What Is a Space Heater?
Space heaters are heaters used in infrastructure facilities such as computers, telephones, and other telecommunications, electrical power generation and transmission, and new energy sources. They are used to prevent condensation caused by inclement weather and to heat the temperature of target equipment such as computers to within the guaranteed operating range. This is especially important for electrical equipment.
They play a particularly important role because condensation is the natural enemy of electrical and computer equipment.
Uses of Space Heaters
Space heaters are often used in enclosures such as switchboards and distribution boards, which are often installed outdoors in the city, where electronic equipment is located.
They are also used in areas where temperatures drop below freezing to maintain ambient temperatures within the operating range of electronic equipment.
Space heaters are best suited for heating plate objects.
Principle of Space Heaters
Space heaters are used in close contact with the surface of a metal or other object to be heated, either by covering it with metal or by sandwiching it between two metal objects.
Compared to silicon rubber heaters used in similar applications, space heaters have a higher operating temperature range and can produce a greater amount of heat.
Space heaters are thin plate heaters with a nichrome wire heating element that is insulated with a heat-resistant mica plate.
The outer plate is made of stainless steel sheet (SUS430) or bonded steel sheet, and the heating element is covered with a protective coating around it.
It can be said that the heating element of this space heater directly conducts heat to the object to be heated by direct conduction, resulting in highly efficient heating.
To increase the heating efficiency, the top and bottom surfaces of the space heater are often made to be in close contact with each other.
In addition, some space heaters are operated in combination with a fan, which circulates the warmed air to maintain the temperature of the environment efficiently, and space heaters are sometimes used for air heating to prevent condensation.
The standard types of space heaters are the double-terminated and single-terminated types. There are also vertical single-terminated types, horizontal single-terminated types, center-terminated types, leaded types, leaded wire direct-out types, and various other types depending on the space heater mounting location and specifications.