Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

OK folks, listen up. I have read a bunch of reviews on several different products like this heater. Some cost a lot more and some a lot less. But you will not find a better deal than this. I decided on this particular one mostly based on one reviewer's statement that it was fairly quiet, and it is. But after I got it, I realized how well constructed it was. This thing is built like a tank. Nowhere does the cabinet get hot, or even very warm. And I found it had several nice features that were not even mentioned in the ad copy. Several people complained about other heaters not having an "Off" position; this one does. The thermostat will turn it completely off. Some people complained about the thermostat only being single pole, meaning it only interrupts one side of the 240 circuit; This one is double-pole, but get this. The thermostat does not control the high current of the heating element; it uses a double pole SOLID-STATE relay. How cool is that?! Besides the thermostat, It also has 3 heat settings; 3,000 4,000 and 5,000 watts. Here is another feature that goes to the engineering quality in my opinion. Many other heaters like this just have bare wire heater coils. The bare wire has a very small surface area from which to transfer heat to the air. This heater has what looks like Kel-rods which have radiator fins press onto them, similar to an A/C condenser or evaporator coil. This provides many many times more surface area to transfer heat to the air. The Kel-rods do not get extremely hot (no red) like bare coils do, so they don't waste energy heating the coils red-hot. Now a word about installation. First and foremost, DO NOT believe another reviewer who said it needs a 25 AMP breaker. Not only is he wrong, but both common sense AND the manufacturer state that a 30 AMP circuit is required. That means BOTH 10 ga. wire AND a 30AMP breaker. And even then both the wire and breaker get warm after extended use. Not hot, but warm. Some people mentioned using a separate service switch. Instructions do not mention it and this unit CAN be turned off. I did install one. I used an Industrial 30 Amp double-pole switch, which looks and fits just like a standard light switch. Costs about $11 bucks, but cheap if you want a 240 volt switch. I also recommend using stranded wire which would go in some kind of conduit, either solid or flexible. 10 ga. solid wire is VERY difficult to work with especially if you decide to use a switch. Now about the heat. Keep in mind that BTU is BTU. I got this mainly to try and replace my propane heaters because when it's really cold, they just pump too much moisture into the air for my uninsulated metal shop. Eventually it will be insulated. I have been using UP TO 70,000 BTU propane heaters to quickly heat up on cold days, so the 17,000+ BTU of this heater is not a fair comparison. But how well anything heats probably depends as much or more on the weather conditions and insulation. My shop is about 625 sq. ft. and even with 2 other 120 volt heaters, it would barely warm it up (14' peak roof also). So I saved the best until last. What better recommendation is there except that I ordered another one? Hopefully, 35,000 BTU will suffice for most conditions at least until I get it insulated. I will hook the second one up to be portable since I already have a heavy duty 10/4 cable.