Propane Heater Guide

Electric heaters are devices that convert electric current into heat. The device consists of numerous resistors made of metal alloy wire, printed circuits, and/or non-metallic carbon compounds.  These resistors emit radiant energy to warm up its surrounding area.  While electric heaters are usually used to heat up small rooms, there are larger devices that can be effective for larger areas.

To determine what type of electric heater you are looking at, look for its BTU or British Thermal Units.  BTU establishes how big an area an electric heater can warm up and by how many degrees the temperature can rise.

What are the different types of electric heaters?

One type of electric heater is called the underfloor heater.  As its name suggests, an underfloor electric heater works through an existing underfloor heating system in your house. Underfloor heating warms up your floor to a specific temperature you decide on by setting a floor thermostat.  Once the floor is heated up, the air that moves around that area is heated as well.

Another type of electric heater is the storage heater.  A storage heater is a heat bank that only releases heat at night.  The process is quite simple, the heat bank is made up of clay bricks that absorb heat during the day and then turns on the heat at night.  This is relatively more economical since electricity is cheaper during nighttime.

Radiative heaters are electric heaters that run as supplementary to bigger, more encompassing heating systems. It can only heat up a localized area and is not suitable if you do not have any other means of warming up your home. Additionally, radiative heaters pose more danger as it easily ignites nearby objects. If you are buying a radiative heater, make sure that it contains safety features such as automatic shut off and alarms.  Radiative heaters are also known as space heaters.

Fan heaters easily warm up a room because it has an electric fan that speeds up the flow of warm air throughout the surrounding area. It is similar in operation to a convection heater, another type of electric heater.  Both heats up air and then lets the heated air float up then sucks in cool air and heats that up in a continuous cycle.  However, convection heaters are very silent while fan heaters operate noisily.  Convection heaters are safer too as fan heaters may be an ignition hazard.

If you are planning to buy an electric heater, you will need to consider a few factors.  One is that you will have to know how efficient the model is.  To do this, you may ask the salesperson, or you may research on it through the internet.  You will also need to make sure that safety features are present; especially of you have young kids and pets at home.  Lastly, make sure that your electric heater is the right size for the area you will be heating up.  The electric heater can only perform optimally with the right specifications.