cheaper electric bill....portable quartz heater?? or portable oil radiator??
Everything you said sounds completely normal for those minerals. On the color of garnet, completely normal and it can also be green. glass will scratch glass, and there's a possibility that garnet will not scratch glass; quartz always will though honestly if you want to know, take it to your local college and talk to someone in the geology department but I really think that you have what you bought.
Rub the points on a piece of window glass. If the stones are real, they will scratch the glass very easily. If not, they should not be damaged, but the glass will either not scratch, or scratch with difficulty.
