Bnpositive's Blog

I’m still amazed at the connections I’m able to make through the use of twitter. Perhaps the types of connections that impress the most are ones where I’m introduced to our assisted by a company that’s decided to use twitter as a means to connect with existing and potential customers.

That took place recently when I simply tweeted a statement about being warmed by a space heater in my office. Shortly after my tweet hit the Internet I was messaged by someone at Vornado that was on twitter and they asked what brand of space heater I was using.

I hadn’t really paid attention, but looked and noticed it was one by Patton, their direct competitor. After doing a quick search I can’t even find Patton’s website on the Internet, but here I am talking to someone from Vornado who’s interested in my experiences with space heaters and what I’m using.

After a bit of a conversation with me about what I liked about the space heater and perhaps what I was looking for, I was offered an opportunity to review one of their space heaters and they would be very interested in my experience with it, which I’ll share with you shortly.

Let me refocus on the power of twitter and similar social media tools currently available. Are you using them to connect with your potential customers? your competitor’s customers? your existing customers? I’ll tell you right now, just from the simple experience of meeting and chatting with this guy on twitter, Vornado is THE brand I now think of when someone mentions a space heater or other airflow devices that are similar.

UPDATE: Brian Cartwright, the person behind Vornado’s twitter activity was recently interviewed on the Pistachio Consulting website. He discusses how he got started on twitter for Vornado and what they’re goals are for its use.

If you’re interested in hearing about my actual experiences with the product Vornado sent me to review, continue reading.

Vornado sent me their new iControl space heater which is quite a step up from the space heaters I’ve used in the past. I remember growing up as a preacher’s kid and having to setup the little space heaters in each of the Sunday School rooms on Sunday mornings. These were the metal heaters, with the bright, red-glowing heating elements that were also serious fire hazards. They did their job, if you were sitting right next to it.

The iControl space heater serves the multi-purpose as a whole-room heater or just an air circulation aid with no heat. Unlike the previously mentioned space heaters, the iControl doesn’t use a heating element that ever glows red.

The super-quiet fan blow a focused stream of air over the heating wires and quickly warms the room to the desired temperature you set on the LCD panel controlled thermostat.

As you can see in the picture the iControl also comes with a very simple remote control. On the one hand I’d consider this a luxury feature as I don’t think it’s a big deal to get up and adjust the heater if needed. I guess though depending on where you placed the heater, having the remote control would be a handy addition. I do wish somewhere in the housing of the unit there was a place that the remote control would fit snugly when not needed.

I’ve been extremely happy with the unit. It makes stepping out of the shower into a nice and warm bathroom on these cold winter mornings a much more enjoyable experience. My kids have also enjoyed using it in their rooms on some really cold nights we’ve experienced in Indianapolis recently.

My wife and I have used it in our living room late at night when we’re both up watching TV and working on our laptops. She says that sometimes the air feels cold blowing on her, which is true, but the fact that she can feel air blowing on her from this tiny unit from across the room just goes to show you how Vornado’s patented vortex of air really works to circulate the air in an entire room.

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