Product Description

This heater provides silent convection heating with it's unique Micathermic panels. Ideal for steady, long term use, this heater is ideal for providing supplemental heat to larger rooms. Featuring an adjustable thermostat that allows you to set the unit to your desired comfort level.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12907 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Color: Gray
• Brand: Bionaire
• Model: BH3950-U
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 25.51" h x 6.35" w x 21.57" l, 19.20 pounds

Features

• From Bionaire, this silent Micathermic Heater provides steady heat ideal for larger rooms
• Easy to adjust manual controls allow you to easily set your desired comfort level
• Easy portability with its large carry handle and easy glide wheels
• The heater shuts off automaticlally if it overheats or is accidentally tipped over
• Easy roll wheels for convenient portability

Customer Reviews

finally a room heater that does just that. no bonus noise, weight or danger
This product is very similar to the higher priced BH3900. The review below also applies to this.
---
My new home came with central heating. I loved the convenience, but wanted a heater for the bedroom so I didn't have to heat the entire home through the night, when it was only one room we needed heat in. There began my quest for a portable electric heater!

My first try was a Bionaire Digital Tower Ceramic Heater. It went right back to the store the moment I realized how powerful (read : noisy) the fan inside was. It did do a decent job warming up the room though.

I knew I'd like something quiet. Real quiet. My next try was an Oil Filled Radiator. It was much quieter - just low clicking sounds (probably from the metal or oil expanding?) - but failed to impress on heating. It took almost an hour to make a significant difference to a cold room (12x14) - and barely kept the temperature up through the night with the thermostat dialled up. When in use - the surface turned really hot - and I worried about someone stepping into it in the middle of the night - or my cat scalding herself while trying to kill it :)

I decided to try the Bionaire BH3900 - it promised swifter heating and a cool surface. My wife and me were delighted! It warms the room up much swifter than the oil filled radiator and is absolutely silent! The heat mostly escapes out the top - and there isn't a lot of heat radiated to the sides. The grille on the side makes this look more elegant than the radiators - and just gets luke warm even when this has been running all night. And while my cat has sniffed at the grille (when on) - she hasn't been tempted into attacking it yet.

This was twice the price of the other options we looked at - but were sold on it the first night we tried using it. I wish the thermostat were digital (knob takes some tweaking to find your sweet spot) - but our quest for a heater has ended.

good customer service
We bought this model from Costco in October, 2006 and used it for about two years, with pretty much continual usage from October to May. It's quiet and puts out enough heat for a large room. It stopped working after two years. I noticed that it was still under warranty so I contacted (emailed) customer service at Bionaire. They were very cooperative and sent us a new unit at no charge.

I disassembled the older unit and it seemed well built. I found that the on off switch was broken. This is a "snap in" plastic switch and if you are careful you can pry it out of the faceplate with a small screwdriver or knife. For those of you who may have a similar problem the switch is a round, illuminated SPST rocker type and it's made by a factory in China under the brand name RLEIL model RL3-5. Either the switch broke and then fried or it overheated and some plastic melted internally. In any case the switch doesn't appear to be as heavy duty as it should be and I would recommend not using the "high" or 1500 watt setting for this unit. I bought a pack of 10 spare switches on Ebay for $5 so that's gives you an idea how cheap they are made. It doesn't appear that these switches have a UL rating.

Postscript: April 14th OK, I got the new unit under warranty and it's been improved! Instead of a lighted on off switch they have a separate light on the front panel to let you know the unit is running. So the new switch looks to be heavier duty. Also, they changed the design of the front panel handle to allow easier access to the panel for disassembly and repairs should they be needed.

Bionaire BH3950-U MicaThermic
This Bionaire BH3950-U MicaThermic Heater is the exact same product as the Holmes Micathermic CNSL Heater that sells for $79.99 at sears (Sears item# 03276161000) that has good reviews as well. The Holmes heater's model is the same as well (Mfr. model# BH3950-U). The confusion is the the earlier model (Mfr. model# BH3900) has the Holmes brand while the later model is the Bionaire brand. There are a few modifications: changed from 8 smaller heating panels to 3 larger ones; changed low/high dial to a low/high switch. Go figure?! We like our Bionaire MicaThematic. The new technology (sandwiched element between 2 layers of mica) works well in our small den.