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 Topic: Electric fan heater caught fire!
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28/5/2013 at 11:02pm
Location: Devizes Wiltshire
Outfit: MWB2BVW2BCrafter2
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Tents may not retain heat as well as a house, however, thermostats still work, based on personal experience.
Having said that, I have 2 fan heaters with non-working thermostats, plus a rather expensive steam iron with a non-working thermostat, plus a kettle that would not switch off automatically, plus a hair-dryer that overheated and caught fire.
It seems to me that the thermostatic control is likely to be the first to malfunction for small appliances based on my limited experiences.
DK 
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29/5/2013 at 12:18am
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Quote: Originally posted by bob_s on 28/5/2013
also I know the fan heater I use in the house has a thermostat, how would this work in a tent that isnt likely to ever switch off.
Apart from the thermostat, fan heaters are also required to have a high temperature cutout to prevent them from overheating. That is why I said in my earlier post that there must have been some combustible material present if the heater produced flames.
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Bernie
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29/5/2013 at 9:59am
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25p a pop? I'd do it, but then we have a house full of portable appliances, drills, hairdryers etc etc, and like 99.9% of the population, we never have those tested.
Electrical tests are for the sparkys, but checking cables, plug wiring, and fuses could certainly be done at home.
As it happens, our camping fan heater is an Outwell, and when we got it, it wouldn't work. Took the plug off and found the earth conductor was detached inside 
Will check and run ours at home before our next trip.
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Mike
My advice is worth no more than the price paid for it
Prague May/Jun 2017
Lake Annecy Aug 2017
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29/5/2013 at 10:47am
Location: Earth
Outfit: Karma Bell Tent (5M ZIG) + Robens Tarp
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Glad your all ok :)
Another reason why we are always completely electrics free when camping.
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29/5/2013 at 11:09am
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Used wisely, electrics can extend your camping season, and for heating, feel intrinsically safer than gas. YMMV.
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Mike
My advice is worth no more than the price paid for it
Prague May/Jun 2017
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29/5/2013 at 11:40am
Location: Earth
Outfit: Karma Bell Tent (5M ZIG) + Robens Tarp
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I've camped in the winter in snow many times with no electrics or heating, but I know what mean, I would not want small children to have to do that without heating!
But really to me there is something intrinsically wrong about electrics when camping, takes away much of what makes it special to me, but that's a personal thing and of course we all value different things.
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29/5/2013 at 1:26pm
Location: Dorset
Outfit: Royal Atlanta 6
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Hmm, now will think twice before leaving mine on overnight as I did for the first time this weekend, hopefully though this is a rare case though.
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29/5/2013 at 2:32pm
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With the precautions DK set out above, a good branded heater, running at low level on its thermostat, should be fine.
The main value of fan heaters is their ability to push heat into a big space fairly rapidly, if noisily.
Another option for bedrooms, if you have the luggage space, is the oil filled radiator panel type, which just radiates low level heat, silently.
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Mike
My advice is worth no more than the price paid for it
Prague May/Jun 2017
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29/5/2013 at 3:15pm
Location: Northern England
Outfit: Coleman Mosedale 5
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Oh goodness, that sounds awful. In the days before we had EHU we had a rechargable airbed pump. We had left it in the car to charge up and when I went to get something else out of the car it was smouldering!!
Your experience wont stop me using the fan heater for longer trips though, but just shows how important it is to not leave any kind of heater unattended in a tent.
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30/5/2013 at 1:24am
Location: widnes
Outfit: nevada m+ vango banshee 200
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Have a ceramic one from argos.was only 20 pound hope its ok, was planning on leaving it on over night if its cold.it has a thermostat , but anyway glad you are safe and well
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