Be careful with this heating device! In addition to burns and fire, it will also cause formaldehyde to exceed the standard

Your home heater may be a hidden "killer"!

This is not alarmist talk, but the result of our recent actual testing.

As soon as winter comes, all kinds of heating equipment come into play. Last time, we helped you evaluate the heating effect and power consumption of several small sun heaters, oil heaters, fan heaters, and skirting heaters.

However, in addition to the above types, there are many other types of heaters. So how safe are they?

To this end, we bought two popular heaters that are used by many people (monthly sales of more than 10,000).

Note: Foot warmers are a recently popular heating device that allows you to keep your feet warm by placing them on the pedals. They are very popular on product recommendation websites.

As to whether they are safe, the answer is just one word - test!

First, we used a relatively high-precision thermocouple temperature recorder to test the temperature of the foot warmer's pedal and the metal protective net under the pedal (to prevent objects from falling through the gap in the pedal) at low, medium, and high levels.

The three temperature levels of the pedals are all within an appropriate range, and they feel good when actually used on the feet, and are indeed very warm.

However, the temperature of the metal protective net reached 71.4℃ and 102.7℃ at medium and high levels respectively, which are already temperatures that can cause burns!

Moreover, the foot pedal of this foot warmer has a large gap, which makes it easy for children to put their feet and hands in.

If you come into contact with the metal protective net, you are likely to be injured!

Then, we started again - dismantling!

After disassembling the foot warmer, it was found that the grounding wire of the foot warmer was loose, which was not a safe grounding and posed a safety hazard.

The heating of the entire foot warmer relies on a 319 cm long heating wire. This heating wire is very thin and has no protective measures, so there is a high risk of breakage.

Although the product is equipped with a temperature control switch, it is not equipped with a fuse. If the sensitivity of the temperature control switch is reduced or the quality is not up to standard, there will be no protection measures when abnormal temperature rise occurs, which is very dangerous.

Therefore, it is really not recommended for everyone to use such a foot warmer.

Then comes the electric heater – the fire test!

We simulated the scenarios of clothes being hung in the air to dry in both dry and wet conditions, and neither of them caught fire within 10 minutes.

But when the clothes were placed over the electric heater, they began to burn violently in less than 9 minutes.

Therefore, it is not recommended to use a heater to cover and dry clothes. Be sure to turn off the switch when you leave or go out!

In addition to the fire risk, we also found formaldehyde risks in these heaters.

It can be seen that the frame of the foot warmer is made of low-quality particle board (but the product details page advertises it as "solid wood"), while the back of the electric heater is made of a whole piece of density board.

The technician placed the two heaters in a self-built 12 ㎡ (30 m³) experimental cabin (equivalent to the size of a child's room) to simulate the amount of formaldehyde they would release in the room during actual use.

The result was shocking. When the electric heater was turned on for 3 hours, the formaldehyde concentration in the experimental chamber exceeded the standard by 3 times!

Therefore, when heating in winter, you need to be careful about heaters made of inferior panels, as they may become the source of formaldehyde release in the room!

In addition, when heating indoors in winter, the indoor temperature will rise, accelerating the release of formaldehyde. If ventilation is not done in time, formaldehyde is likely to accumulate indoors, so everyone needs to pay attention.

Well, that’s all for this issue of popular science on the safety hazards of heaters.

Do you have any questions about winter heating? Tell us in the comments section

■ Do not force everyone to agree with our views, and do not use moral kidnapping

■ Do not force anyone to make product choices based on our views

■ The content of the article is supported by real data, and I only speak for myself

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Source: Dad Review