Electric Heater, BE CAREFUL

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

GFI is not going to do anything for an overload.

clhamon wrote:
We only plug ours into GFI receptacles with the assumption the GFI will trip if anything happens and before a fire starts.

Typically the fire is not going to start from an overload or an electrical short. Most of the time, a fire is going to start from a poor internal connection. Heat causes poor connections, so the simple fact that the internal connections are in close proximity to heat, means they are much more susceptible to failure. That fact coupled with the fact that they operate at a high current means the are very prone to failure as they age.

The safer aspect of the big oil heaters is that the heat is dispersed over a large area, so the heat is less intense where the electrical connections are. That type of design is going to be less prone to fail.