Portable Electric Heaters

A good portable heater is a necessity for any home built in a cool climate. Follow our guide to choose the right electric heater for your home.

Do I need an electric heater? In a word - yes! Portable electric heaters are useful even if you already have a central heating system . When you only need to heat one room at a time, you can shut off the main system and rely on your economical, portable heater. How do portable electric heaters produce heat? Electric heaters work on the principle of electrical resistance. Heat is created when a current passes through a heating element. There are three main types of portable electric heater: natural convection, fan-forced convection and radiant. Natural convection heaters Natural convection heaters contain a heating element immersed in a special type of oil. They take longer to heat a room than a fan-forced model, but do so very evenly -there are no cold patches. The oil retains heat for a long time, so your room will stay warm even when the thermostat switches the heater off. Natural convection heaters are particularly energy-efficient, and very rarely overheat.

Fan-forced convection

The cheapest and most compact option. These heaters use a small fan to force air past a heating element into the room.

Fan-forced heaters warm a room quickly, but unevenly. Areas close to the heater can get very hot while the other side of the room is still freezing!

Make sure your fan-forced heater has a safety cutout. A broken fan can quickly turn your portable heater into a fire risk.

Radiant heaters

These seemingly magical heaters produce rays of heat radiation that pass through the air without actually warming it. When one of these rays hits a person or object, its energy is converted into heat.

Radiant heaters are very quick to heat up the objects in a room.

They are generally quite safe, but anything placed within a metre of the heater is a potential fire hazard.

Get expert advice on home heating from a professional heating contractor.

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