Leaving electric space heaters going & going away for the weekend.

[Chris Kennedy]

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

[Matt Meiser]

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.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Why do you feel the need? Maybe there is an alternative for your specific situation.

Chris,
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.....

[Larry Frank]

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.

[Ed Griner]

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

[Kevin W Johnson]

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.

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.

[Zach Callum]

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...