How To Minimise The Risk Of Your Portable Heaters

For many households and small independent stores, portable heaters are a common thing to see. It gives everyone the chance to heat up the room for a minimal electrical cost, as the majority of portable heaters are pretty cheap to urn these days.

However, they aren’t without faults so it’s important to look at the importance of using these heating devices properly. Failure to do so can put yourself in a bit of danger, as well as start to reduce the amount of benefits that you get form using portable heaters in the first place.

If you have any heater problems then you should first consider hiring an electrician to take a look, but we’ve also included some ways to manage the risk yourself below.

Typically, there are four kinds of portable heaters that you can buy;

• Oil-filled heaters
• Fan heaters
• Halogen heaters
• Convector heaters

They each have their own pros and cons, but in terms of efficiency they all give roughly the same kind of output. Typically, the fan and halogen heaters heat up and cool down faster than the other forms of heater that are there. Fan heaters can help keep the heat from getting too stuffy, too, so if you find that this is a common problem you might want to consider getting a fan heater.

However, just effective are portable heaters? Their fairly energy efficient, but how safe are they going to keep you?

Well, for a start, between the years of 2009 and 2014 there were 4,000 fires across the UK that were caused by portable heaters. Despite this, many people still choose to use these slightly dangerous heating tools for their homes. So, in terms of safety they aren’t exactly the overwhelming choice to pick from – however, you can help to minimize the risks of using a heater like this by;

• Never leaving the heater unattended – this is extremely dangerous
• Never leave on the heater when you are sleeping – you will miss the vital signs that it’s overheating
• Make sure they are away from any kind of influence in terms of things it could knock over, or cause to overheat
• Buying only brand new portable heaters – second-hand portable heaters are quite dangerous as you don’t know their service record
• Avoid plugging them into an extension lead- it can be a common cause for overloading the power which can cause a fire
• Check the cables prior to switching on the portable heaters

Got any heater problems? Then you should consider hiring an electrician to take a look. They can fix any problems or recommend replacements.