Re: heaters

by rogerblack Thu Dec 03, 2020 1:44 pm

Sagabike wrote:Use a 2KW Challenge ceramic fan heater from Argos to take the chill off the van in the morning. 1KW setting available for European sites.
Run time 10-15 minutes only and NEVER EVER leave it unsupervised.

"NEVER EVER leave it unsupervised"

Very wise! I've had two catch fire at home over the years, won't use them at all now.

by Roopert Thu Dec 03, 2020 3:25 pm

I agree that they all need to be treated with caution, though the ceramic core heaters are IMO intrinsically safer than the open-element ones. There is a lot more material in the core so - unlike an open wire element - it can't heat up to red hot in a few seconds, and they can attach an over-heat cutout to the side of the ceramic block, where it should be able to respond quickly.

For that reason, I'm happy to leave a ceramic fan heater to its own devices for minutes (e.g. if I have to leave the room to make a cup of tea). But I still wouldn't leave one on and go out to the shops...

I use a ceramic heater in the Celex, but in that instance I've replaced the fan for a computer centre unit, which has an aluminium alloy frame and proper ball bearing axle - unlike the cheap original fan which had an all-plastic frame and nasty cheap sleeve bearing!