Ceramic heat emitters

[wingnut116]

I'll try and keep this short. We have a CHE and my girlfriend is worried that it will burn the house down even with a thermostat. Any info or suggestions with fire safety in mind that i can use as supportive evidence would be helpful. Otherwise she wants to heat the entire upstairs because apparently an LP furnace is much safer.

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[ryu80]

Make sure it is not touching anything flammable.

CHE are also not that different from other electrical lighting except for not producing light while producing heat. I'm lights have been left on overnight and do not cause fires...

Make sure it is on a grounded outlet and have a surge protector for your thermostat. Don't plug too many things into that outlet. My assumptions is you are not using some crazy wattage CHE. CHE base can become really hot so not touching anything flammable is a very good idea.

Been using CHE and night incandescent bulbs for over 20+ years keeping all types of reptiles and haven't had a fire.

[Craiga 01453]

I just switched a few of my enclosures from bulbs to CHEs. As long as used properly, given room to vent and nothing flammable is in contact it won't cause a fire.
Use common sense with your electrical load, use a surge protector and there is no risk from a CHE.

Of course, accidents happen, electrical fires happen. But ANYTHING that is plugged in can cause that.

[Coluber42]

Safety-wise, it’s not really any different from an incandescent or halogen bulb at the same wattage. Presumably she’s old enough to remember when there were 60-100 watt bulbs in all kinds of old fixtures all over the house? I mean, you wouldn’t turn on a 100-watt light bulb and leave it lying around on a pile of oil-soaked newspaper.

If she’s still nervous, get a radiant heat panel. They’re sort of expensive, but way cheaper than cranking up the heat in the whole house for the whole winter, and they are designed to run at temperatures low enough that you can safely touch them. You can buy a fair amount of expensive heating equipment for less than the cost of heating your whole house or a large part of your house instead.

[Bogertophis]

I'll try and keep this short. We have a CHE and my girlfriend is worried that it will burn the house down even with a thermostat. Any info or suggestions with fire safety in mind that i can use as supportive evidence would be helpful. Otherwise she wants to heat the entire upstairs because apparently an LP furnace is much safer.

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Make sure that the receptacle it's being used in is CERAMIC and rated for higher wattages (ie. heat). Most dome lights have ratings, pay attention to them: the ones
rated for lower wattages do not have ceramic bases, they have plastic with cardboard inside that can melt & burn. MUST USE CERAMIC type.

The only other thing that I can think of is if you have children, dogs or cats (or similar pets) running around, be SURE that none of them can trip on
the cord to the CHE (that could pull it down & allow it to contact something flammable). Just as you'd make sure that a space heater cannot be tipped
over...same idea. (that's why space heaters are so dangerous) It wouldn't hurt to attach the cord somehow, so it only reaches so far (& not the floor).

[Craiga 01453]

Make sure that the receptacle it's being used in is CERAMIC and rated for higher wattages (ie. heat). Most dome lights have ratings, pay attention to them: the ones
rated for lower wattages do not have ceramic bases, they have plastic with cardboard inside that can melt & burn. MUST USE CERAMIC type.

Ah, very good point. I guess I take that for granted and assume people know. But good idea to remind, just in case.

[Bogertophis]

Ah, very good point. I guess I take that for granted and assume people know. But good idea to remind, just in case.

Most of the dome lights have rating stickers inside...many people might remove them & forget...or they dry out in time & fall off. The "fine print" on the socket
is harder to read, so yeah, just want to avoid a "worst case scenario" dumb mistake.

[wingnut116]

Thanks everyone for the input the CHE we have is in a reptile light fixture rated for such. She's just concerned that this is just going to spark, kill power to the rest of the enclosure before burning down our house with our snake and 3 dogs inside.

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[Craiga 01453]

Thanks everyone for the input the CHE we have is in a reptile light fixture rated for such. She's just concerned that this is just going to spark, kill power to the rest of the enclosure before burning down our house with our snake and 3 dogs inside.

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I can understand her concern. It's a responsible and caring person who thinks of that stuff. But, as long as used properly, with properly rated equipment it'll be fine.

[Bogertophis]

Thanks everyone for the input the CHE we have is in a reptile light fixture rated for such. She's just concerned that this is just going to spark, kill power to the rest of the enclosure before burning down our house with our snake and 3 dogs inside.

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None of my lights ever "spark" and while I don't use any CHEs, there's no reason to think they could or would "spark" either. They're basically a "light bulb" without
the light... but I suppose we all have some fears that are less-than-rational, so for the sake of peace, you may have to cave? I thought I was a "worrier" LOL, but I'd take
a CHE over your other plan ANY day...and FYI, I have gas forced-air heat but would happily go all-electric if I could. Flammable gas makes ME nervous...and just look what it did for those 70+/- homes north of Boston. But we're all different. It's wise to be as safe as possible, but beyond that no one has a crystal ball as to what might go wrong.