Heaters Unleashed

Portable camping heaters come handy under many different situations. You may choose to have one to avoid getting the basement frosted or warning up the area around your favorite reading chair. These are often used in offices to offer more heat at particular spots and you dare not go for an outing in a camping tent in winters without one of these.

This useful equipment gives you the option of heating the entire room or just a small part of the room, a tent or an outdoor area. They not only heat the area and make it cozy, but can also offer improved energy efficiency as you get the option of maintaining a lower temperature setting for the whole of the house, because portable devices can be used to heat only the area that you may be occupying.

If you plan to have a portable heating system, you need to take into consideration a couple of things before hand. There are quite a few options when it comes to buying such a device. You may opt to have one that works on electric current, or there are others working on kerosene and gas too. Each has its plus and negative features and you should check which one suits you most. An important point to bear in mind while planning to have one is to know where you intend using it most of the time and what capacity would it have.

These heaters prove to be very useful under many circumstances. For instance, you may like to use one for a bit of extra heating of a particular corner of your office or for keeping a large living room warm. Electric heaters are very practical for heating small rooms or a particular part of the living room. For somewhat larger areas it’s good to use oil filled radiators. For larger rooms the use of baseboard heaters is recommended. You get heaters with built in fans that circulate the heat delivered by the heater all over the room. It’s nice to have such heaters with fan for your bedroom or even offices.

Now, if you are camping out or like to heat large area away from the house, like your car porch, you would ideally use a propane, gas or a kerosene heater to keep the area warm. As all these burn gas or could release fumes, care must be taken to use them in well ventilated areas only. Except for propane heaters that may need electric ignition, the others can be lighted up using a match. Portable heaters that work on natural gas would necessarily require a gas connection but these can be detached and stored safely when not in use. Kerosene heaters would typically require a wick to absorb kerosene and are most suited for heating of especially large areas.

Whatever kind of heater you may buy, make sure to give attention to the precautions of using the same and look for features that could enhance safety of use. There are some recognized institutions that confirm if the particular model conforms to some predefined safety parameters. It’s better and safer to be buying such devices. When looking for a heater to be installed in the bathroom or other humid area, it’s imperative that you choose one that has an approval from some recognized institution for use under such conditions.

Primarily there are two types of heaters: Radiant and Convective – each heats in a different way and finds its own users. Usually, a radiant heater suffices to keep a room warm. However, both the kinds have their own plus and negative points.

What Does a Convective Heater Do?

A convective heater uses the principle of convection for heating its surroundings. That is it sucks in the cold air, heats it and then expels it. These heaters are characteristically used in larger spaces for heating air to warm up the room. Convective heaters necessarily incorporate a fan and a heating element. The system pulls in the air to heat by virtue of the provided heating element and pushes out the hot air through the fan system. The process is continued till the room temperature reaches a predetermined temperature as set on the thermostat. The heater is set to a definite temperature and shuts down when that temperature is reached. Convective heaters would usually use electricity as power source, but can at times rely on a combination of energy sources.

What Does Radiant Heaters Do?

Unlike convective heaters, radiant heaters do not heat up the air. Instead, the heat is focused to a specific area. Here, the heating element gets red hot and releases heat. Usually, the effect of heat can be experienced to about five feet. As the heating element gets heated, it turns to a bright red or orange color and emits heat, and warms up everything coming on the way. The element gets too hot to touch and can cause burns.

Generally, a safety measure in the form of a grid is provided on the front of the unit that quickly switches off the unit if someone accidentally bumps against it. Radiant heaters are very effective for heating small rooms and to keep one or two people warm, sitting in its close proximity, though they are not very good at keeping an entire room warm.

Costs

The initial cost of both the types of heaters is nearly the same. However, the operating cost of radiant type of heaters is slightly more as these do not heat as effectively and thus need to be kept on for long intervals. These heaters aren’t really energy efficient, and an average operational cost of either kind comes to about ten dollars a day.