[Zelandeth]

So, we've had a couple of interesting threads on here about electric radiant heaters now - my turn for one on their fan assisted cousins I think!

The name is actually on the product, not one I've made up...appropriate though as it's an astonishingly effective little bit of kit. One of the photos shows the label on the underside, proudly proclaiming that it is indeed "The Heat Machine."

This small, roughly cube shaped fan heater was picked up at a local second hand shop, probably about ten years ago. Even at 15 or so years of age I knew what I liked, and spotted this thing a mile off - the immediate reaction being "Want!" £10 or so later, I was carrying it off with a smile on my face, much to the bafflement of my parents.

I'd always assumed that the use of PTC ceramic elements in things like fan heaters was relatively recent an invention. This thing however definitely doesn't look (or feel) like it was made any time recently.

The control circuitry is far more complex than on most fan heaters - being a printed circuit board behind the control panel (I've got a photo of that back at the flat - will upload it tomorrow), making use of quite a number of discreet components to thermostatically control the fan speed. The thermocouple or thermistor used to sense the ambient temperature is in the little black tube that you can see sticking out the control panel.

Given the "self-regulating" character of the elements (meaning that if you power one up in free air, it'll level out at just the same temperature as if you're forcing air over it), this very effectively controls the heat output of the unit, and hence the power consumption is hugely variable depending on the fan speed and ambient air temperature, from a couple of hundred watts through to 1.2kW max.

Even then - it seems to kick out just as much heat as the more conventional 2kW dimplex one I used before I got this. I'm going to guess it's due to the "dense" design of the elements ensuring that the transfer of the heat to the airflow would be pretty efficient.

One thing I've been utterly unable to do however is figure out how old this thing actually is...anyone got any ideas?

I've only ever seen one other one of these, at the Jessop's on Market Street in Aberdeen - they've got a brown one which lives on the back counter.

Given that one of the elements in this one have seen slightly better days (the "spine" for want of a better term, which I'm guessing is the power supply conductor is separating from the vanes), it'd be interesting to know if anyone either has, or knows where to get any spares.

It also used to have a dust filter, unfortunately that was turning to powder on my example so was removed - I've no idea what to replace it with...suggestions would be welcome!

While I only use this at the weekends occasionally at my parents house, it's a really characterful little bit of kit and I like it! Is warming my feet nicely as I type this as well.

So, you've all shown a great aptitude for stories and info on electric fires - let's see how you do with fan heaters!