"It's called "a scam designed to harvest money from unsuspecting chumps", present company excluded.
"
I agree with that, it probably is, just like flase statements on box fan boxes! "This fan uses 85% less electric than a room airconditionare", what a lie and chumps fall for it, should be outlawed as out right lie. Turn the airconditionare on as a fan only to move air, that is all a box fan does, then the fan DOES NOT use that much less electric as the lie states as being a fact.
"In order to heat up a certain amount of air, it's going to take a certain amount of energy. Whether that energy comes from burning a wood, decaying plutonium, nuclear fusion, or 3 infrared bulbs, it's still going to take the same amount of energy."
I am on both sides of that one, agree, but don't agree at same time. It may take a cetain amount of energy to heat a certain amount of air, that may be correct. How that energy is used makes a very large difference though. You can waste a ton extra for the same heat or use the bare minimum needed, most products use more than needed! Products do the same work using less power all the time as product improvements are made. Some people at one time might have argued that 30mpg cars were imposible because engines of those days could only get a max of 18-20mpg, now we have engines that make far better use of the same amount of feul. Put a new engine in a large 60's Caddy and it gets far better milage than the old engine got, so it's not just lighter cars with better shapes for better milage. It's getting the same HP from less feul with better designs. Still the same heavy bulky car fighting the same wind at same speeds, better milage with modern engine.
"What you have here is a radiatior that's heated by infrared bulbs. This is along the lines of that amazing anodized aluminum thing awhile ago that would thaw out meat quickly, so the ad claimed. It was little more than a large black anodized aluminum heatsink. So it might actually help to thaw meat faster, as heatsinks serve as a means of equalizing temperatures, but not much. However, if you use lots of little sparkly special effects, and use the words "anodized" and "special" then it's a wonderful product, worth $19.95. Or those "cell phone antennas" - little stickers of gold foil that probably cost about a half a cent to make, but sold for $19.95."
You are right, people fall for those stupid gimicks all the time. But heat sinks do work both ways and putting one under frozen food does work
It's still the foods abilty to absorb the heat that will have alot of effect.
Place frozen steak on a table, the table gets cold and the meat thaws very slowly. Drop it in a pan of hot water it thaws much faster, but you have a soggy wet steak.
Place it on an aluminum heat sink, sit it over the pilot light on the stove, you have a fast dry thaw. And unlike a microwave the food is not half cooked radio active rubbery gunk when ready to cook it
Liquids like stews, chili, soups, et.. work better than steaks this way. Also if part of the heatsink is exposed to the direct sun it works far faster.
Of course you could probably keep your $20 and just use an aluminum skillet and it work almost as well, but those fins do absorb more heat on the heatsinks. And airflow is needed as well, otherwise the heat sink gets cold, air gets cold, no more heat transfered, so to work corectly it should be either at a source of mild heat (pilot light, in the sun etc..) or where there is a breeze of sometype so the air moves like an open table area. Sitting it up against the wall behind unused toaster and deepfryer it won't work very well, I saw someone do this! Buried frozen food behind junk where no air was moving and wonder why 4 hours latter it was still froze solid, it was like being in an ice chest without ice.
Also the heatsinks will freeze food faster sometimes too. I have used similar type things for freezing chocolate covered bannas
The ones laying on wax paper were mushy while I ate the frozen solid one that was on a heat sink. All were put in freezer at same time.
