Controlling a fan heater

[SteamyTea]

I am a bit of a fan of, um fan heaters.  They heat the air quickly, are cheap to buy and cost the same to run as any other resistance heater.

But there is a problem.  They are usually controlled by a mechanical, bi-metalic, thermostat.  This can either switch the whole unit off, or just switch the heating element off.

If the whole unit is switched off when the desired temperature is reach, it is easy to forget it is actually on.  This is a bit annoying if I go out for the day as it costs a bit as it is using day rate on the E7.

What I would like to do is fit a timer, which is easy enough, but also control the temperature better.

So what would be a reliable, cheap and fairly easy was of controlling not just the power of the element, but also the fan speed.  Reducing the fan speed, in proportion to the output power woudl keep the noise down.

I don't mind the speed and power being high when it is first switched on, but it would be usefully if it reduced power as it comes up to a set temperature.

And be always being on, there would be some fan noise as a reminder to switch it off.

[ProDave]

A personal thing, but I would never, ever leave a fan heater on when I am not there. I have seen the result of the fan failing, and the resulting melted lump of plastic as the element overheats without air passing through it.  I think most now have a thermal trip to detect that, but I would not trust it.  I prefer a convector heater, with nothing to fail that could cause such an event. Oh and most convector heaters have a metal case so nothing to melt.

[SteamyTea]

8 minutes ago, ProDave said:

A personal thing, but I would never, ever leave a fan heater on when I am not there

I know what you mean, my new one is metal.