Radiant and Radiator Fanless Garage Heaters

Comparing radiant and radiator heaters

For even, silent heating, your best bet is a fanless, radiator-type heater. These units are oil- or water-filled. They resemble, and work much like, old-fashioned radiators. Even when the heater cycles off, the heat stored in the body of the heater will continue to keep your warmh. An element heats the fluid contained in a metal case, which in turn heats the room by using natural convective currents.

Standard features for this type of heaters are:

•   Automatic electronic fan time delay control
•   Controls on the front for convenient adjusting and operation
•   Built-in thermostat
•   17,100 BTUs of heat with 500 square foot coverage area

Radiant heaters, however, usually have fans installed, and are a bit noisy, and require more power to operate. These do heat the room faster, but are a bit more dangerous. It’s a good idea to keep any flammable materials away from the heater. But this is just common sense and should be applied to all heaters.

If you are buying a portable electric heater it’s important to look at the features the unit has. Safety features that should be expected are an auto shut off for overheating, shut down if the unit is tipped over, and auto shut off if a short is detected. These are important for any kind of electric heating unit as safety is your top concern. Most have power selectors to use less power for smaller rooms.

Portable electric heater

New gas heater

Then we come to the room which your portable electric heater will be warming. People buy these heaters in the event that their primary method of heating runs out of fuel. They can be a great auxiliary heat source, and can heat various types of areas. You should only buy as big of a heater as you need to heat your home.

Its not advised to use one heater to heat an entire house as they are mainly meant to heat rooms individually. Portable heaters can be taken anywhere from the home, to the office, and even on over the road trips. You can also use outdoor versions to heat medium to large tents, and other enclosures. Remember to in keep the heater away from the edges of the tent as most tent materials are very flammable.

Electric heaters are also used to heat large store rooms and warehouses. These locations are generally made of brick and other non flammable materials and have heavy duty electrical systems. While it is not advisable to leave the heater on for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you can leave them on for an extended period. This keeps your workers warm while they take inventory.

It’s up to you what type of heater will you purchase – silent radiant or more powerful radiator.