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Fan heater


A fan heater is a heater that works by using a fan to pass air over a heat source (e.g. a heating element). This heats up the air, which then leaves the heater, warming up the surrounding room. They can heat an enclosed space such as a room faster than a heater without fan, but, like any fan, create audible noise.

Electric fan heaters can be less expensive to buy than other heaters due to simple construction. 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 partly converted to additional heat, so that efficiency is not a problem. All heaters without external ventilation are nearly 100% efficient, meaning that almost all energy input goes into the room as heat. However, if the efficiency of generating the electricity is taken into account, the overall efficiency decreases significantly.

Electric fan heaters are more expensive to run than fuel powered heaters due to the cost of electricity. This makes them best suited to occasional use rather than as regularly used heat sources.

Externally vented non-electrical (combustion powered) fan heaters lose some heat to the outdoors, and are thus less efficient. These are used where it is necessary not to release the fumes of combustion into the heated area.

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

While the fans in fan heaters are electrically powered, various heat sources may be used:

Electric fan heaters are unsealed appliances with live electric parts inside, so they are not safe to use in wet or very humid conditions, due to risk of a short circuit leading to fire, or electrocution due to access to electrically live parts. Electric fan heaters usually have a thermal fuse close to the heating element(s) to protect against overheating due to fan failure, and a tip-over switch to shut it off when the outlet may be blocked. Steel-cased heaters perform better in potential fire-causing faults than plastic-cased ones, since the case will stay intact and is not flammable.


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Wikipedia

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