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

15 reviews for Dr. Infrared Heater DR-988 Heater, Standard, Red

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Milo Gomez – March 26, 2013

   |—UPDATE FEB 2014—|The heater is still going strong. I end up using it 3-4 days per week during the colder months, anywhere from 4-8 hours per day. We recently had a real cold snap here with overnight lows at 15 below or colder. The coldest morning in my garage workshop began at 22 degrees. I found that in this extreme cold the heater couldn’t warm up my un-insulated garage quite as well. This isn’t a total surprise: I’m not an expert in thermodynamics, but it would make sense that a space heater laboring against extreme cold is going to struggle more than just warming up a cool space. Anyway, the 10 degree per hour temperature rise I experience on cold mornings (i.e. going from 40 degrees to 50 degrees in my shop on a morning where it is 20 degrees outside) was halved on bitterly cold mornings. It took the heater 4 hours to raise the temp from 22 to around 40 degrees. In other words, on extremely cold mornings I get more like a 5 degree temperature rise per hour. This is not a criticism of the heater! It was still 5 below outside and I was working in a 40 degree space, so I was quite happy.I will update this review again should anything change.|—ORIGINAL REVIEW—|We have cool to cold weather about 5-6 months out of the year. I have a three-car tandem garage and the tandem spot is my workshop area. It is slightly larger than a 1-car spot and has high, 14′ ceilings. It is open to the other 2 spots in the garage. The garage is uninsulated and gets down to about 30 degrees on the coldest nights.I have tried various heating solutions for this space. Conventional home space heaters simply don’t put out enough heat at 5,000 BTUs, and I only have one circuit running to the garage so I couldn’t run a second space heater. I tried the parabolic dish type heaters, but those tended to create uncomfortable “hot spots” when pointed at a person for too long and as soon as you moved out of the aim of the heater, you were back in the cold. I looked into the petroleum-based heaters that don’t need to be vented, but if you do any research on those the health consequences seem like they could be bad.After searching for something more powerful, I came across this DR988 heater. I purchased it along with the Leviton 5376 30 Amp, 250 Volt, Surface Mounting Receptacle. I paid an electrician to run the 240 line and install the receptacle.This heater is exactly the solution I was looking for! It provides a warm, even heat that is blown out with surprising force. It is this air movement that is key, because it means the heater is sucking in cold air from behind it at an equally rapid rate. Putting it on the floor really helps, too. Since hot air rises, blowing the hot air along the floor allows the air to transfer heat to the floor, walls, and furniture before it rises to the ceiling and is wasted (I don’t much care to heat air that is 5-10′ above me). I point the heater at my primary work location. It is about 4-5′ away from me on the floor. The warm air creates a really nice work space right around me, but it never gets too hot or uncomfortable. At the same time, it is warming the air throughout my workshop so when I move to a different spot in the workshop, I find similarly warmed air. It will consistently raise the temperate in the tandem spot in my garage 10 degrees per hour. The warm air trickles out to the two-car spots as well, as that area seems to warm at about 5 degrees per hour.Basically, I can walk into my workshop when it is 40 degrees and I’m wearing a coat and turn this heater on. After 2-3 hours, it is totally comfortable and I’m not even wearing a coat anymore.I did the rough math on the cost to operate this unit. At 19,000 BTUs, it costs me about $0.20 to $0.25 per hour to operate. Very worth it to enjoy working in my workshop year round again. As an added bonus, the always-cold bedroom located above our garage is suddenly much more comfortable on the days when I use this heater to warm up the garage.

2. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   James E. Oliver Jr. – January 4, 2015

   Update: 10-14-21 Still love these heaters, and they are at a great price. My dogs still love em also. The bearings started squealing in mine so I “UNPLUGGED” the unit and removed the outer case, and lubed the fan shaft with some 3in1, SAE20w motor oil (for AC fans and other big electrical stuff) purrs like a kitten now. Going to make sure I lube the motor shaft “every” year from now on, whether or not, if it is squealing. I am a big fan of this heater.update: Better than my old model. I purchased this model to replace a 3VU36 Dayton heater that went out after 7 years of service. This unit was about $50 cheaper than the old unit ($110 + Tax, Prime), and the controls are in the front of the panel. Seems like one company manufactures these units, and other companies put their brand on the unit. My new unit has a black fan bracket, vs my old unit with a silver bracket….this unit seems to move the air (CFM) a little better than my old unit…although my old unit was over 7 years old, and maybe did as well when it was new. The only ding to this unit would be that the plug was installed upside down..(the cord goes upward when plugged into the wall) which is “no” problem if it knocks $50 (30%) off the price 7 years later. Also the new units cord seems to be about 3″ longer than my old unit. I am trying to convince my wife to buy another one..!!..at $110 this is “GREAT” value…would buy another one, without thinking twice “Dr Infrared Heater” is my “go to” brand from now on.Also you can see from my photo, my dogs love this heater. I would be afraid of any other heater “burning” my dogs.This heater is safe, and has a high airflow rate, so my dogs do not get burned while lying close to it.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Tommy D. – January 11, 2015

   Dollar for dollar, you cannot beat this heater! For just over $100, I was quite surprised as to the build quality. Is it noisy? It is as noisy as a fan pushing nearly 400 cfm’s should be. This is NOT a bedroom or any living room space heater. Understand what you are buying. The description is very accurate. A few points to consider: 1. Make sure you have or plan to have a dedicated 240 volt 30 amp circuit to operate this unit. 12/2 AWG will NOT suffice. 10/2 AWG or larger will be needed. 2. If you are QUALIFIED and plan on running cable underground, make sure to use -UF or single wires through appropriate conduit. If either is chosen, check your local codes for proper burial depth. Where I live, code is 19 inches deep. Do not compromise these steps because your friend tells it’s overkill. A neighbor of mine was nearly electrocuted when he ran a simple 120 volt 12/2 AWG circuit 6 inches underground. The cable’s armor became breached during a frost heave exposing the hot lead. When the ground thawed during a warm rain storm, water puddled around his garage apron and became electrified. Fortunately for him it was not a 240 volt circuit or he probably would have died as he contacted this puddle. 3. As a professional, I fully understand the need for the Do It Yourself mentality, but when it comes to electricity, please understand your limitations! Unless you are or have been in this trade, you would not believe what I have seen done by folks with good intentions and a cheap do it yourself book from the Home Depot. 4. If you are asking too many questions on this review site as to installation procedures, you NEED a qualified electrician! 5. If you, qualified or not, are dishing out answers to these questions regarding installation, STOP being irresponsible. This type of advice should be stricken from the reviews. 5. A little knowledge can be a very dangerous thing!

4. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Shawn Riley – February 10, 2015

   I ordered 2 of these to heat my 660 square foot pole barn. It has insulated walls and the ceiling is covered, but no insulation on the ceiling. They did the job well for the first few weeks, then the issues started on one of them.I would fire them up (it was in the mid 20’s F outside) and let them run for about an hour before going into the barn to work. The barn would be in the mid 50’s and plenty comfortable enough to work in without wearing a bulky jacket. I was pleased at that point. I would leave them set to “ON” at all times so they were running continuously. Mind you, this was usually only 5-6 hours on saturdays and sundays and a few hours throughout the week in the evening. They were not very loud at all, and as others have stated didnt blow a strong stream of hot air, more a higher volume stream of warm air. Still, they did the job well enough. After about 3 weeks, one of them was blowing room temp air (the heating element was not on). I turned it off for a few minutes, and when I turned it back on it blew warm again. Then a short time later, it was not blowing warm air again. I left it on and paid attention to it, and found it would cycle blowing warm air for a matter of minutes, then turn off the element and blow room temp air for a while, then repeat. In the “ON” position it should not be doing this. The other one runs continuously no problem. Now I just leave the good one ON all the time and put the malfunctioning one on “AUTO” where it cycles the fan on and off via the thermostat. I wouldve returned but I had to change the plugs to match the existing receptacles in the barn and I didnt think they’d take it back after doing so.Long story short, I got one good one and one not so good one. They’ll get me through the winter (I do have to bump on my propane torpedo heater at times now that Im running on 1 and 1/3 heaters…) but I wouldnt consider these a long term solution.

5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   K. Schermerhorn – February 27, 2015

   I bought this heater to warm up my cold basement. With the severe cold snap in the northeast my basement temperature would drop to as low as 55 degrees F. My work shop is down there and the small electric heaters helped slightly but would run constantly and only raise the temp a few degrees. I pre-wired the 30 amp / 240volt outlet so when the Dr. Infrared heater arrived it was all set to go. I plugged it in and cranked the thermostat up to the full on position. Within 1 hour the temp in my basement went from 55 degrees to 68 degrees. At that point I turned the thermostat down untill the heater shut off. The heater will maintain a 66 degree temp easily running aprroximately 25% of the time. Just for comparison sake, my basement is 740 square feet of space. Don’t expect these results in an uninsulated garage or shed. That would be expecting too much.The construction of this heater is very rugged with a super heavy duty lead cord attached. It has a handle which you can lift it by even while it’s running. One thing I was worried about was if the case gets very hot while running because I wanted it to sit on a cabinet with a laminate counter. Even after being on for a continuous hour the case remaind cool to the touch. Even the bottom remained cool. The manufacturer suggests it be placed on the floor and not to get anything too close to it. This more of a CYA suggestion I think to protect themselves. Like most things in life, use a little common sense and you won’t have a problem.Overall, for me this is a 5 star heater all the way. I’ve been using it for 4 full days and it has been functionng perfectly. For the price I was willing to give it a try. Now I wish I purchased it long ago.

6. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Sean Roberts – January 13, 2016

   I bought this heater at Christmas and I’ve got it running pretty good. I read all of the reviews and the two main complaints were that it was noisy and rattled, and didn’t put out enough heat and/or shut down prematurely. Both of these complaints are accurate, but for a $100 heater made in China what do you expect.Some people blamed the rattling on the fan, but I think its just the whole unit rattling as it runs. I found that the best solution was to just sit something heavy on top of it, obviously non-flammable, like a cast iron dutch oven. This completely took away the noisy rattling. After doing this I realized that all that rattling reduced the propulsion of the fan. Once the unit is kept still, the fan is more efficient and moves more air.The second issue is that the unit doesn’t heat up the space enough and was shutting down prematurely. This is because the thermostat is in the bottom corner of the unit, directly under the heating element. The thermostat opens up the circuit well before the desired temp in the room is met, shutting the heater off…..just a poor design. This problem is intensified by the rattling because the fan can’t move heat away fast enough. You can bypass this thermostat, but that involves opening the unit and doing some re-wiring (I assume this voids the warranty). I have a strong electrical background and would not suggest that just anyone do this.I installed my own 240V thermostat on the wall in series with the 30A receptacle, bypassed the stat on the unit and that solved that issue. After modifications this unit can heat my non-insulated, 2 1/2 car garage from below freezing up to 70 degrees within an hour or two! I am giving it 4 stars because the price is awesome compared to other heaters, but you have to be pretty handy to be able to get it running right.Also, this unit is for industrial use only. I would consider a garage or shop an industrial space. I would absolutely not recommend using this inside of a house or office.TIP: Check out Amazon Warehouse Deals! People ship these things back because of the issues. I got mine for around $95.

7. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   CK – January 12, 2018

   I purchased this 2 weeks ago and have been pretty impressed with it. I’m using it to heat up my 300 sq ft work shop and it does a great job at doing it. I have insulated the walls of my shop with R-13 and the roof with R-16 so it is having to do less work to keep it warm. I’ve used it on a 20 degree days keeping the inside temp at 70 and it heats up to that temperature pretty quickly and maintains its.The heating properties of this fan are very good. I’ve installed several wall mount 240v heaters at my work and been around a lot of them but I like this one a lot more and it’s cheaper than those. Most of the 240v heaters have pretty mild fans so you will wind up with unmixed air and varying temps in different parts of the room. The fan on this unit is powerful and does an excellent job mixing the air, while also not being obnoxious with the noise. Some reviewers stated it was loud, but I think it’s pretty reasonable. I did a homemade air movement test using a vaporizer pen to make smoke and I blew smoke all over my shop in every corner and the middle while the fan ran it moved and dispersed the smoke quickly so it mixes the air 100% in my 20×15 shop with and 8 foot roof. The heater also does not generate dangerous amounts of heat in front of it. The fan moves the air quickly so the front of it can’t really get the chance to catch anything on fire unless a towel was dropped directly on it I would have to guess. I have attached an infrared image showing the area it heats in front of the heater. Keep in mind that it is slightly deceptive, the blue ground is around 68F while the red area immediately in front is only around 85F and tapers off around 78F at the end.The thermostat works good on it. It maintains a ± .5-1 degree temperature range in my size shop so it’s very dependable to keep a steady temperature.The cord it comes with is annoying like others have stated I cut off the end and put on a $10 replacement plug to make it the same as my welder, however I’m sure there is some electrical code reason that it has to ship with the style so it’s no biggy just plan to add $10 or so more to the purchase price and 10 minutes to swap it.The overall fit and finish of the unit is great too. The paint is nice and thick and evenly applied it doesn’t seem like it was cheaped out on. The button and knob feel nice and solid. The handle is sturdy and well mounted and the unit is pretty small sized so it can be stowed away easily and kept up in the summer without taking much space.Overall I recommend this heater and I don’t think you can find a better one in this price range. I’ve seen several people complain about the heat it puts out. Electric heat is electric heat it’s the same unit to unit. Unless there is a flaw in the product if it is pulling 20 amps like it should be then the heat is there and is the same heat as a different heater. If it won’t heat your shop up any other heater at the same wattage won’t either. Insulate your shop or get 2. The only thing I can’t comment on is durability you can’t really judge it after just 2 weeks, but after the amount of hours I’ve used it I would say it’s going to be great for years to come.

8. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Kenneth Thomas – February 20, 2019

   I bought this heater recently to heat a 675 sq.ft. shop. It was half the price as an identical one under another brand name and color being sold by a national retailer that has a store here in my town. There is one important thing to know about it though. When I first plugged it in, it was rather loud with a bit of a rattle. Based upon others’ reviews that did not surprise me and so I did not really investigate the cause as I figured the blades simply weren’t balanced that well. A couple of days later though, there was a very loud noise, then it stopped blowing. I shut it off immediately and looked to see what had happened. Well, there are two small screws which hold the motor to its mounting bracket. They had come completely loose and the motor and fan fell down which stopped the motor from turning. I reattached the motor and tightened the screws along with using some loc-tite on them. Now the fan runs very smoothly and relatively quiet without any rattle. I would suggest to anyone buying this heater that they first put some loc-tite or similar thread locker on those screws. I think that once that is done the heater will work well for a long time to come.As per the heating performance, my shop is 2X6 construction with a 9 ft. high ceiling and insulated. Presently it’s empty until I finish painting. Yesterday morning it was 0­°F outside and 29­°F inside the shop. I turned the heater on and within a 4 hours the temperature inside the shop had reached 72°F while it was still only 15°F outside. I had to turn the temperature adjustment knob halfway back to its fully counter clockwise position before the heater turned itself off, so I am sure that with enough time it could heat the area up well above 90°F if set to constantly on or with the knob at its fully clockwise position. Once I have filled the shop with machinery and other items I will probably heat the space more quickly as well. I think that it’s doing quite well to heat the volume of the space, as well as a concrete slab and structure where most of our overnight temperatures have been below freezing and often below zero for the last three plus months.

9. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Evans – November 30, 2020

   I have a new 35′ x 50′ x 18′ “minimally insulated” RV garage/workshop (with a 3rd floor 8′ attic) – I ordered the heater a few days ago and it arrived very fast. (ahead of time I had been told)notes:- heater was started with garage temp at 52 degrees F- outside temp dropped today to 29 degrees F- heater has been able to gain 2 degrees F to 54 F on the first level in this huge space (I’m more than a little surprised at this)- heat output seems unimpressive in my opinion standing at the unit, but the results (again so far) on my first day of use, far exceeds my expectations- the thermostat likely will have to be replaced with something with a better “differential,” but for the moment I’ll just set it a bit higher.- To connect it to a 50A welder outlet, I ordered a 6-50P to 6-30R adapter cable from AMAZON, which, as expected, worked perfectly(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P6THGKJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1)- so my only (minor) negative is the stock thermostat differential- the unit is adequately quiet- this units fan is “balanced” and no vibration- the unit came very adequately packed and double boxed- this is a big building… All I was expecting was to be able to maintain something above freezing so I wouldn’t have to winterize the RV. I am shocked this heater alone, seems to be gaining temp- I will be installing a heat pump for this building, but for now, I’m pretty much surprised this single heater has maintained or slightly gained temperature.- at the time I took the attached pictures, the outside temp was 29 degrees F (attic temp was 48 degrees F-1st level temp was 54 degrees F)- bldg insulation is 1-2″ of spray foam (closed cell) in attic and walls are 2″ rockwool)on edit 2/18/2021- well this heater didn’t gain on 12 degree days, but it held the temp at 45 (and still cycled)- at 23 degrees it’s able to gain (set at about 45 degrees)- it is probably the most expensive way to heat the garage, but I only need it to keep the temperature above freezing – so it doesn’t run all the time, it cycles- I remain satisfied – I won’t be trying to reach 50’s and 60″s – I think that may be a little rich – I just want it to keep paints and the RV I have stored in there above freezing and it’s doing that easily- I haven’t had any problem with the unit so far – I know some say they had issues, but it seems decently well built and I basically like the unit very much, again, so far… I’ll update if that changes, but I have no reason to expect a changeedit 3/12/22- changed my mind and my review to 5 stars – this heater has just worked too well for me – I can hardly believe how well it’s been working – very very satisfiededit 12/24/22Yikes! 0 degrees F yesterday -20 degrees F wind chill 2 degrees this morning -6 degrees F wind chillThe heater is running “flat out” and continously, BUT, at least on the 1st floor, it’s 45 degrees F and NOT losing. 3rd floor is at 32 degrees. (dry storage floor) “Color me amazed…” I can easily work in there… Building has some insulation. (not a lot though)

10. 

    Rated 4 out of 5

    Brian Schoenrock – February 6, 2021

    I have a three car garage, insulated, in a new house build. I plan on installing a mini-split unit at some point but wanted something to get me through the winter. This is in Montana, so the winter cold is real. The garage stays around 52 degree’s due to heat coming through the walls of the house and this heater takes it up to 64 degrees after running for a few hours. The heater itself does not show temperature, but my garage door controls do. The heaters control is a simple dial and when it detects the rooms warmth is where it is set to the heater shuts down, fan and all. It kicks back on when the temperature has dropped enough.The only con I can think of is the lack of an off button. The fan switch has three settings: On, Fan, and Auto. Heaters of this type should not be left unattended so I only run it when it is needed. That means I must unplug it. It’s a minor gripe.

11. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    Allen Watsky – November 2, 2022

    I had a 240 line and 30 amp breaker on my panel , all I needed to do was switch out the receptacle which is simple and only required a trip to the hardware store.The heater is not very loud compared to the propane heater thats mounted in the ceiling of the steel building I use as my shop. So thats an improvement . I set the thermostat of the propane unit just around 40degrees to prevent freezing over night. Then in the morning I start the DR988 . It brings the temp up quickly as the building is very well insulated. This afternoon it raised the temp 5 degrees in as many minutes. No way to know what the cost of operating the 988 will be , but I think it will be manageable. If the unit keeps working I’ll follow up and raise that 4 star to 5. I just throw the breaker to turn the unit off. So its the honeymoon period for the new heater. Check back in February ! I’ll let you know….how it all worked out.

12. 

    Rated 4 out of 5

    Xtremission LLC – December 1, 2022

    This heater puts out a TON of heat, but listing has a typo. The heater is rated at 5600w not 6500w, and the QA sticker has the actual performance at 5475w.That minor discrepancy aside, this unit pumps out tons of heat until the thermostat turns it off. The thermostat is located inside the body of the heater and exposed to thermal transfer from the element. This causes it to turm off even at maximum setting while ambient is only 60°F or so.To fix this, I pulled the thermostat out of the unit and bent its thermal switch until it would only barely switch off at 75°F while in my hands. When reinstalled, this gives me an effective ambient range of 65-85°F.

13. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    zing zoofer – January 27, 2023

    When i first purchased, it said not for indoor use, i thought that was rather odd, who would use it outside, anywho, great little heater, heats up my 900 sq ft nicely, i have had it 3 winters now and will replace with same should it crap out.

14. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    Kathy Raye Freemonth – March 21, 2023

    I have a dog washing studio in my garage. I needed a heater that can heat 40 to 65 in a short time without multiple heaters. This was recommended by a neighbor and WOW does it do the job!!!! 40 to 65 in an hour, LOVE THIS HEATER!!!

15. 

    Rated 5 out of 5

    Lee Ann Sole – May 5, 2023

    Takes about a half hour to get too a comfortable level when starting out below freezing but it works perfectly for my needs