The clever feature that makes cheap heaters safe - and why they're actually dangerous
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- It's best to know what you actually need to be worried about.
Technology Connextras (the second channel where I put stuff sometimes)
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You imply that "not throwing something over it" is a simple enough step, but when my little brother was a child, he warmed up his pajamas on his lava lamp even after my mom caught him doing it and very aggressively telling him to *NEVER* do that again. He did it the next day and the lava lamp exploded.
Do you have any idea how hard it is to clean wax out of a hardwood floor? My mom talks about it like it was The War.
Well while a lava lamp gets hot, it's not officially a space heater. Also the bulb was surely fine, but the lamp was not intended to be insulated during operation, so obviously it overheated.
I'm interested in how you clean up wax from a hardwood floor now. Do you have to heat up the floor?
When I was a kid I had a blacklight bulb in my bedside lamp. One time I was looking at it and I sneezed and it immediately exploded and sent glass shards everywhere luckily missing my eyes.
@@hannah42069 You've gotta chew it out!
@@hannah42069 Hot water. It's really not that hard.
Use a soft (plastic, wood, etc) scraper to get any large amount off initially, then use a mop/rag with hot water.
_Edit: Since using a mop is evidently an alien concept for many people, I feel the need the specify that you don't need to _*_pour_*_ hot water on your floor._
A hot, *_DAMP_* mop is _plenty_ and the floor dries _nearly instantly._
PREACH! As a firefighter, I am beyond stoked that you said everything I was hoping you'd say! It truly is incredible the amount of trust people have in their dollar store power strips...
I find it so interesting to see the difference in US power strips vs. UK/EU extension leads. Certainly in the UK, extension leads have to pass compliance testing to be legal - I guess that isn't so much the case in the US. (Of course, in the UK there are still some counterfeit / non-compliant leads to be found - but those aren't legal or meant to be sold)
I brought a dollar store power strip to my monthly safety meeting, screws already removed. I tore it open and asked "how many of you have plugged hair dryers, curling irons, space heaters, WINDOW AIR CONDITIONERS into one of these things?"
As an electrician, I see far more issues with heaters plugged into power strips in cubicles than I’m comfortable with. I’ve seen them burn up pretty bad.
@lyonsson6480 As someone who sells office furniture, same! We got a job from servepro once where I looked at the photos and nearly refused to sell them anything. Guy had 3 monitors, two laptops, a radio, AND a space heater into a cheap butter stick style extension cord 5hat was then plugged into the panel. And probably not in the dedicated isolated ground circuit duplex either. But the guy in the workstation "couldn't figure out what started the fire".
Seriously who certified those things?
I had the misfortune of using one a year ago when I visited Canuckistan and I want to meet the guy who signed off on selling that thing, and on the socket design in general. And not to shake their respective hands either.
"Written warnings ... should never be ignored - they were written in blood" Is so dark yet so true that I'm going to use this line from now on
written in blood.but the wording is,not good. who did the typesetting sheesh
edit: for the benefit of the dim: I am alluding to the label at 0:50, which reads "CAUTION: Do not cover.High temperature,keep electrical cords..."
Written in blood indeed.
That is the correct way to quote the video.
Every safety feature on a ship or airplane is there because somebody died.
It's a common enough saying. Usaully it goes "safety regulations are written in the blood of the workers"
It takes genuine multifaceted talent to be able to take the most mundane boring subjects and make them genuinely interesting to not just a niche audience but the masses at large.
some engineers probably worked really hard to make sure they didn't burn someone's house down. He does an incredible job to notice it!
@@compulsive_curiositylol they probably worked really hard to come up with a desihn that pleased their lawyers in the aftermath of several house fires.
The reason these features are included is largely because they're legally mandated in the markets where you'd hope to sell them for the most profit.
There's plenty of places which don't require any safety mechanisms, and if it's cheaper to make them without the safety features (it probably isn't due to economies of scale) then manufactures absolutely would do away with them.
I'd say that these mundane household appliances were always fascinating. It just takes a really good eye to notice how fascinating they are, and to present them in a way that other people can realize how fascinating they are.
“I’m going to be demonstrating some very stupid things which nobody should ever repeat” sounds like a normal video to me
I think they printed that warning on my birth certificate
"That's... why I'm here."
"Welcome to Jackass...."
That sounds like a challenge.
The fact that this phrase covers SO MANY different 'kinds' of videos on this site is.....amusing. 😀
Oh boy time to get obsessed with another common household appliance again. Still haven't gotten over dishwashers yet.
I repaired my Bosch dishwasher recently, that video helped me so much!
I share a dishwasher with 4 roommates and I feel like the superior alpha roommate because my dishes are always the cleanest
@@whatevername4873 may you share the secret with your roommates so they can also have the cleanest dishes
I can't look at door closers anymore as how I used to
I have sent a dishwasher playlist to every member of my family lol.
Okay this is getting ridiculous now. Every time I think one of Alec's videos won't be interesting to me because its a simple device and I know everything about it...he manages to prove me wrong.
The PTC heater part is genius. Damn you Alec, damn you to the highest levels of respect.
Great seeing you here.
The more you know, the more bad ideas you can come up with. 😉
I'm autistic, and one of my special interests is listening to other people talk about their special interests. It's not necessarily about the subject matter itself, but the passion with which it is conveyed that I enjoy.
Same here, about halfway through I was thinking “well, that about be about it” and boom, more stuff I’d never knew I didn’t know.
Oh BTW, love your adventures.
The depth of Alec's understanding of the subjects he presents when creating these videos is what makes him so great.
@@hathorthecow7146 You need the channels Welch Labs and New Mind in your life. Sincerely, another 'tist.
I've bought those cheap little heaters for literally decades. Have even messed with their internals when they ceased to function. It's truly amazing what you can get for $12 to $15. But most of all I admire and salute your continuous campaign to EDUCATE people on how to think about their own safety. Bravo.
If you run them on low they last forever, it takes longer to heat a room but need replaced less.
how long do they last
@@thepotatoofheaven In my experience the fan is the most likely first point of failure. If you notice them getting louder or making any unusual noise then it's time to retire them. Clearly the hours used is one factor. I've seen some fail within two or three years, but most of mine have outlasted that, including $20 heaters that I got on sale for $15. My favorite, and the one that I sleep nearby, is a quartz element heater that relies upon convection and has no fan. I think it's about 7 years old and still performs like new. It was a replacement for a TWENTY year old Sears single quartz element unit that never failed, though it was used less frequently. I retired it merely as precaution.
What's not so nice about these particular ones is the noise. I'd recommend a bigger radiator type. The cost is pretty much the same and you can turn the fan on/off if it comes with one.
Neighbor burned down his garage and part of his house with a space heater. The fire deparment cited: a space heater exposed to sawdust and dog hair, heater should not have been left un attended, garage should have had a smoke alarm.
That's one situation where the oil filled radiant heaters are useful. I used one in my garage for that exact reason, no exposed elements.
cited*
@@Dan-yk6sy Yeah, I prefer oil heaters in the garage as well. I have used a radiant heater in the garage to help heat up things specifically but I'm not asleep/gone and I have a fire alarm in the garage.
@@Notanothercrayon maybe they meant "sighed" ?
Me too: oil heaters, just because of increased safety
I’m an electrician who primarily does service calls, and the point about replacing receptacles with loose connections is incredibly important. Preventative maintenance exists for a reason, people.
Wish more electricians advertised it as a fixed cost no sales pressure service.
Every 3-4 years I like to check my circuit breaker panel's breakers and make sure everything is staying tight.
I've attended one or two that were on fire, or started a fire..
, and several where the plug melted & the power cable.
some people think electricity is made in the socket. The channel just rolled in is a stark reminder that people willingly will endanger you and themselves because the can't be bothered, are literally not intelligent enough to walk and chew gum or have to choose between more gas or death from no breaks. They choose to steal the gas and buy gum.
To make money for electricians? 🤣
17:05 So what you're saying is, I shouldn't put a heater in front of an automatic air freshener sprayer that uses a flammable propellant as a means to distribute the fresh scent in my home?
Flammable propellant? It might form an explosive gas mixture with the air. If anything, it should be replaced with one that uses something like nitrous oxide or nitrogen, or in worst cases, FLARE IT OFF!
Also, that you should not use any kind of air freshener at any time, at all, in any format, for any reason whatsoever. No Airwicks, no Febreze, no Poopourri, no essential oils, no nothing. Ever. They are surprisingly dangerous chemicals, almost as dangerous as dryer sheets or candles.
"Air freshener" is one of those wholly misnamed products that have successfully weaseled their way into our lives.
Go find the ingredients for waterless shampoo sometime. Wouldn't recommend a heater in a bathroom with a teenage girl using that stuff!
this is a wonderful idea. Most air fresheners use a non-toxic propellant like Propane.
They make great house warming gifts.
Underrated comment. 😂
Watch out if you have bought one years ago: Tip-over sensors were not standard back when I bought mine, ~15 years ago. It does still have the overheating limit switch at least.
Sure about that 15 years? Because Tip-over switches became standard on portable heaters around the early 1990s following new safety regulations implemented by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), with most new portable heaters manufactured after 1991 incorporating this feature.
Also, it might be missing within the EU. I bought myself a heater just a few years ago and it does not have a one
Mine looks almost exactly like this, but instead of having a foot on the bottom it has an internal sensor or tube with conducting fluid that when it's tipped over a gravity switch turns it off.
The bigger problem with these is getting them to last more than a year or two, they are so cheap that the fans fail and I have had a couple start to smoke and turn yellow before the Heat sensor disabled it. In my opinion these should never be used unattended even though they have lots of safety features, things could fall on them or who knows if you're not in the room you won't know what caused the fire like if a piece of cloth/towel falling on it or is dragged there by a pet Etc.
Not to mention all the very flammable things in bathrooms like rubbing alcohol that could accidentally spill, either just from an accident or a pet knocking something over.
@Yorick257 probably has an internal weighted switch or a mercury switch 🤔 but they're supposed to be getting away from mercury switches.
I hate to point this out, but it was probably far more than 15 years ago...
Where has the time gone?
i been told all my life including in vocational school (electrical technical) that not to daisy-chain extension cords, and when i asked WHY i was told it was a fire risk and nothing else even if i pressed more info thank-you for telling me the ACTUAL reasoning
he has a dedicated video about that somewhere on this channel in case you want a 90 minute explanation 😁
It's also a pretty serious trip hazard which sounds stupid but the majority of work place accidents are caused by trip hazards them and many of them leave quite serious injuries like broken bones or open flesh wounds. It seems like a non issue until you're carrying something heavy, hot or sharp and rushing somewhere and don't notice the extension cord. Extension cords have effectively been banned in most workplaces in Denmark because they were causing so many accidents.
I'm of the school of thought that safety measures only really work when the reason is explained
"don't poor water on an oil fire, cuz safety" is a lot less effective then the full explanation (the water sinks, flashes into steam and basically explodes burning oil all over)
It's also actually not a fire risk at all if they're in suitable condition to be used. Unfortunately, a great many are not. Even worse, in the US many are sold in unusable condition by design..
Extension cords in the USA are not required to be able to handle the full power of the outlet, which is like designing a bridge that can't handle a traffic jam!
As a retired HVAC & R technician I like to watch videos related to my former vocation. Mostly to see if they the content creator know what they are talking about. Your videos always make me feel reassured that some young people are being educated properly. It is a bonus when a 70 year old learns something new watching a video.
I repaired many refrigerators with a faulty PTC relay on the compressor. That is the component that makes a little click sound if your refrigerator is running and you shut it off and don’t wait for the pressure in the sealed system to equalize and turn it right back on. Positive Temperature Co-efficient took a few seconds to bubble up in my brain when you mentioned PTC.
The thing I learned from this video was that these cheap little heaters use that in conjunction with the bi-metals!
Great job!
It actually calms me knowing this is somewhat safe. I still never leave these things unattended in a room due to fear of the fan breaking down, unless it's literally just for a few minutes.
It's impressive how well these features work, my cat kicked a vinyl tablecloth onto my $20 space heater, completely covered it, the heater shut off quickly and didn't even start to melt the tablecloth
3:49 "Who needs fancy digital thermostats when you have a _brain_ at your disposal?" Alec grossly overestimates the number of people who have a brain at their disposal.
They got those on temu? Been looking for one
“I would while away the hours, conferring with the flowers…”
If you have a brain at your disposal i would strongly question why it's there. Is it getting disposed of?
@@retrotech383 Get it out of there! Don't put your brain down a garbage disposal. There's gross stuff in there.
😅
“We aren’t so scared of objectively dangerous things when we understand what those dangers actually are and how we can avoid them”
What a great phrasing! I’m gonna use this to explain why people don’t think twice about driving but are deathly afraid of plane crashes.
Ive seen the way drivers drive on the USAs interstates, and from their demostrations, they do not understand the dangers of driving.
It's more about the illusion of control. When driving, you feel in control of the situation, even though many things could happen outside of your control, but sitting on a plane, you have basically no capacity to influence whether you live or die.
By understanding a stove or an electric heater, you can gain some capacity to control the outcome, but you also gain the feeling that you can, even though there are failure states you can't reasonably anticipate. For example, maybe something got in your walls at some point and chewed a wire... not bad enough that you've noticed, but bad enough that when you run enough current through it your house will burn down.
Apparently the temporary shutdown of US airspace after 9/11 caused more deaths and injuries (from the increased journeys by car) than the original attack.
When I'm driving I have some control, and even if I'm not the driver I can see whether something dangerous is occurring. On a plane I have no idea and no control over whether something goes bad until I'm back on the tarmac. That's not even considering how much less likely you are to survive an airplane crash.
I still fly frequently, but there is that feeling that if you rolled the dice wrong there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.
@@lukasg4807 One thing that often gets brought up is that there is an awful lot of effort and oversight put into making air travel safe. People get in car crashes daily, and when you see the state of some vehicles (and some drivers) it's not surprising. Yes, if a plane crashes you are a lot more likely to die than in a car crash, but there is a lot of effort put into making sure they don't crash. There are multiple entire agencies whose job it is to make air travel as safe as possible, and the reason plane crashes make the news is often that they are so rare. Before this week (this was not a good week for air travel) there were only 6 fatal commercial aircraft incidents in the last 12 years. (According to Wikipedia anyways)
Thank you so much for including Celsius and metric units for us in Europe and elsewhere! I really appreciate how thorough you are in covering every detail and nuance of the things that you investigate for us. Please keep it up!
as a fire investigator I tested different scenarios on an electrical heater claimed to have started a fire, taped newspaper over the front grill and set the thermostat to max, over-temperature switch rapidly cycled off and in 2 hour exposure to this the paper didn't even brown, then left the area around the overtemp switch clear for air flow, duty cycle (on time) increased a lot, paper browned but did not ignite in 6 hours of exposure to that, rule of thumb - newspaper is one of the easiest things to ignite but still has an ignition temperature in the neighbourhood of 451F (title of Ray Bradbury's book about burning books Fahrenheit 451)
I'd imagine saw dust or feathers etc inside the heater would be the most likely culprit.
On the topic about house fires. Long ago. A neighbors place had caught fire from a fan. They weren't home. The fire started from those standing fans that you can press the knob and it will make the fan rotate left to right automatically.
A different neighbor was able to open the kitchen window and was spraying water in with the garden hose until the fire department arrived. The person spraying the water hose had went to the hospital for inhaling too much smoke. I was sleeping and I heard beeping but I just thought it was a truck, until someone woke me up about 7am.
So, I trust thermostat fans/heaters more than dumb ones. And I unplug or turn off the devices when I leave home.
I had a hunch, I took a metal cased heater the size in the video, (which I have been using in my bedroom this winter, fortunately never when asleep) I turned it on it's side for a bit, then on it's back and straight down. Each position I held for 45 seconds. It never shut off, even with a sharp tap or two. OOPSIE....danger Will Robinson ..... going in the bugger bin tomorrow. Formerly I used this heater at work in my office 20 years. I wonder if the shut off ever worked.
Perhaps dust accumulation over many years could foul the switch? Seems odd that it could.
@@lukasg4807 the heating elements themselves certainly get hot enough to ignite many substances, such as airborn sawdust, etc., but the grill is pretty effective at stopping planar materials like cloths and paper from ingressing and contacting the elements, and momentary ignition of a mote of dust inside the heater is not very effective at propagating a fire externally from the heater
@@spacefightertzzsince we're sharing house fire stories. Our house caught fire and the culprit was a faulty power strip on my dad's computer in the basement. We had a power surge which sparked and caused a fire, and it was right next to a huge floor to ceiling wooden bookcase. Smoke was sent through the hvac intake to the entire house. The fire damage was contained to the basement (all of our toys and games had melted from the heat on the opposite side basement room) but the entire house was black with thick soot. Took 6 months to gut the house and rebuild. Thankfully fire damage was limited to a very small area and wasn't structural.
"funnily" enough in our temporary house in a different town, a house caught fire soon after we moved in. Someone decided to put a cigarette out in a house plant pot and left it, not realizing roots, mulch, and anything else is very flammable
I'm old enough that space heaters were these metal boxes with wide-gap grilles and nichrome ribbons in them...they didn't turn off if knocked over, and it was really easy for anything to pass through the grille and hit the glowing, hot heater element. Things these days are a lot more safe. Similarly, I was telling someone that there was a time when refrigerators had latches that could only be open from the outside...and children would get stuck in discarded refrigerator with bad outcomes. We were taught to fear refrigerators when I was a kid, and adults were told to block or remove doors.
Soleil Moon Frye personally saved Gen X from extinction.
@@encyclopaththe fact that this episode was in my head immediately when reading the original comment is proof.
Kinda wish we could go back to fridges with real latches, just with maybe an emergency exit latch on the inside. I'm rather tired of discovering that my fridge or freezer didn't close properly and let all the cold out.
Its still law when fridges are disposed of...have to remove the door
@ it was truly the most special among very special episodes
Good to know about the electric baseboard heater with no fan. Making videos it's always good to know about completely silent options.
Stop wasting time watching youtube videos. Start uploading youtube videos so i can waste my time watching them
@@bird9455 Dude, chill. RUclipsrs are people too, you're not entitled to infinite content. I'm just happy to see my parasocial "friends" getting along :p
@kieraleahy6795 I think the joke went over your head. He said stop wasting time entertaining yourself, I need to waste my time entertaining myself.
Those baseboard style heaters are usually only really effective in a home that ISN'T drafty. In a room that has a high level of air exchange due to a leaky window or other problems, they're like pissing on a blowtorch. Not gonna do much. If you have a drafty room, the fan forced heaters are the way to go. I learned that through trial and error by using both options, one, then the other, in a drafty bedroom; both before, and after fixing the majority of the air leaks.
@@hellcat1988 That doesn't make sense. A kW of power is a kW of power, regardless of how you make it. If the baseboard heater loses 90% of that due to draft, the fan heater will also lose 90%. I'm assuming you use it to heat up the room, not to specifically target a person by pointing the heat at them.
There is an exception - radiative heat can be felt even in the most drafty house, though the room will not be heated up much.
Alec, I am subscribed to hundreds of creators here, but you are the ONLY one whose videos I never miss. Thanks for revealing the amazing details hidden in the seemingly mundane facets of our lives and inspiring me to keep learning!
Just replaced a bunch of loose receptacles at my sister's house, her 1500W heater melted the wires inside and all the wires were black! No white to be found.
Needless to say, she's lucky!
Thanks for treating this with the seriousness it demands.
Were they put in wrong?
I always get the ones that have a 600 or 700 watt option and plug in several different outlets - preferably on different circuits
holy moly that's scary D:
Definitely don`t want loose connections lol, old houses can be REALLY bad electrically without it showing as well, like looking new superficially, but having old wiring in the walls etc.
When moving into a new home, it might be a good idea to get it looked over by a professional.
Shouldn`t cost a lot, but it depends where you live I suppose.
Glad everything went ok 👍
I'm a bit sleep deprived and thought this was some sort of a joke until it dawned on me. Yeesh!
@afrog2666 VISITED my dad who had heating pads + fan heater. I noticed when the fan cycled on, his lamp got dim (but didn’t trip the breaker). I switched the heater to LO. He was drawing 1800+ watts. LO reduced it to 1200.
I explained to him that he overloaded the circuit & might start a fire. He said “I wondered why the bulb kept dimming.” (roll eyes). I glued the switch in place, so he couldn’t accidentally move to HI. Room was still plenty hot even on low
.
18:50 "A space heater should be the only thing on a circut." Tell that to karen in accounting, who tries to plug two of them into the same power strip with her work computer, and then screams at IT when they confiscate her fire starting devices.
Uhg every winter this is a thing. That and people running heaters off power strips
That's oddly specific. I assume there is a fun real life anecdote attached to this? Would love to hear it, sounds like many hinsight laughs! We all have karen and kevin colleagues like that.
I hope that those were power strips with over current protection but sounds like it wasn't lol
@@GyroCannon Overcurrent protection is provided by the circuit breakers or fuses in the main panel/subpanel(s), not in the power strips or surge protectors.
@GyroCannon of course not! Just one of the quirks of working in education
I think there's one more safety feature seen at 12:00 - in series with a limit switch there's also a pellet thermal switch rated at 105°C. So if the limit switch fails and the temperature continues to climb until that point, the thing goes pop permanently and you need to break out the soldering iron and swap it out to use the heater again.
Yeah, that’s it. Kinda disappointed that Technology Connections didn’t mention this. It has been a thing (at least in European devices) since the 70s and protects against an extremely unlikely absolute worst case scenario.
Well spotted
@ Can't really blame Alec for not noticing it since under that heatshrink it took me seeing quite a few shots of that angle too until I noticed it; plus before I've blown one of those myself I always thought they were fancy resistors for high temperature applications :P
Darn. I guess I shouldn’t boil my space heaters, then!
They used them in the old days, before hi limit switches were reliable, or approved: they were called fuse links, and they had to be replaced if they opened on overtemp.
I also wondered why there was only one hi limit switch installed (I remember some heating devices with two, the second as a back-up. Now I see that the pellet is the back-up).
On the extension cord thing, that's one thing I love about british stuff. EVERYTHING you plug into the wall has a fuse in it (even if it's just a one time fuse that kills the charger until you buy a new one)
why is that a good thing? having to open it up and put a fuse sounds like a hassle
@thepotatoofheaven it's one screw, and it only happens when you have a faulty appliance or a temporary issue with one (or a fuse being old). It's a safety mechanism to prevent any device from ever drawing more than 13A, which is the maximum rated for our sockets (and remember we live in 240 land, so we can pull up to 3120W in a socket). Our circuits are also often more than 13A. It's also safe for extension cords. It stops an extension cord from pulling more than it can. If it has thin wire, it'll have a lower rated fuse.
Don’t even need to open the plug. Most modern plugs gave a separate cover you just flip open to replace the fuse.
Part of that is because HBC fuses are (IIUC) designed to blow at *twice* their rated load to arrest dead shorts and dangerously high overcurrents, so that's 26A for your typical 13A Class-I appliance compared to the 6A for the fuse protecting your radio! This is why it's *critically* important to have the correct rating of fuse in every plug, rather than simply sticking a 13A fuse in every time. I have a whole jar of 13A fuses I've removed from appliances where a lower rating of fuse was needed in actual fact! 😳
And of course, the need for a fuse in _every_ plug (Which is usually built-in for modern low current things like phone chargers) extends from our ring mains and the fact they can (On a traditional wire fuse board) potentially deliver 64A to any socket on the ring... 🔥
@mikeos1 where do u usually buy em? at hardware stores? if its cheap and easy to replace then i can understand its helpful
Floats my bread... Butters my fancy... Tickles my boat...
Weird sayings...
A curious turn of idiom.
Loved that joke
Burns my dread...
Those are perfectly cromulent phrases.
I have a little Honeywell heater and thought it had died last year because it just stopped working. I tried unplugging it a bit then plugging it back in, but it just didn’t work. I’d given up on it, but never got around to tossing it. A year later, I came home very late on a cold night and was so surprised to walk into a warm apartment and to hear a heater running. Assumed my wife had bought a new one. Turns out, she’d thought I’d done the same thing and plugged the “new” (old) heater in. It worked perfectly fine!
This video triggered memories of me as a child with one of these on a particularly cold night. I had it balanced on my bed under my covers, warming me up well. The limit switch kept stopping it, and after a few failed attempts to keep it under my blanket on low, I gave up and just had it sit outside of the blanket blowing at a crack in the blanket at my feet. Woke up with dry, slightly burned, very hot feet
What I love about these videos is that not only do you explain the dangers, you explain why we also shouldn’t be too paranoid about said dangers
As someone who is SUUUPER paranoid about fire hazards, it’s nice to be reminded that if I feel safe using a stove, I should feel safe using a space heater
Gas stoves are ironically usually only dangerous when there isn't a flame. So basically only in situations where they are perceived to be safe. A flame, you know that is dangerous and you should keep things away from it which makes it not really all that dangerous. An invisible gas that can't be seen or smelled (the smell you typically get is an additive so you can actually smell a leak, not the gas itself) but goes boom near any flame or spark on the other hand, doesn't seem dangerous which is exactly the thing that makes it dangerous.
For the first ten minutes I was thinking "okay, so is it just going to cycle off and on if it overheats?". Having a mini heater within the heater is pretty smart.
heater inception!
yea it is more smart to make a locking mechanism that locks onto the tripped thingy until a button is pressed
@@neutronenstern. Thats a very bad idea. That introduces more points of failure and more things that could fail and disable the safety device.
@@TrentR430
how?
It would be just a latch.
I think thats more easy than a heating element keeping it hot.
And like mentioned in the video this can fail, if the power cuts out, which can happen when something is broken
@@neutronenstern. Some human would absolutely put a piece of tape over that button so it wouldn't trip (or would instantly reset). Requiring unplugging and waiting is safer.
I sometimes use one of these inside our tent when we're at ToorCamp and it makes SUCH a difference. At first I worried about having a tiny hot unit like this in such a small fabric space, but quickly read about all the safeties and felt fine about things. Putting one little heater directly under our cot was a dream.
Certainly safer than the Coleman heater that claimed some lives at an SCA event a while ago. CO is evil in a tent.
I see you everywhere
@rudeskalamander 👋😁 Nice to see you, too!
a wild DEV spotted in the wild, everyone follow this guy, he is friken awesome!!
@frogz ☺️👍💚 thank you so much for saying such nice things
The people need tp know! Knowledge is power!
PTC heater = positive temperature coefficient , increased heat decreases current resulting in a temp drop, lower temp increases current which increases heat, repeat to infinity
We are here for knowledge, never tell anyone they don’t need to know
Like the incandescent light bulb, the bimetallic strip has now become an icon of Technology Connections.
don't forget about the latent heat of vaporization and the refrigeration cycle :P
@ That too. 😉
And of course, the good old fashioned, "through the magic of buying two of them..."
And of course, Alec's impeccable hairline. Just... _so_ jealous.
And the heat pump.
21:58 angry pixies inside the wire. Don't let them out. And don't let too many of them dance around in the same spot, they run into each other and have a hair-trigger temper.
AYYYY, nice reference
@PersonCuber uncle bumblefvck is my fsvorite
I had one of these plugged into a power strip while watching, once I heard it should be plugged into an outlet instead I went and changed where it's plugged in. So glad I watch this guy
100%, but if you do need to use a power strip, try not to put other things on it, and preferably get one rated for a higher current, and consider not using the highest settings.
Best practices are great, but sometimes compromises need to be made.
Yes I had a power bar I thought was commercial grade melt and acrid smoke , thank God I was right there and smelled and seen the smoke ... I now use direct outlets.
Just wanted to add if you live in the UK and use a power strip there, they already contain fuses inside as well as the heater's plug which is even more added safety precautions to stop it from melting the power strip
@dvlx_a997 trants actually really interesting. They really all should. I'm Canadian though, so I'll stick with plugging it straight into the wall
I remember my grandpa's tool shed, he had an electric heater in there probably from the 1960s. It was really squat, so there wasn't much danger of tipping, but it was basically a toaster without a doneness setting, compete with large gaps to see the heating elements, so stuff could easily flop right there and make contact with the orange-hot wires. (It also didn't have a built-in fan, but I never learned if that was intended or it just broke at some point.) A good analogy might be to try to heat your home by turning on the stovetop and propping a fan nearby for flow.
Please never stop making these deep dives into different appliances type videos! I love learning how things work & you do a very good job at giving a lot of information while still being engaging!
When I was younger, we had to turn off our water for maintenance. I was at home alone with my mom in different rooms. We had one of those heaters running and it suddenly started to burn in the living room which we both did not notice until some stuff next to it started to burn too. Our 3 story home would have been destroyed if we didn't save some water in our bathtub "just in case we need water". Definitely a core memory I'll never forget.
2:06 The magic of buying two of them strikes again
I'm sad that he didn't say the line😢
Didn't he actually buy about 6 for an earlier video?
Sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from connected technology
He should make a compilation of buying two things
I think he bought 3. One intact, one to open, one to desmember.
I like your style and informative video. By using an informative script that isn't condescending, but straight forward with facts along with you pointing out each safety feature is great. Great job!
My house was built in the 60s, and pretty much all the outlets on the first floor were original. They were all loose and sloppy, and a few even had scorch marks on them. Very shortly after moving in, I replaced them all, and I'm glad I did.
One other safety hazard to look out for would be a damaged cord. If your plug is hot, in addition to a worn outlet it might be from the wires getting repeatedly bent and broken around the strain relief. Same goes for where the cord exits the heater.
I've had a cheap heater that came with a plug that heated up. That one didn't last long.
somebody at work had a space heater with a worn out cord that melted and started arcing, that was fun
@@TheAechBombI'll never forget when they had a fire department inspection at my office, which resulted in rules being implemented to take away almost all heaters, all the toasters, and most of the coffee makers had to be upgraded to current commercial models (they were all commercial models, but some were super old)
@@adamwhite2364- in Australia we have a system called "Test and Tag". Only devices that have been independently safety inspected and approved for use are allowed to be used. If the employer catches you using a non-tagged mains-powered device, it is grounds for immediate dismissal.
This provides lower insurance costs, plus an effective method of getting rid of undesired employees without severence pay.
@@SimonBuchanNz Don't buy high power electronics from Amazon. Walmart is barely passable even.
Dude that ptc heater in line with the switch to keep it disabled is a stroke of genius. That’s so simple and dirt cheap (assuming its just a PTC resistor that is big enough to heat the switch), but so effective!! I’m impressed!
Not in line, in parallel. That's why it's only heating when the switch is open.
I'm an engineer and I love how you break things down and trace out your thought process. I'm an Electrical engineer, so this episode obviously I like alot.
Thanks for sharing!
Great video, as always. It does remind me of so many arguments I've had with friends and family about these things though. Not about safety, but about cost. They are generally very aware of the high power consumption and cost of use, but will wrongly assume that buying a more expensive heater will be more cost effective. Even though I'm an actual physicist, they do not believe me when I tell them that there is no such thing as "more efficient" electrical resistance heating, as even the cheapest heating element is always 100% efficient. They naturally assume that more "advanced" appliances can somehow produce more heat using less power, even though this would literally defy the laws of physics.
And as you have just shown how very safe even the cheapest space heater is, the only reason to buy a more expensive one is general build quality and aesthetics.
I'm from Germany, and here it's considered a complete waste of energy to use such devices. Only in emergencies and then only for a short time.
I started watching your channel all the way back in high school, not knowing a single thing about these appliances and being Wow'ed with every little piece of information that I learned here. I now work as a Safety testing engineer and I'm so glad that I can now watch these videos with the knowledge that I have now and appreciate them for everything that they are :) There's definitely a lot that I don't know about yet, but it makes me glad to see an appliance here that I know so thoroughly from my job experience.
Your videos definitely helped me define my career path, and Thank you for all the videos, What a journey it's been throughout the years, here's to many more!
0:52 written in blood... And ashes
That was fire!...
Embarrassed to admit how many times I rewatched that bit @12:01 🤣
Love you, Alec! Never change! ♥️
During Covid I helped break down many offices that we closed permanently. Despite having ample cubicle and/or wall receptacles available, I found a number of space heaters plugged into extension cords under desks. All of them had some amount of discoloration, if not evidence of melting, where the heater was plugged in. This includes the heavier duty 3 prong cords. How there was never a fire is beyond me.
It's almost impossible to set modern plugs, receptacles or cables on fire - even if you try to do so deliberately with open flames, they self-extinguish as soon as you remove the flames. To have melting-hot plugs to start a fire you also need something that is more easily flammable nearby. Sure, it's still possible but it's not a "miracle" that there was no fire either.
@Mimska.08-15 The problem he is describing stems from 10-12(20-15a) gauge wires are in the wall to which someone plugged in an extension cord- either 14 or 16ga wire then plugged a space heater into the extension cord. The wire gauge is way too small and will start melting- most likely at the end the heater is plugged into drawing 1500w. A circuit breaker will not pick this up as over current and the fire will continue on.
Discoloration in the extension cords?
So the discoloration/melting was on the end of the extension cord right before it was plugged into the cord from the heater?
What gauge of extension cord were they using?
Isn't a 12 gauge wire that is less than 25 or 50 feet good enough for 1500 watts?
I wish there was more info out there for non-electricians to make sure we weren't doing something dangerous.
I use a space heater in my shop area just to keep the temperature above 40 so I got ones that had an option of a lower output like 700 watts but I run them a long time and I always worry that maybe I am overtaxing the wiring in the wall.
I can plug that straight into the wall - so no extension cord worries.
I also run little waterfall pumps (400 watt) off of 12 gauge 100 foot extension cords to pull water out of an irrigation ditch that run a long time and I have wondered ever since I started whether I am doing something that is stupid.
I use different circuits for each pump so I have hoped that only 400 watts would be ok even though it was a long run.
Thanks for any info you can pass on.
@@mikemcnamee6030 The charts I have seen show that a 14 gauge extension cord is ok as long as the run is less than 25 feet and even a 16 gauge is ok for 12 amps.
You would think the extension cords would be shorter than 25 feet in an office though he didn't actually say.
Am I missing something?
@@jeffa847 i messed up a little when i mentioned 10/12 gauge going through the wall. Brain fart- I meant 12/14ga(20/15a). And the extension cords are likely those 6’ 16ga with 3 2 prong outlets. The 16ga can carry the load but the contact points in the outlet end of those cords are very poor. Ask me how I know- I melted the plug end of my pelonis oil heater by plugging it into the same ext cord. The female end of the extension cord got brown and toasty too!
Its been a while since I’ve messed with wiring and electric. Thanks for not immediately jumping on me for my obvious errors. Yes 16ga *can* carry up to 1600w in short spans.
Electrician here: I pretty frequently see these things cause fires and meltdowns inside receptacle boxes. It usually appears to be caused by poor connections in/on the receptacle. It's usually not the actual unit that melts down (except for the plug). Also, plugging one of these into a plug strip is almost guaranteed to burn up at some point.
I plug mine into a Digiten thermostat DTC151, which turns it on and off. I only run the space heater at the lower setting, not full power, but the space heater thermostat set to max. I do this because the Digiten is much more responsive than the built-in thermostat of the space heater. How bad is it?
@@pepperpepperpepper Theoretically the circuit should be able to handle it with the heating element on max, but in practice if you have it set med or lower then you should never have a problem with the electrical wiring in the walls/receptacles. The more responsive thermostat is definitely an upgrade.
Considering the arcing potential of a 12A appliance connected through a NEMA-5 interface, I'm starting to gain an even deeper appreciation for the design of our BS-1362 interface and the 200A-capable brass pins we put on every plug. We still get arcing on ours too ofc (I've seen some pretty burnt outlets in my time, and I've just had to DNU one outlet on my own power strip after seeing arc flashing around its switch) but British outlets seem to accept a lot more un/plug cycles before they become dangerously loose compared to NEMA ones! 😇
Never thought a video on a space heater would be almost 30 minutes, but i dig it. Thanks!
This is basically the Technology Connections motto
😮
@@aman2078and why we love it 😊
He's got a few more on space heaters at roughly the same length
It's the most efficient time length for RUclips money.
I hate I only discovered this channel a year or two ago. I enjoy everything about these. Simply posting this to help with engagement numbers :) Keep up the amazing work, my good sir!!
I like the little steel plates. As someone who takes things apart you come across cast iron, concrete, lead…. all sorts of unexpected goodies
I had a vintage metal lamp that exploded a bunch of rocks and dust when it fell off a table - the base was filled with concrete. I thought that was the most absurd choice of weighting material because it made a huge mess, but I'm curious what other items use it
@@fluffdrgn Washing machines, at least here in Europe, all have a block of concrete in the bottom. The large available volume means it doesn't need to be as dense as solid metal, and concrete is a lot cheaper.
Dishwashers too
Yeah I was about to mention washing machines. Also some space heaters, and more to be determined
It's a very needed addition. I've never seen one with it and they always seemed flimsy and unstable
That baseboard heater test reinforces something I’ve said for a long time. The most dangerous part of almost any system is probably the user.
"The most dangerous part of a car is the nut holding the steering wheel." --The driver...
I found your channel a couple months ago. Ive been suffering pretty bad from depression and suicidial thoughts but i get to look back on all that you've taught me and that i can learn anything which means i can make my situation better. Thank you.
Brother go apply that thought process to Brazilian Jiu jitsu, it will pull you out of depression. Think about it.
I feel you on the depression. My only advice is make changes in your life. Even if they are small or tiny. Make changes…. Change’s eventually can lead to different outcomes. Which can lead to different feelings…
You are what you surround your self with.
You got this and can do it.
Don't forget to take vitamin D & B! Depression has a chemical component and can also deplete your necessary vitamins.
@@GarrettKoval "Make changes…." Yeah! "Even if they are small " Right on! I would start with diet. No carbs? No proceeded foods? Make that first step!
I don't know if you'll see this, but I have an extreme fear of fire and a paranoia of exactly this. Even knowing safety measures, I constantly check and recheck and rerecheck obsessively. This video was really informative and it helped me to understand the risks/danger and how it is mitigated so much better. Thank you!!!!!
Growing up in the 70s, my grandparents had a small spaceheater for the den that was frankly terrifying. Just raw resistive heating surrounded by metal hot enough to burn you instantly if you touched it and probably light any fabric touching in on fire within minutes. They replaced it with one of those oil-filled ones in the 80s, and my anxiety level went down several levels when visiting after that.
Edit: Googling, I think I found the model. If you search Wesix Portable Electric Heater and look at images, you should find it. Kind of a half-cylinder shape to it.
My friend once saw the screw-in heating element in one of those bowl-type radiant heaters "pop". A piece of it flew out and put a burn mark on some homework he was doing!
Just looked it up, looks like a demonic altar. I imagine people may have liked it because the grille and glowing element make it appear sort of fireplace-like, aesthetically.
Looks sturdy, they don't make them as they used to! Was told by an old electrician that is was a different time back then, people were used to these dangers (tube radios or TVs with high voltage circuits, live chassis, hot lightbulbs and glowing heater wires with minimal protection). Of course more people also died back then due to electrocution
@diecksl THAT is why they had lots of babies pre-1950. A few get electrocuted or die of influenza… but some manage to survive to adulthood
.
My parents still have one. It's about a decade older than I am.
21:03 I agree with this point about extension cables as a general statement but, as a construction worker we almost only ever used extension cables. For heaters and tools that were all capable of pulling 15A so all the cables were properly rated. Most sites did have written restrictions on the types of extension cables allowed and anyone could and was encouraged to point out issues with any cable. These are on commercial construction sites, I have seen some pretty sketchy stuff especially in residential construction.
Not even the Army skimps on extension cords.
Yeah there are cords that can handle it (looking for an appliance cord is a good way to find a ~5 ft one) but most people don't have them. I have one of those appliance cords for an AC unit, and a big 100' 10Ga cable for running a generator, but that was like $100+ and nobody is getting that over the $25 one if they don't know why they might need it. One of those cases where there are certainly ways to do it safely, but if you don't know exactly what you're doing, you probably shouldn't.
@@Lizlodude In residential areas this will always be a problem.
At least here in Germany, ALL Electrical devices with a plug need to be checked annually in any buisness, by a certified technician. Not employed by the Company in question.
They measure insulation resistance and resistance to ground. Check main switches and general Functionality. Of course there is also a visual inspection, especially for insulation hazards.
Also for some years, they are removing all extension cords that are not wired with 1.5mm²(~15AWG) or more. ones with damaged cables or housings obviously are not allowed too.
For construction sites, especially with temporary electrical installations Inspection by an Electrician can be necesarry daily.
This is only a brief visual check for overloaded circuits, underdimensioned cables, obviously broken equipment and so forth.
not to mention most extension cords in people's houses can barely handle 10A, let alone 15+, they're string beans. I always get and use the heavy-duty, high-current, waterproof, thick insulation extension cords that yall use for this reason
yes, "home quality" extension cables are much more flimsy (at least in Australia) than any rated for a worksite. Thinner wires, as well as thinner insulation I expect.
Technology Connections has the best content on RUclips.
Coming from the UK it's so alien to me hearing of even the outside possibility that a plug may be loose and present a danger to life... despite our 240volts 😅
Fun story about receptacles: my parents' house is of 80s vintage, and all the receptacles original to the house were the backstabby type where you push the wire into the back. Downstream legs were connected through those backstab receptacles (no pigtails). After 30 years or so, those connections loosened to the point of entire circuits failing. Each receptacle we replaced fell apart when the wire was pulled out. The insulation on the incoming romexes ranged from burnt to very burnt. Most recently, we had one circuit where we had replaced all the receptacles but the neutral was still somehow not connected. Traced it from the box to behind some cabinetry... there was a receptacle *covered up* behind the back wall of the cabinet. The insulation on that one was so badly burnt that the neutral and the hot looked identical. Oh, also, some of these were on 30A breakers for some reason, even though all the receptacles were 15A. Small miracle that nothing ever caught fire.
15A outlet on a 30amp circuit is actually fine, its the other way around thats bad, as long as the wiring going to the outlet is capable of 30amps too, as a 15 amp circuit can never pull more then 15 amps unless you hacked a 15 amp plug onto an appliance that pulls more then that, its why every type of outlet has a different plug shape, so you can't plug them into something that can't handle the amount of power they need
So having a 15 amp outlet on a 30 amp circuit just means you can max out one outlet and still have plenty of power left to safely run other things without worrying about tripping the breaker or catching your house on fire (again, assuming the wiring is also rated for 30 amps)
@@mysteryboyeeyou can't put a 15A receptacle on anything bigger than 20A (and in that case, need at least 2). The rationale is that you are removing the over current protection protecting those 15A devices, and they could melt down without tripping the breaker.
There is no way that overloaded circuit was actually using #10 wire, btw. It's just not something people do outside of very long runs (like to outdoor features), and a lot more expensive.
Yeah, I forgot to mention it’s all #12 wire so should be 20A breakers. The other thing about that is there were two space heaters on that run at the same time shortly before the latest fault appeared :D
@@mysteryboyee Well, if you plug two 9Amp appliances into that outlet, the circuit breaker won't trip, but the outlet will be over its rating, which isn't very safe.
@@mysteryboyee it seems to me you're looking for an excuse to melt the socket to a crisp... The lowest rating is the one first to fail. Would you rather have it be the wire, the socket, or the safety switch?
One thing to note about receptacles in your home... If your house was built in the 70's or 80's (and possibly into the 90's), a lot of electricians were lazy and terminated the receptacles to the wiring by "back stabbing", instead of using the side screws. Although this is an approved method of terminating the receptacle, it's really not the preferred. Some jurisdictions have outlawed this practice. What can happen, over time, is the connection becomes loose and can create resistance or intermittent contact. It would be a good idea to check your home's wiring if it was built during that time and consider having an electrician come in and fix this issue.
Didn't know that, I always hated the stab in back because it can be a pain to get the wire released, better off just cutting it out.
This is still being done. But the real issue with older houses, is the receptacles losing tension on the plug blades. I just re-did all of the outlets in a home built in 1971, and it was ridiculously easy to pull a plug out of any outlet in the house. Newer outlets are much more resistant to this. Outlets do not last forever. If you have a loose one, replace it.
If your outlets are more than 10-15 years old (and if you don’t know, they are), just replace them (or have them replaced). They should be considered just as “wear and tear” items as a roof or a paint job.
I have a firm belief that outlets should not be used as junction blocks to chain a wall of outlets on a circuit.
My opnion is to ALWAYS pigtail to the outlet, not pass the whole line through the outlet. It also has the benifit of being easier to get the outlet back into the box bending 3 wires instead of 5 ( or forbid, more than 5) wires
That looks really neat. The heater shows that we need to rethink about the dangers of appliances and other things and how to mitigate them. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks!
20:40 Addition to your tangent about extension cords:
And if you want to disregard that warning/advice and still want to use a space heater on an extension cord (which may very well be a safe thing to do with other plugs and electrical standards): Absolutely *do not* leave the extension cord coiled up in any way (especially on cable reels).
I've recently pulled ~10A through an 1.5mm² (~15 AWG) extension cord, typically rated to like 15-18A, and forgot to unroll it completely (usually I take care to do that). In half an hour or so, it heated up to around 80°C/180°F, while the unrolled parts got barely warm (like 30°C/90°F).
@patagonaa, induction heating similar to in an induction furnace? Those things are amazing to watch.
@@fredericapanon207 It doesn't have anything to do with induction, it's just that the heat can't escape when the cable is rolled/bunched up
Someone in my house connected a coiled up outdoor extension to a cheap target extension cord with the heater on the end. I came home from vacation early to find the head of the last extension cord completely melted and the coils burning hot. So terrifying that it would’ve continued to melt and or burn if I had not come home! This needs to be printed on more heaters I found it on the new one I had to buy because of this
@@patagonaa Another potential consideration - Especially for cable reels - Is induction, as a reel of cable is very much like an inductor. As these try to resist changes in current, generally something you *don't* want to be passing AC through! 👍
(And also; Sir, I am *hugely* envious of your hair and beard. I wish to goodness mine could be anywhere near that beautiful... 💯)
@dieseldragon6756 From my understanding, due to live and neutral current running in opposite directions, the magnetic fields mostly cancel each other out, so being coiled or not doesn't really make a difference as there's no magnetic field to "add up".
But thanks for the compliment.
I use a space heater all the time to trace wiring. You can determine from the voltage drop whether two outlets are on the same circuit, and which is closer to the panel. It is remarkable how much there is. In my house with 14/2 wiring, it can be several volts. Also, you can detect shorts from neutral to ground. The voltage on neutral should increase (relative to ground) the same amount that the hot decreases.
Mostly awesome idea 😜
Why, thank you for the tip!
Wow, such a creative solution to a problem!
I'd like to see a RUclips video on how exactly you do that.
What are you using to measure voltage drop?
@@jeffa847 You can just use an ordinary multimeter, as long as it is rated for mains voltage. A Kill-A-Watt device works too.
Something worth considering - backstab outlets. The electricians that I know hate them, but accountants love them. It's an outlet where you just strip the wire and stuff it into a hole. (stab) A metal spring makes contact and bites into the wire. Cheap and fast. But all the current is going though that very small contact with the wire. If it develops resistance, then the spring loses it's spring. Things spiral downward until you have a poor contact and a risk of a fire. Worse, these outlets may be part of a string. Your heater may be plugged into the end of the string, but all the current flows through all the plugs between the breaker and the heater. So you could end up with a fire starting in that unused outlet that sits behind a bookcase. Not from anything plugged into it, but what's plugged in downstream of it. Always use outlets where the clamp force comes from a screw.
RV outlets have a similar design problem. I was told it was for the same reason, it speeds installation. I was replacing carpeting with click lock flooring for someone in a trailer. There was water damage under the carpet, so I had to rebuild the floor and some of the lower walls. I pulled one of those crappy outlets out and tossed it aside without examining it. A carpenter who was also working on the property picked it up and commented that it was total garbage. I only looked at it later that day and concurred. It was also melted.
So I went around the trailer pulling out the outlets and inspecting them. Almost half of them had signs of heat damage, ranging from warped plastic to full on charring. One of the owners had mentioned that it had been her grandmother's. So grandma almost died in a fire 8 or 10 times in there. I replaced all the outlets I could find with proper ones, which are also much cheaper than the sketchy RV kind.
Backstab outlets do seem like a problem. Would like to see them tested!
There are actually two kinds of backstab outlets, just to complicate things. One uses the spring + a screw terminal, with the spring just making things convenient. (I love them. Makes swapping out a old worn outlet a breeze.)
@@Harrier42861 There are types that look like backstabs, but use a screw to hold the wires in. That's fine. I consider any that that just use the spring grip to be hazardous. Yes, fast and easy, but also a needless risk.
@@Harrier42861 Please don't refer to a "back wire" outlet as a backstab. It's not what we mean by "backstab," and using that term for something that's widely considered totally safe (indeed, generally found on higher grade outlets). A back wire outlet has a pressure plate that grips the wire when you tighten down the side screw, and unlike backstab connections, works fine with #12 wire for a 20A circuit..
This man is such a treasure. His passion about this mundane assortment of objects holds my attention as well as a Aaron Sorkin drama.
Petition to have "Technology Connections" become an elective subject for high schools everywhere!
Yes that would be cool
Nah, if its in school its boring. I dont make the rules :shrug:
What about middle school?
Sorry, but Common Sense is too general a subject for most education systems. Not that it's unneeded
Elective? Nah. It should be mandatory.
Thank you for using both units of measurement again. Really appreciated
I had an RV plug fail on me, loose connection, the dang thing melted and I lost power. Had NO idea at the time that this issue was developing, I was running the AC unit which was pulling a lot of power. I learned a valuable lesson that day, now all my plugs are solid and well seated. I learned a lot during this video, I appreciate the information!
I have one of these. The fall over switch on the bottom was always obvious to me, but the limiter switch above the heating coils I had never heard of or considered and it's absolutely genius
This presentation was more informative than I expected. As a fellow Midwestern resident, thank-you for your thorough investigation of the safety features of these bargain heaters. I frequently use 2 small heaters to supplement my 105 year old house's imperfect heating. I eagerly await your next video!
Funny, I had the EXACT same model heater a few years ago. One day it was running and the fan stopped. The elements started glowing red hot and smoke started coming out... It did not switch itself off. Thankfully I was right in front of it and noticed immediately.
There's theory and then there's practice, especially when it comes to these extremely cheap devices. You can never trust the overheat switch is actually made or installed properly, despite its simplicity.
Or that it’ll still work as intended years after you buy it.
Are you sure it had the same safety features as the one in the video?
@@gwpeoples Yes, the box said it has an overheat cut-off switch. It's possible it would have cut off at some point, but as mentioned it was already smoking.
A thermal "one-time" fuse use to be required in electric heaters. It seems that "last ditch" safety is no longer required.
@@nunya___ The thermal fuse pip is there, but as you can't actually test them...
You know you're becoming an adult when you get exceedingly excited about an appliance analysis video coming out
I stumbled upon this video and decided to watch because I use a space heater under my desk at home to warm my legs and feet. This was so informative and useful. Thanks for this.
OMG, this video helped explain why one of my outlets got crazy hot this past week, resulting in me replacing it. Space heater on a circuit with literally my tv, sound system, multiple lamps, etc. SO SO SO glad I know why now. No more doing that, but also off to replace the rest of my crappily wired, old outlets!
I just watched a 29 minute video on a twenty buck space heater and enjoyed every second of it. Thanks, Alec.
To his statement about extension cords and power strips, it is mostly true: if you are ever going to run a space heater on an extension cord, make sure you're using an appropriate cord, such as commercial grade drop cords for running power tools and construction equipment. They are much more durable and high quality, thus the higher price. Dont cut corners!
But remember, when doing so, you are introducing
one more connection, which can overheat.
The power cord/extension cord connection.
Yes, minimum 14 Ga. (gauge) or lower. Lower gauge wire handles higher amps/loads and/or longer distances.
Also for extension cords that roll up, maximum power is a lot lower if they're not fully unrolled. Both because the wires are close together, and because they form a nice induction coil together. I have a few of these and they are rated for 3500W unrolled, 1000W rolled up (220v country). But of course they always have the look of a proper high capacity extension cord so it is easy to miss the little "must be unrolled fully" caveat if you don't know about it.
Also remember, if you are charging a BEV or PHEV from a 120V outlet, it is drawing about as much current as one of these space heaters. Same rules about extension cords and total loads apply, or you *will* end up with a tripped breaker or melted outlet.
I personally have to keep in mind I cannot plug a vacuum cleaner into any of the bathroom outlets while my car is charging. For some brilliant reason, the outdoor outlets are on the same circuit.
Switch to a British bathroom design, and you'll be able to guarantee that the car will always have 100% of that circuit! 😁
(We don't allow outlets in UK bathrooms, mainly because our ring circuits make the concept inherently dangerous from the start. The sole exception are our 115/230v shaver outlets, which are connected through an isolating transformer and current limited to 200mA. 👍)
I have repaired many of these for a friend where the tip-over switch had partially melted itself apart and couldn't close anymore. From the looks of it when I dismantled the switch, the copper leaf-spring in them overheated from passing too much current to the point of losing its shape. On a good switch, the bulk of current should pass directly from the terminal post through the switch blade, not the spring in-between.
The permanent baseboard heaters I have seen and in some cases installed have a hydraulic thermal switch with a temperature-sensing tube that runs across the top of the whole heating element. That way, if the average temperature of the tube exceed whatever it was calibrated at, the heater trips. That way, if any fraction of the heater is above trip point, that gets taken out of the trip budget on the remainder of the heater.
My space heater here in the UK does not have a tip over switch... It does have the overheat cut out. It has two. One, like yours which resets after a few mins, and another one time blow cut off. I assume that second one is set much higher than the resettable one. So if EVERYTHING else fails, that will kill your heater permanently (unless you take it apart and replace the one time cut out). My heater goes up to 3000 watts (approx 240v @ 13amps), so maybe its sensible to have the extra protection for it.
And your plug likely has a fuse to protect against shorts like ramming a screwdriver into the heating element.
@@Sunlight91 With a plastic handle, preferably.
@@jca111 - I hear some of the very most modern homes in the UK have hot water plumbing, and running hot water to each utility room. The next innovation will be a separate area for washing dirty clothes, away from the food preparation area! 😮
Man,I wish we could get 3000 watt heaters to be common here. The fact that all general electrical outlets are 120v just slows everything down. It'd make my electrical kettle heat up water so much faster too
@@drtyhay - just get your electrician to install 220V drier sockets in each room. 😃
I really appreciate Alec's commitment to informing the people about things.
I've learned so much from this channel.
My $20 plastic space heater started smoking; never used one again after that.
I have a few of these cheap heaters, in fact one of them is the exact same one here with the fan. I just assumed the thermostat was what made them claim to have overheat protection, but an entirely separate heat limit switch makes me now realize how insanely safe these are to use. And as long as you have the thermostat set to maintain a normal room temperature, it would work as a 3rd safety device too. I've always been cautious about leaving them unattended or running overnight, but I'm just amazed at how much protection is built into these for as cheap as they are.
As someone who never trusts those cheap dials to be a real thermostat at all, it's good to see the extra bits. And as the same person, not surprised at all that the heater in the vid wouldn't trip it when turned up. I kinda assume the dial is a couple of resistors in series and anything past the 3/4 mark is just "on".
600 watts with extra fan for ventilation keeps 300 sqft comfortable and 600 sqft livable. By the way, you forgot to mention the thermal fuse right next to the thermal breaker. the fuse will permanently disable the heater if shorted or it gets too hot.
Thx. Probably what happened to mine.
I love the way you are diligent enough to rerecord a video just because you aren't pointing at the right thing.
You're the first person to actually explain why extension cords or power strips shouldn't be used with space heaters. Thanks!
Videos like this are why I am happily subscribed to this channel. Simple, straight and forward presentation of the facts and concepts involved. That's it....that's his magic.
Thanks for another awesome video. 👍
I can't wait for him to do an April Fools video where it's complex, gay, and backwards! ;p
years ago I was using a multi-branded basic space heater at work, since the office was so cold. when I went to unplug it the plug on the cord itself had softened and i had to wait for it to cool before unplugging it. I purchased a new one, same multi-branded, but this time I only allowed to work at 750 watts. Which at that setting still got it warm enough for me.
Man these videos are always so relevant to me. I was thinking weeks ago how simple but ingenious the tip over switch is
I think you made a connection... to my heart
I really like how the guy describe all the misconcepts and highlights the real potential failure, with the right detail without being boring.
Instant subscribe
wait until you see him describe dishwashers and how people who complain about them aren't using them correctly
"tickles my boat" we need an episode on malaphores... lol
If your boat is suceptible to tickling, consult your nearest spirit medium, you may have a boat girl
"Not the sharpest bulb in the hive" is my personal favorite.
I never knew those types of sayings had a name. Malaphore... interesting.
There's also a thermal safety fuse in the windings of the fan motor itself, in case the fan is siezed and the heat isn't even turned on.
The fire hazard-problem is the reason why most people consider the 230 V superior over the 120 V. You need only about half the amperage to run an application with the same wattage. This reduces the melty-melty-wire issue a lot.
But you can buy a 2500W heater in the real world which uses 230V, so, same current but your room gets warmer
@@bennyattar8862 Or rather your room gets just as warm, but sooner.
20:35 The cromulency of one’s electrical system is directly proportional to how the space heater embiggens the load rating of the circuit.