Portable Electric Heater

Portable electric heaters should be used sparingly, if at all for most people. This is because of several facts. First of all, the portable electric heaters use up a tremendous amount of energy. Take an 1800 watt portable electric heater, a fairly small one by some standards. The 1800 watt rating means that it is using up as much energy as 18 100 watt light bulbs. At that rate, you might as well burn money as to use your portable electric heater. If you use the portable electric heater for a few minutes in the morning to warm up the room a bit, that is one thing, but any more than ten to twenty minutes at a time, and the thing starts to get very expensive.

The other problem with a portable electric heater is safety. Many of them simply are not safe. They easily can be knocked over, and then you are in big trouble. A portable electric heater can start a fire in minutes, seconds under the right conditions. So, if you are thinking about getting a portable electric heater to warm you up on those cold mornings, you should get in to the habit of unplugging and storing it when not in use. This might seem a little excessive, but think about it. It is easy to not notice that the power light is lit on portable electric heaters, or any other appliance for that matter. It is, by contrast, much harder to not notice that something that is supposed to be put away is actually sitting in the middle of your floor. This portable electric heater tip can save lives.

Of course, there are models of portable electric heaters that don't have the same safety risks. For example, there are ones that, if knocked over, will automatically turn off. This helps to cut down the risk of fire, but the danger is still there if, for example, a piece of paper is put against the heater, or if the heater is put too close to something flammable, and left on, unsupervised. The best thing to do is always practice the maximum safety precautions with your portable electric heater. This is the only way of ensuring your continued health and wellbeing. You should also ensure that whatever surface you chose to place your portable electric heater on is completely clear of any recently used explosive materials. Such common household items as rubbing alcohol, or aerosol sprays can prove disastrous!

Not all portable electric heaters are time-bombs waiting to wreak havoc on your home! Many of the newer portable ceramic heaters are very energy efficient. We have a portable electric ceramic heater that in “low” mode consumes only 900 watts of electricity. I can run this overnight for only pennies a day. It also has a built-in thermostat so if the room gets warm, it will use less electricity. But the feature I like best about this portable electric heater is that unless it is sitting perfectly level on a firm surface, the heater will shut off. This make accidental fires very improbable.