Fan heater
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A fan heater, also called a blow heater, is a
Cost and efficiency
Electric fan heaters can be cheaper than other heaters due to simple construction.[3] The fan carries heat away from the device, which can be made smaller without overheating. The relatively small amount of electricity used to operate the fan is converted to additional heat, so that efficiency remains at 100%.
Electric fan heaters can be more expensive to run than fuel powered heaters due to the cost of electricity.[3] This makes them best suited to occasional use rather than as regularly used heat sources.
Residential electric fan heaters are limited in capacity by the voltage of the electrical system. In 110/120 V countries, 15 A is a typical maximum, which results in many models being 1.5 kW. In 220/230 V countries, 3 kW is a maximum, however 2 kW is commonly used as it is adequate for most cases. Industrial fan heaters can draw more power than smaller commercial models.
Control
Most modern fan heaters have a power setting to determine power output. Some also have a thermostat which switches off heating when the desired ambient temperature is reached. They do not maintain perfect room temperature control, since:
- the thermostat is usually attached to the body of the heater, and senses temperature there.
- the basic bimetal thermostats usually have significant hysteresis.
- Remote sensors and thermostats with less hysteresis are available but are less common, as they are more expensive and the basic fan heater is satisfactory for most purposes.
Heat sources
While the fans in fan heaters are electrically powered, various heat sources may be used:
- Electric heating elements are common, and used in portable plug-in electric heaters. Although they may supply several kilowatts of heat, such heaters are usually small as the electric element itself is small. Since heat is removed by the fan, the body of the heater does not need to be an effective heat sink.
- Hot water tubing is used where the heat is provided by a hydronicheating system.
- engine oilare burnt in high-power fan heaters.
Safety
Electric fan heaters are unsealed appliances with live electric parts inside, so they are not safe to use in wet environments because of the
Portable
Internal parts
Residential model
The picture immediately to the right (the top on the mobile site) shows most of the component parts of a typical plug-in electric fan heater.
- The heating element is the coiled wire frame located behind the fan blades.
- The thermostat is at the top left.
- The heat (wattage) selector switch is at the top right.
- The switch at the bottom is a normally open switch that serves as a "tipover switch" safety device: as long as the heater is standing upright, the switch is engaged and the circuit is closed.
- The grip for the power cordis at the bottom right.
The next picture shows the two overheat cutouts. The bimetal cutout (left) operates if the device overheats because the intake is blocked or the fan fails, and resets automatically or manually depending on specification, once the heater cools after the operational fault is corrected. The thermal fuse (right) is a
Industrial model
Industrial fan heaters use high-output finned heating elements in front of a fan to provide a larger airflow and higher kilowatt rating than many smaller residential fan heaters. Industrial fan heaters can be used in
See also
- Convector heater
- Electric heating
- Fan coil unit
- HVAC
- Unit ventilator
References
- ^ "How Electric Blower Heaters Work - HSS Blog". HSS Hire. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
- ^ "Convection Heaters vs. Fan-Forced Heaters – Which is right for you?". Dimplex. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
- ^ a b Ruth Emery (2023-01-25). "Fan heater vs oil heater – which is cheaper?". moneyweekuk. Retrieved 2023-09-20.