Talk:Space heater

Merge with fan heater?
I think the fan heater article should be merged into this one, seeing how they are basically the same thing (the fan heater being a type of space heater). 77.180.83.245 (talk) 21:01, 15 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I agree that the fan heater article should be merged into the general space heater article. I don't think there are enough unique things about forced-convection space heaters to have a seperate article.  I don't want to do the work, though.  I did add a link on the space heater page under convective heaters to the fan heater article, so at least people can find the other page. Bosef1 (talk) 14:35, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

A little more explanation?
What a tidy article!

Small comments: The reference to "hydronic heating" is too elliptical...I'm not quite sure what that means, though I can guess. Also, "ceramic heating elements" is two links to "ceramic" and "heating elements", neither of which explains what that item is compared to "nichrome wire".

It's not correct to say that "modern" heaters don't use nichrome...I live in a high tech area, and there are plenty of new nichrome heaters in the store's product lines. (And is ceramic better somehow? Am I missing something?) Alpha Ralpha Boulevard 00:32, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

can the ceramic inside Ceramic space heaters break and get brown into the air? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.65.3.30 (talk) 07:13, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Ceramic Yes, more information on advantages and disadvantages of ceramic. What are pros and cons of ceramic. How does ceramic enable use of plastic cases? There are plenty of plastic encased, portable, electric space heaters available in retail stores having the same wattage as ceramic versions.

Incandescent Lignt bulbs It is no longer believed that normal use cycling incandescent lights on/off has a significant reduction of their life. Even if this were so the cost of keeping the bulb on would be more than replacing bulbs. Also the duty cycle would be an important consideration. How do we know when the number of cycles shortens the life of a bulb more than the accumulated time of normal use on only when needed? And is there enough variation between bulbs and element technology that it would be different for each type.

What is the heat produced by different types of incandescent bulbs. They are convenient for heating small areas. As for insulation. A well insulated house can be good or bad depending on the climate. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.5.231.198 (talk) 15:58, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Implement info from air heater
This info needs to be imbedded:

An air heater or space heater is any appliance that warms a small area, such as one room.

Air heaters include:
 * air heaters on fossil fuels; eg
 * Gas burners
 * Fossil Oil burners
 * Kerosene burners
 * Propane burners
 * Radiative heaters powered by fossil fuel burning water heaters


 * Air heaters on vegetable fuels; eg
 * Vegetable Oil burners
 * Fireplaces or Wood-burning stoves


 * Air heaters on electricity
 * Radiative heaters powered by electrical water heaters
 * Convection heaters


 * Air heaters moving heat from external locations
 * Air_source_heat_pumps
 * Geothermal_heat_pump

major edits
I have just done an overhaul of this page, including moving it to a new title. There were entire sections that dealt with central and even district heating systems as opposed to space heaters, passages clearly slanted against certain types of heaters, and some awkward writing that needed cleaning up. I also removed the section on "micathermic" heaters. It was sourced only to a website selling the heaters, and in my opinion did not explain at all how such a device works. It said mica was used as a heat source, but failed to explain how. I would imagine the idea is similar to ceramic heating elements, but I don't know that for sure and apparently neither did the person who added the section in the first place. There was also a lot of content "bashing" oil and gas burning stoves, I have tried to remove or rewrite that content in order to maintain neutrality. The fact of the matter is that where I live vented kerosene space heaters, locally referred to as "oil stoves" are used by the majority of residences, and are operated safely every day by thousands of people. Beeblebrox (talk) 20:29, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Halogen space heaters
I recently bought one of these. The bulbs were so bright that I couldn't look at them. This was just as well because it said in the instructions "Do not look at the bulbs, it might damage your eyes". The whole point of a radiant heater is that you sit in front of it, and you can't sit in front of it without looking at it. I therefore wonder what these heaters are for. I took it back to the shop and exchanged it for a convector heater. Biscuittin (talk) 21:29, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Efficiency of halogen space heaters
I think 85% efficiency is poor. An electric heater should convert 100% of the electrical energy into heat. What else would it convert it into? Biscuittin (talk) 12:38, 11 March 2010 (UTC)
 * There is no method of generating heat that is 100% efficient. All electric heaters waste some electricity, all gas or oil based heaters waste some fuel. Most electrical heaters work on electrical resistance principles, like a toaster. By the way, the purpose of this page is to discuss how to improve this article, not a forum about space heaters. Beeblebrox (talk) 17:22, 11 March 2010 (UTC)
 * I read Biscuittin's comment as questioning the statement, "They are light weight, efficient converting about 85% of the input power to the output source of energy." If it were not so poorly worded, one might not question its accuracy so quickly! Anyway, Biscuittin's comment seems perfectly appropriate for this page. Taquito1 (talk) 02:32, 12 March 2010 (UTC)
 * All of the expended energy must go somewhere: visible light, infrared, sound, chemical conversion. Where is it that the other 15% goes? Also, in typical situations using a heater, much of the non-infrared would be converted to heat of some kind. Not much of the visible light in my place escapes to the outside at night with the curtains closed. Alpha Ralpha Boulevard (talk) 13:22, 15 March 2010 (UTC)
 * It's not about where it goes after the conversion from electricity to heat, it's the loss that occurs during that process. Without the engineer's plans for the heater (and smeone who knows more about electrical engineering than I) that about as specific an answer as you're going to get. It's possible there would be someone at the WP:REFDESK who would know more though. Beeblebrox (talk) 16:50, 15 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Er, I was being too tentative about my level of expertise. There is nowhere for electricity in an electric heater to go, except the places I mentioned. My guess is 99.9% is heat (infrared radiation) or visible light (other radiation). When an electronic device, such as a motor is inefficient, typically that inefficiency is lost in heat (rather than, say, in motor power). In the case of a heater, that "loss" wouldn't make a difference, since the goal is to make heat, anyhow.
 * (As a side issue, this is one of the problems with advocating replacing lightbulbs with "more efficient" -- and more expensive -- ones. In my home 100% of the heat is electric, so in winter, it makes no difference how "inefficient" the lightbulbs are, I have to heat the place one way or the other.) Regards, Alpha Ralpha Boulevard (talk) 20:21, 15 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Absolutely with you on this. It makes little sense to speak of the "efficiency" of a heater. Heat is practically the definition of inefficiency. Notwithstanding this, I think this particular statistic refers to the proportion of energy that is released as radiant heat in the IR band rather than as convected or conducted heat in the air. See Infrared_heater —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.210.201.27 (talk) 16:16, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Safety and Specs
I've added some links to UL and GSA safety standards in the Safety issues section, as well as some links to US DoE and EPA safety and efficency. This is obviously United States-centric, so please add addtional links for other countries as necessary. Bosef1 (talk) 14:15, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

I heard a rumour that there is a safety feature in that the glass can shatter (explode). Does anyone have any information on this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.243.173.222 (talk) 17:15, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

History
The article could probably benifit from a history section, that could also include references to traditional brasiers and under-table heaters (like Kotatsu and Korsi)... (I am not watching this page, so please ping me if you want my attention.) — Paleo  Neonate  – 17:53, 25 June 2018 (UTC)

Uncited material in need of citations
I am moving the following uncited material here until it can be properly supported with inline citations of reliable, secondary sources, per WP:V, WP:CS, WP:IRS, WP:PSTS, WP:BLP, WP:NOR, et al. This diff shows where it was in the article. Nightscream (talk) 16:49, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

LEAD SECTION
This contrasts with central heating, which is used to heat many connected areas, such as the rooms of a house. Space heaters are powered by electricity or a burnable fuel, such as natural gas, propane, fuel oil, or wood pellets. Portable space heaters are usually electric, because a permanent exhaust is needed for heaters which burn fuel.

Operation
Space heaters are powered by electricity or the combustion of flammable fuel. Combustion space heaters burn flammable fuel, such as natural gas, kerosene, propane, or wood.


 * Convection heaters pass electricity through a heating element, causing the element to become hot. The elements are either metal or ceramic, and the process is known as joule heating. Heat is transferred to the air in the room by convection. Some heaters have a fan to increase air circulation, but oil-filled space heaters do not have fans.
 * Infrared heaters also pass electricity through a conductive wire, heating it. Most of the heat is radiant heating, rather than convection. The hot wire emits infrared rays, which transfer heat to a solid surface rather than the surrounding air.
 * Heat pumps use the same process as refrigerators and air conditioners, but in reverse. While convective and infrared heaters heat from electricity, heat pumps move the location of heat. Heat pumps move heat from outside a room to inside, warming it. Many are reversible, able to cool the room by pumping heat out.

Convective heaters
Many residential space heaters use convective heating. They can be divided into two categories: those with a fan (to distribute warmth), and those without a fan. Convective heaters provide constant, diffuse heat to well-insulated rooms.

With a fan
Some convective heaters use a fan to help circulate warm air throughout a room. Their heating elements are metal or ceramic and are in direct contact with room air, allowing fan heaters to warm a room quickly.

Radiant heaters
The main advantage of radiant heaters is that the infrared radiation they produce is absorbed directly by clothing and skin, without first heating the air in a space. This makes them suitable for warming people in poorly insulated rooms or outdoors, and allows more distance between people and the heater.

Some of the earliest electric heaters were radiant, consisting of nichrome heating wires held by ceramic or mica insulation at the focal point of a (usually) polished metal reflector. The cost was very low since nothing else, not even a switch, was needed. Later models included a wire guard to prevent accidental contact with the heating wires or the hot ceramic.

The metal reflectors needed to be fairly thick, however; a thin metal housing would get too hot to be safe. Inexpensive mid-20th century heaters were radiant, with the heating wires stretched relatively closely across a larger, thin, metal reflector separated from a thin metal housing. A small fan blew just enough air between the housing and the reflector to cool them, and the main output to the room was radiant heat (not heated air). Stretching the heating wires across a larger area required fewer (expensive) ceramic insulators, and a small fan was cheaper than a larger (or heavier) housing.

Quartz heaters are radiant heaters which are more efficient in the amount and direction of heat, with coiled heating wire inside unsealed quartz tubing. The wires could be thinner (or operate at a higher temperature) than ceramic-supported wires. If the heating elements are at a higher temperature, proportionally more energy is radiated than open-wire heaters.

Power sources
Many space heaters (including oil-filled radiators and natural stone heaters) are plugged into an electric power source, most commonly a two-prong – for older models – or three-prong outlet. Appliance power is measured in kilowatts (kW), which permits simple estimation of operating cost per hour (since electricity is billed in kilowatt hours, or kWh). Most common convection space heaters will use around 1200-1500 watts.

Radiant heaters
The halogen cycle reduces darkening of the quartz envelope, extending filament life.

Operation

 * Plugging space heaters directly into a wall outlet and not an extension cord (except for heavy duty extension cords (14-gauge wire or larger) or relocatable power tap, as they can overheat and cause fires.
 * Inspecting plugs and cords periodically for cracks or damage, and replacing them if needed.
 * Keeping flammable materials, such as paper, plastics, curtains, furniture, and bedding, at least 3 ft away from the heater.
 * Turning off the heater when the last adult leaves the room or goes to sleep and keeping children and pets three feet away from the heater.
 * Placing heaters on a flat, hard, nonflammable surface.
 * Avoiding the use of heaters near flammable materials such as paint or gasoline.
 * Installing smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors nearby.