Space Heaters & Fire

A vexing question. Perhaps those wires cost more?

The space heater wires are safe--the problem comes when the space heaters are plugged into wires that aren't capable of carrying the load.

Plus, I bought a nifty space heater for my garage studio in California, admittedly not the coldest place, but brisk on a midwinter evening, and did not use it because of a little side note about not using around certain vapors, er, like oil paint fumes. Grrrrrr.

Space Heaters & Fire
Noddy24-
Thank you.

I guess you mean plugged into an electrical socket that isn't capable of carrying the load.

I think that would cause the fuse or circuit breaker to "blow" or switch off.

Gollum--

I Googled "space heaters house fires" and found:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=House+fires+space+heaters

People will put space heaters next to flammable material. This is not a good idea.

My impression is that a space heater plugged into old or inadquate wiring may be fine for the first hour or the first three hours or the first twelve hours, but eventually the old/inadequate wire heats to the point of combustion.

Have you seen the way some people use extension cords? Or saw off the third prong of a heavy duty appliance so that it can be plugged into a convenient socket?

I'd guess that all space heaters are inspected before they leave the factory. All buyers of space heaters are not inspected before they leave the store.