Well, why are they using thermal imaging of a unit sitting in open air, instead of a system which can measure the ACTUAL heat output? This method is prone to HUGE errors due to emissivity, and the convective/conductive heat transfer is simply ESTIMATED, no attempt to even measure it! If you pumped water into a calorimeter and weighed the amount of water turned to steam every hour, you'd have an EXACT value of heat produced.
Then, if the thing is heating to 800+ C, why do they need to keep the heater on at all? This is the one that troubles me the most. Put some insulation around it and turn off the heater, and DISCONNECT the wires! Then, I would start to believe it. But, as long as the heater is still hooked up, I think there is funny business going on.
Jon