Electric Heating

Electric heaters are perhaps the most familiar form of electric heating. Electric heaters are available in various forms, commonly as electric storage heaters that use electrical energy to heat bricks (such as clay bricks) at times when electricity is cheap such as at night. The heat is then stored in the bricks and released slowly over the course of the day. These electric heaters have advantages, notably the cheaper cost of using energy at off peak hours but they also have limitations. If the heat is not required because of a warm day the bricks will still have been warmed up and so the heat will still be released. Alternatively if, for some reason, the heat is lost too quickly from the bricks, because of a draught for example, then the heat may not be there when required. Electric panel heaters work by heating an electrical element within the heater. The heater turns electrical energy into heat energy which heats the element. Air around the element is warmed and rises letting cooler air replace it which is in turn warmed. An advantage of electric heaters is the controllability of the heat. Heating using electricity is almost instant in its reaction to any changes and its possible to heat only one room rather than a whole house.Electric Radiators are usually filled with some form of liquid that is heated by an electrical element. The heat then radiates out much like a normal radiator. These units are easy to install and have the advantage over gas central heating radiators that they have no pipe work to install. Electric Water Heaters are also easy to install and work in a similar way to electric radiators in that an electrical element heats liquid inside. In this case the liquid is water and it is meant to be released through a tap. These units are more commonly used in workplaces rather than home heating and have the advantage that they are simple to use and easy to install. They are also reliable with few moving parts that could break down. There are many advantages and disadvantages of electric heating many of which have been touched on already. Ease of installation is one major advantage and this is because there is no need for pipe work. This leads to low installation costs and means that it can provide an excellent addition to an existing heating system where it would be problematic to fit gas or oil powered units, for example in a newly built extension. The lack of pipes also means that there are no restrictions on placement of a unit, whereas a gas boiler or fire would need some kind of ventilation. Safety is in fact a major advantage of electric heating. With no fuel being burnt within the unit or building there are no risks of carbon monoxide or other gases leaking. There is also no risk of oil or anything else leaking and damaging property. This in turn means that there are no worries about annual servicing or maintenance contracts, a problem lessened even more by the fact that electric heating usually contains fewer moving parts than for example, a gas boiler. With fewer moving part there is less of a chance of a problem arising and the electric is much more reliable. Finally the use of precise electronic controls means that you can have more control over your heating and it will respond quickly to any changes that you make.

Electric heating- Introduction
The conversion of electric energy into heat is achieved by a process called electric heating. Electric heaters are used for this conversion process. Electric heating finds many applications in industrial as well as in cooking processes. For example if we consider electric heaters, its working is very simple. It consists of an electrical resistor in it. The principles behind which electric heaters work is Joule heating. According to this principle, when electric current is passed through the resistor, then the conversion of electric energy into heat energy takes place.
Types of electric heaters
You may be familiar with the fact that electric heaters come in many different forms. Some types of electric heaters are:

1. Radiator heaters or space heaters
2. Convection heaters
3. Fan heaters or forced convection heaters
4. Electric Storage heaters
5. Domestic electrical under floor heating
6. Heat pumps
7. Electrode heater
8. Immersion heater

Electric storage heaters
One such form is the electric storage heaters which are used to heat bricks with the help of electric energy. The procedure followed here is that the bricks are heated and so heat gets accumulated and it gets slowly released over the course of the day when it is required. The advantage of using electric heaters is that energy can be made available at cheaper electricity prices. The bricks are heated at overnight because the demand for electricity is low at overnight.
Radiative heaters or space heaters
The radiative heaters have a heating element which is possible of reaching a high temperature. Similar to a light bulb, the radiative heater element is kept inside a glass envelope along with a reflector. This reflector is used to direct the output energy far away from the body of the heater. The heater element is capable of emitting infrared radiation. These infra red radiations are capable of travelling through air and after hitting an absorbing surface these radiations are converted into heat and gets partially reflected. This reflected heat serves the purpose of heating the room and objects directly. In areas where spot heating is essential such as garages and basements, the radiative heaters are used.

Advantages: 1. Silent operation of heaters
2. Easy to install
Convection heaters
Convection heaters work on the principle of convection. Generally we may know that hot air is always less dense than the cool air. This makes the hot air to rise which in turn makes the cool air to flow in to  the space left behind. This action produces a constant current of hot air. This hot air leaves the heater with the help of vent holes provided in the appliance and this air is responsible of heating the surrounding space. The heating effect will be more if the surrounding space is a closed space.
Advantages: 1. Silent operation
2. Less risk associated with it when compared to radiative heaters
3. Chances of the heater getting burned are very low.
4. It affords much safety.
5. It is suitable for long heating period applications.
Fan heaters
Fan heaters are also called forced convection heaters. They are also a type of convection heater. It consists of an electric fan which is used to speed up the air flow. This action of speeding up the air flow helps to reduce the thermal resistance between the surrounding air and the heating element and so heat can be transferred at a much faster rate. This method is generally faster than the passive convection method.
Advantages: 1. Quick heating of the surrounding can be done possibly with the help of fan heaters.