Basic Radiant Electric Fire

The addition of the "anti-tipping switch" on the bottom of the units, is about as close to a "safety miracle" as you're going to get. That will probably avoid a few unnecessary house fires.

Some adverts, don't even mention the anti-tipping switch. If you sit the fire on your carpet, the soft carpet may not be sufficient to depress the switch and enable the unit. Then you need to sit a flat board under the unit, so there is something solid enough to depress the switch.

As for safety, you are as likely to have an event related to cord, plug, wiring, as for the fire itself to ignite something. It's a high current device and all the electrical connections need to be tight.

Paul

I have a belling and its never caused any issues at all. I'm sure radiant heat heaters are still about, but who remembers the old bar fires with the resistance wire wound on the outside of a ceramic bar with scant guard to protect it. Lethal. Brian

On 29/11/2023 18:29, Paul wrote: <snip>

YMMV.

I have a halogen type radiant on the wall next to me now (it heats me, not the rest of my garden office).

It's got three heat settings:

One bar Two bars Three bars.

The first bar will when it reaches its life regardless of when the other elements were turned on.

Andy

Indeed - lost the first bar on my one of those recently. But too bright for the lounge where I'd like the 2 bar electric fire.

Coming round to the notion that this is the best that I'm going to get:

Lost what the original requirement was, but...

Having just junked my old halogen 2*400W because the cheap plastic case was going brittle and cracking, I found a 2*500W "quartz" heater in B&Q. This is better than the old one as it is both silent (unlike a fan heater) and doesn't dazzle you (unlike a halogen). It has the old- fashioned coil of nichrome inside a quartz tube type of element and just glows a dull red.

I also looked at a small oil-filled radiator, but the 500W I tried only gave out ~250W as it cycled on the overheat cut-out. Apparently lots of them do than, they can't dissipate their rated power into still air.

nib

This one?:

That's the one, except mine has the warning label at the top instead of bottom left.

Part number 3663 6029 1103 6

nib

Why are heaters halogen anyway? I thought the idea was that a halogen lamp is more efficient and/or the filament lasts longer at the higher temperature. A heater only has to be red hot.

People knew not to touch the bars as they knew not to stick their hand in a coal fire.

Just in terms of making you feel warm in a colder space, halogen is really directional and immediate, I suppose more radiant and less convection than a red-glowing element.

For heating a space I see no advantage.

nib

sometimes, sometimes not

some run on low all the time - not many these days

well, you'd need a very borderline setup for it to be any issue. Not seen a wiring job that bad in decades.

more like 8 times the power

either it was faulty for other reasons or your supply is faulty

I certainly would not rely on quick changing readings on things like that

that's one way to know it's junk quality

sorry but that's not true at all. Where are you, China?

I'm not sure how you'd get better. If you found a well guarded oldie it wouldn't have an anti-tip switch.

Its the toddlers and people tripping over the cable or the unit itself that was the issue. Plus using them too close to furniture or curtains and causing a fire.

When I was little, about 7 or 8 y/o I suppose, I was dismantling a Meccano structure while sitting on the floor with one of those electric fires with wire-wound elements in front of me. As I loosened the last nut and bolt on a long straight, it fell forward into the fire. Loud bang and a flash; bit of molten something hit the reflector behind the element and melted a small hole. Don't remember what happened next, but I assume a fuse went somewhere and mother probably came rushing in, but luckily I was quite OK.

while the cord is rubberized, the environment you use it in, can roll over the cord and damage it.