence that will ensure positive firebox lightup and grill chamber pre-heat, then settles down to whatever setting you've put it on. This behavior has been consistent over many subsequent grill/smoke sessions, and no longer freaks me out. I just expect the grill to blaze hard upon startup, then settle down and cook as I have it set.

Overall, this product gave me exactly what I wanted in terms of vastly better control of Traeger temp while cooking, plus a general indication of grill chamber temp. Install was reasonable, and I'm quite pleased. No regrets AT ALL about this purchase (except that Traeger put these on sale on their website for $20 less, the week after I installed mine. Timing is everything!).

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This is much easier and less time consuming than monitoring the top thermostat. Just set the temp and let it cook.

Best Real Flame 4099 Electric Firebox - INSERT ONLY Deals

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List Price: $285.00
Sale Price: $251.18
Today's Bonus: 12% Off

I wanted a firepalce with realism and this one fits the bill. The only thing I would add is some crackling sound. Overall, I am very pleased with this insert,it looks great.

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We are on a budget and wanted a fireplace insert for our custom fireplace surround that we were building. Our major concerns were price (of course), realism and depth of unit. I knew the price and size were good from the description but I was a little leery about the flame effect. I unpacked it and fired it right up and was quite impressed with the effect, it is better than I thought it was going to be.

On the heating ability I would describe its heat output and noise level equivalent to a ceramic heater.

My wife now wants another one for our bedroom.

Cheap Honeywell RTC8102A1016 5-1-1-Day Programmable Thermostat w/Backlit

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I bought this thermostat when my kids were still infants. I needed it because they would take naps during the day and they perspire a lot while sleeping. So I bought this thermostat so that the AC would turn on during their nap time and when it is hottest during the day.

I bought it because I've read reviews from other sites and how people said it was easy to install. I was a little apprehensive because I've never really installed anything like this, but the instructions were easy to read and understand and Honeywell have great customer service! I called customer service because I had one wire in the wall that wasn't the same color as the manual has decribed, but the Honeywell customer rep was able to help me figure it out. I had it installed in about 10 minutes and my AC was working as planned.

There's a backup battery you have to put in and it still works after 2 years. Other people have complained that the back-lit green light go off too soon, around five seconds after your last tap on the touchscreen, but it doesn't really bother me unless you need to change schedule in complete darkness.

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I'd been contemplating a new thermostat for a while, wanted one that would let me set a schedule so I could have it warm up a little in the morning, cool down automatically at night, so if I was coming home late things would still be comfortable.

When I saw this on a lightning deal, I decided to go for it, and I'd overcome my fears of installing it once it showed up.

Got it this morning, decided I had time before going to work, so I opened it up and started.

SUPER easy installation, at least for my setup (4 wires, they were labeled correctly on the old thermostat, so that helped)

Took maybe 10 minutes, 5 of that was because the wires were stiff trying to get them into the small holes and tighten them down. Once it was installed, turned the furnace back on, got to work programming (somewhat)

There is a bit of a learning curve to this, I'll try to update my review once I'm more familiar, but so far it works like a champ. Love the touchscreen on it, its a good size too.

Took a few minutes to get a basic schedule in the system, then get it going starting to cool down the house. Overall, I'm very happy.

Yes, I'm aware this review has a cheesy title, I couldn't think up anything else to put for a title.

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I bought this to replace my non-touch screen Honeywell that was only programmable for the week days and weekends. All week days were lumped together and the weekend was lumped together. I wanted to have a little more flexibility.

Installing was not too difficult, took me about 15-20 minutes to take down the old and put up the new.

The touch screen part is only limited to the locations on the screen where there are indicators like the up down arrows and the options at the bottom.

When programming you have the option to select multiple days at a time so if you have the same schedule like mon thurs or something you can program them all at once. Saves some time in having to do each day separately.

I found out by the model number that this model is somehow related to Costco. This was a black Friday deal through Amazon, so I got for a good price.

So far, it has been working great.

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I got this on a Gold Box deal and now wish I had bought another for my upstairs unit. It was very easy, however you need a small flat blade screw driver. The package includes detailed instructions, code stickers for the wiring, and a clear users guide. It does require 2 "AA" batteries. This thermostat replaces a less expensive Honeywell that never really kept an accurate temperature. The programming is simple, just follow the instructions. If there was one thing I would add to this thermostat it would be a way to copy programs to other days. It isn't hard to program, just redundent.

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It's ALL about the DISPLAY!!

Let's get this out of the way first, this thermostat isn't about revolutionary features; it's all about the size of the display.

My old Ritetemp model 8022C (no longer manufactured) is well over a decade old and it still had all of the features of the new Honeywell including four settings per day, seven day programs, and even a filter change reminder. And the Ritetemp worked well too ... even after a dozen years of service. But over the years the display has gotten smaller and smaller (or perhaps my eyes have gotten a bit worse) either way, I had a tough time reading the 0.5" x 1.5" display unless I was right up on it (and maybe with a flashlight).

So my search was for a larger and easier read display.

The RTC8101A (formerly RTH7600D)really fit the bill. The whole front of the thermostat is one big display. It almost looks like a GPS mounted on the wall ... touch screen and all. The unit constantly displays current temperature, set temperature, day, time, heat/cool, and fan setting. Just touch the display to backlight it. Believe it or not, I can actually read it from my chair!

Installation was a cinch ... complete with a quick start guide. And the wire connections were easy. My old Ritetemp required wrapping each wire around the appropriate (incredibly small) screw and then tightening, a tedious process that required some dexterity with small screws. The new Honeywell has pinch connectors which only required inserting a straight stripped wire end into the hole and tightening the screw. Far Far easier. The installation took fifteen minutes from package opening to programming. Don't forget that you will need two AA batteries and a small flathead screwdriver.

So will this thermostat change your life? Well ... if you already have a working auto setback thermostat, then you likely won't see any unexpected features here. If you don't already have an auto setback thermostat then, welcome to the 21st century.

But the display ... THE DISPLAY ... It's really worth the price of admission (and five stars).

Buy Broil King CDR-2CFBB Professional Double Space Saver Hot Plate, Grey

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List Price: $280.00
Sale Price: $259.95
Today's Bonus: 7% Off

I purchased the Broil King Hot Plate for my soup restaurant because it was cost effective. Much to my surprise, it's a really nice piece of equipment. It's compact, easy to operate and easy to clean. It heats up quickly and maintains a consistant temp. I have only used it for a couple of weeks, so we'll see how long it last. But, for now, I am very happy with it!

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This appliance provides more power than the average portable hot plate. It heats up quickly and provides fast and efficient cooking.

Reviews of LuxPro PSD010B Digital 2 Wire Heat Only Thermostat

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I purchased this digital thermostat to replace a Honeywell that failed after only 8 months. (I'd never buy another Honeywell after my experience with their poor customer service.)

This LuxPro thermostat was easy to install and had no moving parts that can fail. It comes with the required two AA batteries and easy to follow instructions. I like the fact that it has an ON/OFF switch to ensure it can't come on unless you want it to. Plus, a programmable high limit temperature can be programmed so it acts as a fail safe so it won't heat beyond that set point. (The Honeywell failed and my garage heater could have caused a fire being it kept the heater running even though the garage was well over 100F!)

I highly recommend this for your garage heater installation.

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Replaced the thermostat on our camper and it works wonderfully. We had seperate furnace and AC controls and wanted a digital readout for the furnace. Easy to use and only had the 2 wires to hook up. Took about 5 minutes.

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Replaced my RV Suburban mechanical unit with this heat thermostat. Works great, like the digital temp readout. No more mystery as to the inside temp.

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We were looking for a replacement thermostat for our pop-up camper, and it was difficult to find a simple, digital model. We needed only heat, no a/c or fan-only settings; this filled the bill. We installed it with a long cord, and a plug, so it can be placed in a handier spot than the original which was under the table and close to the floor, difficult to see and use.

This worked just great on our recent trip, the first time we have been able to actually use it. The numbers are clear and it is easy to set the desired temperature. It seemed to run quite true to the temperatures we set. It was handy to be able to set it pretty low (52-56 for this trip), not all thermostats have a low range needed for camper use.

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Easy to install, great instructions (English). Works great, easy to read lcd display and very accurate. For the money it's worth it compared to using an old fashion analog stat.

Buy Frigidaire FRA296ST2 28,500 BTU Window-Mounted Heavy-Duty Air

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List Price: $769.99
Sale Price: $746.70
Today's Bonus: 3% Off

I purchased this air conditioner and put it in the window of my office. We have several racks of servers located in the back. Previously we have had many A/C units and they have just not done the job. This unit, with a twin, were able to handle the large cooling load with no problem. Kept the interior in the mid 70's while it was over 100 outside.

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I was concerned about purchasing such an item over the internet, but it has exceeded my expectations. Bought as an addition for a church sanctuary, it was easy to install after figuring out the instructions. It cools very quickly and is very quiet. The directional controls for the air flow allow easy manipulation and control. The digital display is awesome and gives you immediate understanding of what you want the air conditioner to do. Everyone is VERY happy with our choice! Frigidaire FRA296ST2 28,500/28,000 Window-Mounted Heavy Duty Room Air Conditioner

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This unit works great and is very quiet for a window unit. The remote with timer is very handy. Fit and finish is excellent. The only weak point is the filter. It doesn't fit well around the edges, and it is a very open mesh plastic and I am sure it lets some dust get to the evaporator. I may replace it with a foam filter that will fit better and trap more fine dust. The filter is the only thing that keeps this from getting 5 stars.

The shipping box is sturdy, and the unit arrived with no damage. I am very pleased, and you can't beat the Amazon price on this item.

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We own a 104 year old two story 2800 sq. ft. Historic home that is solid brick with absolutely no insulation. We have a window at the top of the staircase where we have installed our Frigidaire 28,5000 BTU air conditioner. With the use of several 12" Air King velocity floor fans to drive the air throughout the house, this unit cools the entire house very nicely. Whenever we tell people that we are cooling our entire home with this unit and velocity fans, they simply cannot believe it! OK, because the unit often runs longer, and at a lower temperature to accommodate all the space its cooling, it tends to be a little chilly in the small area surrounding the unit. We feel that this minor irritation, along with the added white noise from the fans that accompany it,is a very small price to pay for cooling such a large multi-room home with a total insulation value of about 3. I would also like to add that we live in a part of South Dakota, surprisingly enough, that is known for it's heat and humidity, making the performance of this air conditioner all the more impressive. I write very few reviews but I wanted others, especially those who own poorly insulated older homes, to derive the same benefit we are receiving from this well built efficient air conditioner!

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When this AC works, it works well. The problem is I have had it repaired two times in 6 months. They fix it for free under the warranty, but you have to take it in to the repair shop. And it is big and heavy so.... Also pay close attention to the electrical needs of this unit, not a plug 'n' play. Need to have special wiring and plug.

Discount Holmes HAWF2030 Dual Blade Twin Window Fan with Thermostat

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List Price: $39.99
Sale Price: $34.99
Today's Bonus: 13% Off

I bought this fan from Wally World for $20 and got totally ripped off. Luckily I can take it back. Yes, you can reverse the fan by pulling it out of the window and flipping it around. Can you imagine engineering a product to do this rather than installing a reverse switch? The other bogus thing about this product is that it's super weak. Even on full blast, it barely creates a breeze. Total waste of electricity, and time. After reviewing a few other fans, I purchased the very similar, yet superior Honeywell fan which I kid-u-not, blows twice as hard and has a reverse switch on it. The Honeywell fan actually blows cool air in and out as promised. For $5 more, get the superior Honeywell from your favorite French Big-box store with a huge target on the front.

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Do NOT buy this fan. It it so sorely underpowered that it only just moves the air in front of the blades. It's so impossibly weak that it's difficult to tell which direction is doing what! Spend $5 more on the Honeywell, just as all the other reviewers state.

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I had the same "experience" as the other reviewer regarding "Manually Reversible".

Basic fan with basic function. Returned it to buy Honeywell.

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The fan I received is not the same model in the picture.

I repeat the picture doesn't match up to the specs for this fan.

I bought it off the picture because I own one of the fans pictured and it's great.

The fan I received is very weak and all around sub-par but that is on Holmes for creating it so they get two stars for the fan I got.

The fact that the photo on the advertisement doesn't match what the vendor is actually selling is why I give it one star.

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The thermostat was not numerical but low, med, high so I couldn't set it for a temperature. It was noisy with a high pitched sound and I had to return it and order something that I hope will suit my particular needs.

All this said, Amazon handled the return quickly, without any problem. I would definitely order from Amazon again for the great service they provide to their customers.

Review of Breville BKE820XL Variable-Temperature 1.8-Liter Kettle

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List Price: $199.99
Sale Price: $127.29
Today's Bonus: 36% Off

I am relatively new to the tea scene (my wife and I started drinking Teavana teas about a year ago) and as such I have been searching for a really good kettle. I wanted an electric kettle because of their ease of use as well as the extra features some of the nicer kettles offer. After an exhaustive search I decided upon the Breville SK500XL Ikon Stainless-Steel Electric Kettle based in no small part to the excellent reviews it has received on Amazon and other sites.

I went to a few stores to examine it in person and compare it to about ten other electric kettles that the different stores carried but nothing seemed to come close to the design and quality of the Breville. So after finally making my decision, it was simply a matter of time before I made my purchase. I am very glad I waited as within 2 weeks this new Breville kettle was released. While still substantially costlier than the SK500XL, the BKE820XL has a number of features and design improvements that made the extra cost more than worth it. These include:

Multiple temperature settings (different teas require different temperature water for an optimally brew) with 20 minute hold

Improved water level indicators now on both sides (the single water level indicator on the SK500XL is behind the handle which makes it hard to read)

I've only had my BKE820XL a few days (I purchased it from a local store) so I cannot speak to its long term reliability yet, if it is anything like the SK500XL, I don't expect to have any problems.

Oh yeah, and the tea I've made in the last few days is easily the best I've ever brewed! Yay!

UPDATE 1/2/2009: I've had the BKE820XL for over a month now and I still love it! The only thing I've found that I would critique is:

After you are done boiling water for the day, you need to either dry out the lid by hand or leave the lid open for a few hours to let the water evaporate (from the lid where it collects). I am concerned that not doing this might lead to issues down the road.

Even with that, I am still overjoyed with my purchase (which I use at least 5 times a week) and highly recommend it to anyone in search of a quality electric kettle.

UPDATE 3/12/2009 Nothing much to report except that my wife and I are continuing to use our kettle mutliple times a week and are extremely happy with it. It has a permanent place on our counter! :)

UPDATE 09/26/2010 Just wanted to pop on and provide a quick update. We have had this kettle almost 2 years now and have yet to have any issues with it (fingers crossed). We have used it at least once a week (if not a lot more) pretty much without fail and are still very happy with it. At this point if something were to go wrong with it, we wouldn't hesitate to purchase another one. Highly recommended. :)

UPDATE 09/30/2010 A commenter chastised me a bit for not mentioning the BPA controversy in my review. As I mentioned in my reply to her, I would caution everyone to be sure to read the actual scientific papers or publications that are as unbiased as possible. I find a great source for all things scientific to be Arstechnica.com. They have a great way of breaking down complex topics in ways that non-scientific types (like myself) can really understand and absorb (see this BPA article as an example: ).

If you don't want to wait for a conclusive link between BPA and health issues (of which there has not been one to date that I am aware of), I can completely understand and sympathize. If I had an infant I would definitely be doing all I could to minimize their BPA intake. Still, with that said I would ask that anyone concerned by this or other health issues please try to represent the facts in your arguments and not the hype; this allows others to make their own, informed decisions as well.

UPDATE 09/04/2011 We've had our Breville almost three years now and have yet to have any problems with it. Most of the negative reviews seem to be in regard to the potential BPA issue which I've already posted my opinion on (both above & in the comments to this review) however a few have mentioned actual mechanical issues. Perhaps they use theirs more than we do (we use ours at most once per day but probably more realistically about 3 to 4 times a week on average) or maybe they just received a lemon (or perhaps ours is the exception, I couldn't really tell you). I have noticed recently that the lid sometimes stays shut while the water is still hot; I don't know if it has always done this and I never noticed before or if it has recently started to do this, either way I look at it as a design element (to help keep me from spilling hot water on myself) but perhaps it is a design flaw? Regardless all I do is tap on the lid once or twice while pushing the button and it opens right up. Other than that it works just as well as the day we bought it (I still don't have a decent thermometer so I couldn't tell you how accurate it was new or used but the water still seems as hot...for whatever that is worth).

UPDATE 04/09/2012 Well I am sad to report that, after almost 4 years of service, our Breville appears to be on its last legs. Over the last few months we've started to notice some faulty behavior that I suspect is indicative of our unit's impending death. Here are the issues that have started to plague our kettle:

Kettle does not shut off at the proper temperature: this is happening more and more we mostly use our kettle for coffee these days and I use the second highest setting (195 degrees) for our Chemex. The issue is the kettle doesn't always shut off at 195 degrees but will go to a full boil instead. I do not know if it would eventually shut itself off or if this is a true safety issue as I've always notice the issue right away. This is not a huge issue (provided the safety shutoff is still working, which is unknown) as much as an inconvience but it does not bode well for the kettle's future.

For the first time this morning, the Breville shutoff prematurely. I turned the kettle on, set my temperature and the temperature hold and walked away. When I returned (less than 5 minutes later), the kettle had shut off and the water was nowhere close to the 195 degree that it was set to. I was unable to get the kettle to heat up the water to the 195 degree setting as it would (by the sound of it) start to heat up but then before the water was hot enough, it would shut off. The water never got to the correct temperature and the kettle never shut off. It seemed stuck in a repeating cycle. I eventually set the kettle to its highest setting (205 degrees) and the kettle started working again.

To me these issues seem to indicate that the kettle is having issues with its electronics and not with the actual heating unit itself (but obviously this is purely speculation on my part based on my anecdotal evidence). Being that this is the only "high end" kettle we've owned, I don't know if 3+ years is a normal or acceptable lifespan for a tool such as this. I know it only comes with a 1 year warranty but for the price, I had hoped it would last at least 5 to 10 years but perhaps that is unrealistic? Being that my wife and I are mostly coffee drinkers these days, we probably will replace this kettle with gooseneck spout type kettle (like this Bonavita: Bonavita 1.0L Electric Kettle BV3825B) instead of another Breville. Overall I'm still a fan of our kettle and will be sad to see it go.

I believe my original score of 5 stars still stands though I'd change it to a 4.5 if Amazon allowed 1/2 stars.

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First, this kettle is gorgeous! I bought it for it's beauty and easy to use variable temperature and the fact it had a viewing window to easily see how much water was inside. Before I used it, I emailed Breville to find out what type of plastic the viewing window was made from. The response I received was a defensive email about how polycarbonate and BPA are safe for food contact and this kettle is safe. I've been reading the research on BPA and polycarbonate for years, so they didn't share anything new with me. I would have preferred their response to simply state "polycarbonate" and then offer to provide me with more information if I had any concerns.

Regardless, they weren't going to change my mind. I don't feel comfortable with polycarbonate around my boiling (or close to boiling) water and in this day and age where BPA is a huge uproar, I am super surprised that Breville came out with a brand new kettle containing polycarbonate. I would have loved to see this kettle have a glass viewing window and lid, that would have been super! Especially with the price point they are selling this at. Having it be a "toxin free" kettle with no plastic would have been a great marketing move.

I did reply and thank them for the information and politely told them I would be returning it due to the polycarbonate, but that if they came out with a version that had glass instead of polycarbonate, I'd snap it up in a second. I received no further reply from Breville.

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I drink various types of teas constantly to my dentist's consternation, such as Irish and East Frisian in the morning with Pu Erh Tuo Cha and Green Jasmine in the evening. On the weekends I drink French Pressed coffee.

I did it the old fashioned way with a thermometer. Needless to say, but I will anyway, this kettle did make life simpler, but, (always a but) it has not functioned as advertised.

The primary issue is on the boiling setting for black teas. Sometimes it shuts off, and sometimes it doesn't. The other presets have worked flawlessly, and this may only be an anomaly with this particular pot.

I will say that I am going to order a second one, and send this one back to Breville for repairs. That should tell you how much I like the idea of this kettle.

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Despite the 1-star review, which I will get to in a moment, this Breville kettle gets 5 stars for performance and aesthetics, both of which are addressed in detail by others in their reviews, so I will not repeat. It gets 4 stars for durability I have had the kettle for about 2 years and it still works great, however less than a year in, the inside bottom developed several dozen small white spots. I have tried more than once to remove these with baking soda but they persist (I never boil anything other than Brita-filtered water).

Now, why the 1 star? As some others have commented, Breville kettle uses plastic material for the water-level windows on both sides of the kettle not BPA free. Even plastics that have no BPA still leach chemicals into water at boiling temperatures, so the use of plastic instead of glass in a kettle is truly not acceptable any more.

Here are some numbers, to support this potentially serious issue. I recently purchased ZeroWater Water Tester ZeroWater ZT-2 Electronic Water Tester, which measures the amount of dissolved particles in water (with very consistent and accurate results; highly recommended, may change your water drinking habits). We are fortunate to have relatively clean municipal water, its reading came in at 47 TDS (typical range in the U.S. is 51-200), which Brita pitcher gets down to 35 TDS. After boiling Brita-filtered water in this Breville kettle, the TDS reading went UP from 35 to 90 TDS! The same Brita-filtered water boiled on the stove in a non-stick pot went up from 35 to 43 (after boiling for 3 minutes). In a steel pot, the particles' reading went up from 35 to 47. The particles concentration goes up, in large part, due to evaporation of some of the water by steam, thus leaving a higher concentration of heavier (non-evaporating) particles in the pot.

I repeated the test a few days later. The absolute readings were +/3 from the above results, but the conclusion was still very much the same using Breville kettle to boil water adds chemical particles to your drinking water. You have to decide for yourself are the satisfying performance and stylish looks of this kettle worth adding significant unnecessary and potentially harmful plastic particles into your body.

UPDATE 11/15/12:

After about a year, 2 performance issues developed:

1. The auto-shutoff stopped working it actually got delayed, rather than completely not functioning the water would boil and boil, for 5-10 minutes, before the kettle would finally shut itself off.

2. Kettle started leaking at the bottom of the handle. Not a few drops type of leaking, but a little stream.

I'm looking for a replacement now.

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I got this kettle to brew the perfect cup of coffee and I loved it for the first 6 months. Then things started going south. The kettle intermittently does not shutoff when it reaches the proper temp of 200F. Instead it continues to heat to a boil and will boil itself dry unless turned off. Now the audible alarm has stopped working. I can't trust the thermostat and the kettle shouldn't be left unattended the 2 main reasons for purchasing it!

I feel that for what this kettle costs it should have lasted a lot longer. If I had written this review when I first got this kettle I would have given it 5 stars, but experiencing such failure in so short a period of time I can only give it 1 star. I wonder how many of the 5 star reviews were posted right out of the box.

I really got spoiled when this kettle as working properly. I'm on a quest now to find a reliable replacement.

SPT SH-1506 Ceramic Heater with Humidifier Reviews

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List Price: $88.00
Sale Price: $56.86
Today's Bonus: 35% Off

I received this item only to find that it is only a heater, not a heater and humidifier like is advertised. Be aware of this mistake in the product descriptions if you are thinking of buying this product.

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Come on, man! Damn. If I had known it was only a heater and not a humidifier, I'd have chosed one of the other hundreds of gizmos that are only heaters. I got this one specifically because of the humidifier feature. I want my money back!

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We live in an old house and use space heaters. We have baby twins and the humidifier option on this heater is a must have. If you want a less dry heat, this is perfect.

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Apparently they still have this problem. I had assumed they had fixed it by now. I can't imagine why they haven't. They are sending people the WRONG PRODUCT. I actually didn't mind the different heater they sent so I just kept it. Note it does NOT have a humidifier if that's what you were focusing on.

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Heater works great, the only-fan feature not as well... it really doesn't blow much air.