UPDATE 3/22:Being using this heater for close to a month almost daily. I’ve followed the instructions in the manual regarding fuel quality and the dry burning schedule. Bottom line, the OEM wick is not good quality. It’s felt (see pic). You’re supposed to dry burn the wick then brush with a toothbrush. Doing so breakers off piece of wick and frays the wick. Brushing with a flat screwdriver or pinching the carbon deposits with small plies certainly frays the wick too. See my pick for how crummy the OEM wick is. CORRECTION: I’m leaving my “update” with wrong assumptions up to help anyone else with electric starter problems. The fix was simply. Clean the wick. The instructions say that after the FIRST 7 days of use, dry burn the wick and remove the carbon (follow instructions in the manual). After I did that, the starter worked perfectly again. Bottom line, it can ignite the fumes from liquid kerosene but it cannot ignite solid carbon.UPDATE: 2/25–I had given this heater 5 stars, but I have now dropped it to 4 because of the starter. I received this heater on 2/18. So it has been exactly one week. In that time I started the heater daily (a total of 7 starts). Today, the starter buzzing noise was very faint and the wick didn’t light. I removed the batteries and tested them and they are all still at full charge. So yesterday, the starter worked perfectly, but today it just seems to weak to ignite the wick that has been soaked with kerosene all night. Taking a glance at the warranty paperwork (see my photo), it’s obviously not worth the cost to request warranty service. I may be able to order another set of starter contacts. In any case, this can be lit with a longneck match or lighter.ORIGINAL: First, I’ll explain the star count. I gave the unit 5 stars overall because it does what it advertises, is a sturdy high quality unit, and the documentation that comes with it is thorough. So far I love this heater and plan to buy a second one. For those who care, the seller of my unit was Spreetail.Heat output is 5 stars. The best part is that it’s directional out the front. When the unit had been running for 45 minutes and was fully hot, I was able to touch the sides, the top, and the back with my bare hand without any burns. The sides were mildly warm, the top was mildly warm, and the back was noticeably warm but not hot. I’m confident that a child or pet coming in brief contact with any of those surfaces would not get burned. The hottest part of the shell was the back. The front of the unit gets very hot of course and I suggest not letting anything or anyone touch that. I measured the temperature, and found that at the front of the heater, the temperature was in the high 200’s F. Just above the top of the front (just above the vent plates) I measured over 320 F.I gave it only 3 stars for ease of use because I was considering someone who may be new to kerosene heaters. In comparison to a propane space heater like the Mr. Buddy, this is a probably about the same to start (both having electric start). The difference is in fueling. The Mr. Buddy simply requires screwing in a propane bottle or a hose to a larger propane tank. This KeroHeat requires careful filling of the fuel tank with liquid kerosene which can be a messy task for those who aren’t experienced working with kerosene. Of course, both kerosene and propane space heaters are more complicated than electric space heaters (which you just plug in and flip a switch or 2). Also, when I first got the unit, I had to reattach the sheet metal standoff inside the fuel tank bay. If this standoff is not where it is supposed to be, the fuel level window is not visible when the fuel tank is inside the unit. It literally involves making sure the 2 tabs on each side of the standoff were in the slots designed for them. This process took me an entire 15 seconds. This is simply part of the VERY MINOR assembly required (the other part being actually unwrapping and inserting the chimney inside the heater). The heater arrives nearly ready to go out of the box. The factory even includes 4 C batteries. Mine still held a full charge when the heater arrived.I actually gave this 4 for “scent” ONLY because it has a faint kerosene odor immediately after you shut it off. I don’t mind it. I think it has that nostalgic odor of a Zippo lighter. I don’t mind it. I start and stop my heater inside the house because I find the smell is more tolerable to me than trying to carry a bulky heater into the house while 320 degree air is coming out of it. Any new appliance that gets hot (including electric heaters) will have SOME chemical odors when it is first fired up after unpacking. It’s been this way for decades. The factories spray preservatives on the appliances to protect against rust during shipping and storage and so the unit will look shiny and new when you get it. You have to let these burn off—OUTSIDE. So new gizmo odors are typical of all heaters. Minus one star because of the faint kerosene odor at shutdown (I don’t mind it but others might).The fit and finish of this unit are superb. I don’t know if this is Chinese design or Chinese manufacturing of an American (or Japanese) design spec but the quality is American (or Japanese).One oddball thing is that the battery compartment has no door. When I looked at the included parts list (included in the owner’s manual) it did not indicate a battery door. The instructions are adamant that removing the batteries after the unit is lit is dangerous so I’d have thought they’d include a door to prevent them from falling out. Of course, the instructions are also very adamant that you do NOT move the unit once it’s lit. So since movement of the unit is likely to be at a minimum anyway, they probably figured a door to hold the batteries in was not necessary. (See photo for details).I ran this heater for about 5 hours. In that time, it raised my 1300 sq ft living room by 8 degrees. I’m impressed.The heater is silent except for an occasional gurgle as the kerosene dumps from the tank into the reservoir at the bottom.WARRANTY: The heater comes with a 2 year LIMITED warranty (see photo), but I wouldn’t consider it as a motive to buy. It’s very limited, requires you to save ALL the retail packaging the unit arrived in, and requires YOU to pay for shipping. So, you’re better off just opening and testing the heater immediately when you get it and if there’s a problem, return it to Amazon.PRO TIP: Before you first start this (or ANY heater) take your vacuum cleaner and vacuum the whole unit inside and out to pick up any little styrofoam bits from the packaging that may have attached to the unit. If you skip this step and ended up burning little styrofoam balls on the heater, that will cause a foul odor that will take much longer to get rid of than the factory preservative oils do.