Is it:
- Stupid.
- Real stupid.
- Extremely stupid.
- Irresponsible.
- All of the above
?
Is there any way shape or form it's safe to run a portable electric space heater for two days and two nights when no one is around to check on it?
Is it:
- Stupid.
- Real stupid.
- Extremely stupid.
- Irresponsible.
- All of the above
?
Is there any way shape or form it's safe to run a portable electric space heater for two days and two nights when no one is around to check on it?
It may be safe I don't know. I'd be pretty nervous doing it as well. I have seen some pretty scary stuff with electric heaters. Melted plugs or outlets. It scares me.
I don't think I'd ever do it. Being around doesn't prevent a failure from happening but it sure does prevent the resulting fire from burning you down to the ground. I may be paranoid but I still unplug small appliances before leaving on vacations.
I'll bet if you read the manual it says something to the effect of "do not leave unattended".
I wouldn't risk it.
I work in insurance claims. Why take the risk, unless the pets need to stay warm. But why take the risk anyway. Been involved in too many claims to feel it is OK to leave home with a heater plugged in. Call it paranoid but its not worth the risk.
How about the oil-filled units? The one I have in my shop office doesn't have any warnings about unattended use or anything like that. Its fairly low wattage (600 on low) and the element is inside the oil filled radiator fins so I've always assumed it was safe for that use.
I wouldn't. When I lived in Arizona, My next door neighbor was an arson investigator for our local fire department and told me the number one reason for house fires was coffee makers being left plugged in when not in use. They seem to short easier than all other appliances.
Get a fire proof pad that goes under grills, it helps prevent my deck from burning up when hot embers fly out. Maybe
I would feel a lot safer using the oil-filled radiator type, is use one in my greenhouse and have never had a problem. The cord doesn't even get hot. Still, perhaps there's a better alternative that someone can think of if we new the problem. Is it to keep the temperature warm enough to prevent frozen pipes, or keep houseplants alive?
I have seen melted plugs/recepticals on high wattage loads. As a connection begans to heat it increases in resistance. As the resistance increases the connection itself becomes a heater.
Whatever you do don't use extension cords with an electric heater unless it's rating is at least 150% greater than that of the heater, and keep the length to a minimum.
I personally would not leave a space heater unattended, here is a chilling statistic from NFPA:
"Space heaters, whether portable or stationary, accounted for one-third (32%) of home heating fires and four out of five (82%) of home heating fire deaths"
http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp...ookie%5Ftest=1
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Meiser
Have a look around the plug and wall outlet to see if there is evidence of prolonged low grade overheating. Generally some sort of discoloration. I used to use an oil heater to keep some animals warm over winter and thought the same way. Thought an oil heater would be relatively safe but it's where it plugs in that is the weak spot with them. 110 volts and the associated amperage just isn't safe when powering heaters for long sustained periods of time. Any fire would most likely start at the wall not the unit itself
Excuse the spelling sent from my iPod
No way for a resistance type heater that gets hot. Oil type????
I've done it, but only with the heater on low power setting. That way it's max current draw is only ~7A and not enough to even warm the wiring or cord.
I am too paranoid.
You could get away with it 1,000 times with no issues, but I seem to start at 1,001 and work backwards... :mad:
I wouldn't do it. That being said, I have an oil filled radiator type that I have accidentally left on in my shop for a couple of days at a time without any ill effects. But I couldn't consciously leave it on for a couple of days.
Why do you feel the need? Maybe there is an alternative for your specific situation.
Chris
I inspected the plug on mine and after several (5 or 6?) years it is pristine. Probably helps that I used commercial grade receptacle too. I only ever use it on its 600W setting and the computer equipment in the room does a pretty good job of heating it so the heater probably rarely runs except on the coldest days. I have a thermostatically controlled fan that has to run in the summer to keep it from getting too warm in there. Room is only 6x10 with a 7' ceiling.
Chris,Quote:
Why do you feel the need? Maybe there is an alternative for your specific situation.
I don't feel the need.
My brainiac son waltzed out of the house for a weekend at his girlfriends and left three electric space heaters running full blast.
(long story short)
Had he paid his gas bill we wouldn't be having this discussion.....
This is an interesting discussion. I would have thought that if a heater is UL rated then they have tested the cord and wire.
I agree with most of the posts and I also am uncomfortable with leaving a heater on over night or while I am away.
However, if they are inherently unsafe due to the plug or cord melting why would one ever use one? Why buy and use something that we expect to cause a fire. It would not have to be overnight but could be an hour while you are not watching it.
I just went and inspected my oil filled heater and the plug and cord are intact and show no sign of heat damage and were not even very warm.
I have small(four kilowatt) hanging commercial heater in my shop.Its been fine,about five years old.I turn the thermostat to 60 about 11/1 and turn it off in April.This is a 240 volt device,purchased in an electrical supply house. Like most things,"you get what you pay for". I would be reluctant to purchase from the mass market.Commercial electrical heating has been used for years in industrial,municipal,and institutional applications. Ed
Its not really (always) the device thats the problem. Its people that plug then into recepticles that are 10-30 years old, leave flammable articles too close to them, etc. Old recepticles often dont make a tight connection to the cord that is plugged into them, this causes higher amp draw/heat to be generated at the wall outlet, which is generally a fires point of origin, unless flammables were left next to the heater. So, its usually the user, which happens to be the problem with a lot of other things as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Frank
It doesn't even have to be the plug of the unit, or the receptacle that the unit is plugged into, that can fail. Last week I had a receptacle melt in the shop. That particular one is never used, but is on the same circuit as the table saw. After that happened I noticed another one that was going bad, and they were all 15amp connected to a 20amp breaker...