Quiet (ceramic) fan heater

sootygull

I want to buy a new fan heater and wondered what people think about the CERAMIC ones - De Longhi, Prem-I-Air, Bionaire.

I have had many of those traditional flat fan heaters but want something a bit smarter and with handles on top so it is easier to move around.

I would prefer one that doesn't oscillate as it is something which could go wrong and would probably add to the noise.

As quiet as possible and a nice long cable would be great !

Any recommendations ?

sootygull

Any suggestions would be welcome.

HappyMJ

My suggestion is to try not to use any electric for heating if at all possible.

What do you use for central heating?

grahamc2003

sootygull wrote: »

I want to buy a new fan heater and wondered what people think about the CERAMIC ones - De Longhi, Prem-I-Air, Bionaire.

I have had many of those traditional flat fan heaters but want something a bit smarter and with handles on top so it is easier to move around.

I would prefer one that doesn't oscillate as it is something which could go wrong and would probably add to the noise.

As quiet as possible and a nice long cable would be great !

Any recommendations ?

It's unclear what you mean by 'ceramic'.

Heaters are called 'ceramic' for various reasons, mainly to sound good I expect, but most are nothing at all special.

Some ceramic heaters are PTC heaters, which are a little bit special in that they automatically adjust the heating depending on the ambient temperature (ptc means Positive Temperature Coefficient, meaning the resistance increases with temperature). You don't need a thermostat, so they should be more reliable, as well as giving automatic temperature control.

The running costs are the same as all other electric (resistive) heaters for the same heat output, which is high, and therefore best advice is to use with caution, or not use at all.

Wywth

sootygull wrote: »

I want to buy a new fan heater and wondered what people think about the CERAMIC ones - De Longhi, Prem-I-Air, Bionaire.

I have had many of those traditional flat fan heaters but want something a bit smarter and with handles on top so it is easier to move around.

I would prefer one that doesn't oscillate as it is something which could go wrong and would probably add to the noise.

As quiet as possible and a nice long cable would be great !

Any recommendations ?

I think ceramic relates to the material used for the heated surface.

Fan heaters create noise because of the fan that blows the air over the heated surface.

If you want a quiet heater, look for a convector heater or an oil filled one which do not have the noise creating fans.

Wywth

grahamc2003 wrote: »

...Some ceramic heaters are PTC heaters, which are a little bit special in that they automatically adjust the heating depending on the ambient temperature (ptc means Positive Temperature Coefficient, meaning the resistance increases with temperature). You don't need a thermostat, so they should be more reliable, as well as giving automatic temperature control...

A heater with a thermostat is still useful to maintain the room temperature at the desired level.

All a PTC material does is, as you say, increases it's resistance as the temperature rises. This in theory improves the longevity of the material as it shouldn't 'burn out' that a tradiitional wire might do. i.e. as the heat increases, the resistance increases and so less current flows and so hopefully prevent a possible burn out situation.

But it doesn't control the room temperature; you still need a thermostat for that, or otherwise manually turn the heater on and off as required.

grahamc2003

Wywth wrote: »

A heater with a thermostat is still useful to maintain the room temperature at the desired level.

All a PTC material does is, as you say, increases it's resistance as the temperature rises. This in theory improves the longevity of the material as it shouldn't 'burn out' that a tradiitional wire might do. i.e. as the heat increases, the resistance increases and so less current flows and so hopefully prevent a possible burn out situation.

But it doesn't control the room temperature; you still need a thermostat for that, or otherwise manually turn the heater on and off as required.

Eh? I'm afraid your information is totally wrong on that one!

One main adavantage of a PTC heater is the loss of the need for a thermostat! It not only controls the room temperature, but controls it much more accurately than a thermostat does for low powered applications. You'll find ptc heaters in luxury cars precisely for this reason.

Wywth

grahamc2003 wrote: »

Eh? I'm afraid your information is totally wrong on that one!

One main adavantage of a PTC heater is the loss of the need for a thermostat! It not only controls the room temperature, but controls it much more accurately than a thermostat does for low powered applications. You'll find ptc heaters in luxury cars precisely for this reason.

So what temperature does a PTC heater decide upon? 18 degrees? 21 degrees? 24 degrees?
What if the user wants a different temperature?

And why do all these PTC heaters come with a variable thermostat?
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&biw=1015&bih=598&tbm=shop&q=ptc+heater+thermostat&oq=ptc+heater+thermostat

grahamc2003

Wywth wrote: »

So what temperature does a PTC heater decide upon? 18 degrees? 21 degrees? 24 degrees?
What if the user wants a different temperature?

And why do all these PTC heaters come with a variable thermostat?
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&biw=1015&bih=598&tbm=shop&q=ptc+heater+thermostat&oq=ptc+heater+thermostat

The ptc core itself acts like an infinitely variable thermostat, moderating its heat output depending on the temperature. That's the whole idea. There's no need for a conventional thermostat which is simply on/off - a ptc heater moderates it's own output in an analogue manner. Do you actually understand what the PTC bit means? The set temperature is achieved presumably by modifying the voltage, and leaving the ptc core to adjust the heat output. I've used them for several years, and I have a couple in my car - I can assure you there's no on/off thermostat, and theres a very accurate temperature control at whatever temperature I want. I wouldn't rely on adverts for technical information. They are designed by people who have no idea or even care what ptc means.

Wywth

It's not an advert - it is a feature of the multitude of heaters supplied by the varying manufacturers.

How would one go about modifying the mains voltage to obtain a different room temperature temperature? :cool:

Richie-from-the-Boro

grahamc2003 wrote: »

The ptc core itself acts like an infinitely variable thermostat, moderating its heat output depending on the temperature. That's the whole idea. There's no need for a conventional thermostat which is simply on/off - a ptc heater moderates it's own output in an analogue manner. Do you actually understand what the PTC bit means? The set temperature is achieved presumably by modifying the voltage, and leaving the ptc core to adjust the heat output. I've used them for several years, and I have a couple in my car - I can assure you there's no on/off thermostat, and there's a very accurate temperature control at whatever temperature I want. I wouldn't rely on adverts for technical information. They are designed by people who have no idea or even care what ptc means.

- I like 25°C in the living room
- I like 15°C in the bedroom

.Q. How does the heater know which room I've put it in ?