Space Heater Keeps Shutting Off

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Space heaters can be valuable partners, especially during winter. That’s because you can keep yourself warm, whether at home or in the office. Like any other heating equipment, the space heaters are prone to having a few issues.

For instance, you might find that your space heater keeps shutting off whenever you are using it. What are the potential reasons for that? Could it mean that the space heater has a problem? Read on to find out.

Table of Contents

Why Your Space Heater Keeps Turning Off?

Your portable space heater could randomly shut off for any of the below reasons.

It has Accidentally Turned Over

It is a common feature of most portable space heaters to shut off when they turn over. They come with an automatic switching-off mechanism that helps to protect the surface they are on from burning if the space heater turns over.

Therefore, whenever the space heater accidentally turns over, it will shut off to prevent fire accidents. That enables you to stay safe from any fire hazards brought by the heater falling on the ground and inflaming the carpet on the floor.

The space heater might topple off because you haven’t put it in a stable area. The instability of the heater will cause it to keep shutting off even if you turn it on.

How to Solve It: If this happens, all you have to do is restore the heater to its upright position. That will enable it to stop shutting off. Placing it in a flat location that prevents accidentally toppling over will also prevent it from randomly shutting off.

The Space Heater is Overheating

When space heaters overheat, they turn off. That’s to ensure your safety, especially if you have placed the heater on a flammable surface. What causes the overheating, though?

The space heater will overheat if it doesn’t access a steady stream of cool air. The heater needs air to cool it as it heats your space. If the air is unavailable, then the heater will overheat.

The space heater will also overheat because of a build-up of too much dust in the filter. If this happens, it blocks the cool air from getting inside and cooling the heater. It will therefore overheat and then shut off every few minutes.

If the overheating gets to a certain level, its internal controls will automatically switch it off.

How to Fix it: Wherever you place your space heater, ensure it can access a steady stream of cool air. That will ensure that it doesn’t start overheating when in use. Preventing it from overheating will help stop it keep shutting off even when you still need it to be on.

Too much dust will make it overheat and keep shutting off every few minutes when using it. That’s why you need to clean the heater regularly.

A Faulty Power Supply

Before considering anything else, have you checked your power supply? Space heaters are electric appliances. Like any other electrical appliance, they won’t work without an adequate power supply.

It isn’t all the time the heater suddenly turns off that it’s an internal problem. It could be that you have a faulty power cable or supply. If the heater doesn’t get sufficient power, then it might keep shutting off.

How to Fix It: Check your power supply for any faults to enable you to rule it out as an issue. If the power is the issue, call an electrician to help you sort it out. Also, check the power cables for any loose wires and fix them wherever possible.

Your Home Circuit Breaker Is Tripping

This is a common occurrence when you buy heaters that require too much wattage to work. It might also be a concern when using several heaters at the same time. Depending on the power rating of the heaters, your circuit breaker might keep tripping each time you use the heaters.

How To Solve It: When you notice that your space heater(s) keeps shutting off after every few minutes, go and check your circuit box. If you see that any of the switches are down, the heater tripped the circuit breaker.

To solve this, you might have to use fewer heaters in your home. If you have only one heater and that is happening, then it might be a good idea to get a low-wattage heater that won’t trip the breaker.

The Space Heater Has a Problem

If none of the issues we have mentioned above is the problem, there’s only one answer: the heater is defective. There is, however, no way for you to know that by yourself unless you call an HVAC specialist. If you have the necessary skills, you could open it up and check for yourself. It is, however, a better choice to let a professional do it.

How to Clean a Space Heater

a dirty space heater fan or filter could cause the heater to overheat. Overheating will then lead to the random shutting on and off by the heater. That’s why you need to clean your space heater regularly. How do you go about it, though?

Step 1

Unplug the heater from the power supply and give it enough time to cool. Ten to fifteen minutes should be enough.

Step 2

Wipe the heater’s exterior of any dust that might have settled there.

If you like, check out this brush.

Step 3

Use a screwdriver to open up the screws that hold in the fan and any other parts. That is the tricky part, and you will need to navigate it with care. After that, use a vacuum to remove the dust that might have accumulated inside the heater.

Step 4

Now replace everything and reassemble all the parts of the heater. A clean heater will save you most of the stress from overheating or shutting off by the heater.

In the End

If your space heater keeps shutting off, the solutions outlined here will help you fix it. You can do most of the fixes yourself, but call in a specialist when you think they might get complicated.

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