Aboutcleggsan Expertise All technical areas of Electronics Engineering.
Experience BSEE, MBA, Design, R&D, University Research.
Senior Life Member of IEEE. Life Fellow of AES.
Organizations IEEE, Consumer Electronics Society, Audio Engineering Society.
Broad teaching experience; work experience mostly in consumer electronics and conversion from analog to digital technologies. Pioneer in digital audio at all levels.
Question I would like to know in just a little detail what the differences are between fan,convector and halogen heaters. I would also like to know which of these 3 types of heaters consume the least electricity.
Answer Well, last question first: Heat is heat and power is power. Electrical power is in watts. It is determined totally by the voltage and the current passing through the resistive elements. Watts = Voltage X Current. When a heater is rated at 1500 watts, for example, it means the resistive heating elements will produce 1500 watts of heat. The method of getting the heat out from the heating elements into the air is the other factor. A fan, for example, will push the air out more quickly, perhaps, and spread it round more evenly into the room, but the amount of heat is still 1500 watts and the fan will not increase the amount into the room; it will only distribute the heat more efficiently, perhaps. Convection merely means the heat will travel due to the "heat rises" concept and will heat the spot near the heater quickly and the room less quickly, but in the long run it will still be the exact same amount of heat.
Halogen heaters are just another way of heating the air; the amount of heat is still the same, the heating element may be a different material and it may have different radiating qualities, but the amount of heat for a 1500 watt device will still be 1500 watts. Actually, the wirewound heating elements that glow when turned on, whether there is a fan or not, are the most durable and will outlast all the other types. The oilfilled radiator types are heated with a resistive wire and have long life, also; they distribute the heat with rising air circulating around the radiator, but as the others, in the long run, it is still a 1500 watt heater. Whatever the heater wattage rating is; that is how much electric power they consume - period. (Note: Lots of market hype in this area wanting you to believe that certain materials or configurations will magically produce more heat or thermal energy for a given input, but they can't and don't).
