Power saving method providing a burst of power for defogging an eye-shield apparatus with a thin-film heater, comprising: activating the heater from an off power level to an on-demand mode or from a preliminary intermediate power level during an active-on mode to a max power level and continuing heating for a predetermined first period of time, automatically reducing power after the first period of time and sustaining the lesser power for a second predetermined period of time, after which program control automatically turns off the heater, or automatically reduces the heat back to the preliminary intermediate power level depending upon the initial state of the heater upon activating the burst of power, whether on or off. The method may be repeated as often as necessary from off level in the on-demand mode, or from within a continuous active-on mode.