8 Brands of Room Heaters With Fan Tested :Only Three Conform : by Consumer Magazine | General

INSIGHT

The Consumer Insight

Ref: ER/PR/TH/heater.38

8 Brands of Room Heaters With Fan Tested :

Only Three Conform

INSIGHT - The Consumer Magazine has published the test findings of its in-house comparative product testing laboratory on eight room heaters with fans (also called hot air fans) in its November-December 2006 issue. It has recommended Bajaj (RX-11), Clearline (HL545) and Usha (FH423N) as the Best Buys among the brands tested.

This product, although widely used in those states in our country where winters are severe, are not covered under mandatory or statutory certification. In some brands the temperature rise of hot air was fairly good and rose to as high as 15.75° C (Bajaj), whereas in others it was as low as 7.50° C (Black & Decker). In some, thermostats were not provided (Usha, Omax, Orpat and ABC). But more serious concern was that thermal cut-out (a safety device) was not functioning in Omax, Orpat (ORH-9007-DX) and Black & Decker (HX150).

Another safety concern was that in ABC there was no protection against electric shock. When it came to the issue of consumer information, most brands gave information on paper glued to the product, which could easily be removed. Further, the prices ranged from the highest Rs. 1850 (Greenline) to the lowest Rs. 690 (Omax). CERS has requested the BIS to make the Quality Control Order mandatory and standards compulsory for Room Heaters (with fan).

The heaters were subjected to 15 performance and safety tests. They are:

Hot Air Output : This performance test was carried out to find the volume of air flow and the temperature rise of the hot air delivered by the room heater.

None of the brands declared these values.

Bajaj registered the highest temperature rise of hot air i.e 15.75°C at heat setting 1, and 23.17°C at heat setting 2. The lowest temperature rise of hot air at heat setting 1 was in Black & Decker i.e 7.5°C, and that at heat setting 2 was in ABC i.e 14.54°C.

Interestingly, Black & Decker had the highest air volume but the lowest hot air temperature output at heat setting 1. (In a room heater hot air temperature rise is more important than air volume.)

Thermostat: The thermostat is a temperature-sensing device and can be adjusted to achieve the desired room temperature. It maintains the temperature by automatically opening and closing a circuit. Omax, Orpat, Usha and ABC were not provided with a thermostat. In Greenline (RH701), the thermostat did not work.

Thermal cut-out : The thermal cut-out should be made to operate 200 times at higher voltages. This device did not function in Omax, Orpat and Black & Decker.

Electric Shock : This was checked using a test finger. ABC failed as live parts were accessible from the front grill of the heater.

In Orpat, plug housing is provided for fixing the plug when the heater is not in use. But when the plug is not fixed, in the absence of a flap, this part remains open.

Finish : All surfaces of the room heater should be made of corrosion-resisting material or should be suitably protected against corrosion. Only Omax failed this test for finish as part of the inner assembly was found rusted.

Input: This test verified whether the rated wattage (the power the appliance would consume, as declared by the manufacturer) was the actual one. The input should not deviate from the rated value by more than ± 10 per cent. Orpat failed this test with its rated figure of 2000W and an actual consumption of 1700W.

Ease of Use : Eight panellists tested how easy or otherwise it was to operate room heaters.

The six major ‘ease of use’ parameters considered were : visibility and clarity of marking on knobs, use of thermostat (if provided), use of fan/heat setting knob, silent operation, overall use of operation and physical appearance.

On the basis of the overall analysis, Omax topped the ‘ease of use’ parameter (97 points), and ABC scored the least (70).

Labelling & Marking: Any marking on the sample must be legible and durable. Except for Orpat and ABC, the marking information on the other brands was printed on paper and glued to the product.

Instruction manual was not provided for Omax, Orpat and ABC.

Cord length : The power cord should not be less than 2 metres long. Except Bajaj, all brands failed. Usha (1.53m) had the shortest cord, followed by Greenline (1.7m).

Price : The price (marked on the carton) of the heaters ranged from Rs. 690 (Omax) to Rs. 1,850 (Greenline). Most of the prices lay in the Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,800 range.

Guarantee & Warranty: Greenline did not provide any guarantee\ warranty. Bajaj offered a two-year guarantee, Usha offered a one-year guarantee, and the other five brands offered a one-year warranty.

CERS Action

We have requested the BIS to make it mandatory for the minimum air volume to be marked on the room heater, include our modified design of air duct in the standard, make it mandatory to provide an instruction manual, make the Quality Control Order or Mandatory Certification cover room heaters with fan and mention Guarantee/Warranty in all consumer durables as a mandatory obligation.

All the brands tested passed the parameters of Temperature Rise, Starting of Fan Motor, Insulation, Mechanical Strength & Stability, and Creepage Distances & Clearances.

As a policy, before publishing and publicising the results, we convey the test findings to all the manufacturers for their views and comments. They receive the results of their own products only.

Gryphon,, marketers of Black & Decker, said that there is no thermal cut-out in their product and it is fitted with 2 thermostats and will withstand higher voltages. In our tests, at higher voltages it did not operate!

Manufacturers of Orpat and Greenline did not reply to our letters.

Details of the rating and ranking, the ‘best buy’ and excerpts of our correspondence with manufacturers have been published in the November-December 2006 issue of INSIGHT — The Consumer Magazine.

Forwarded by :

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Yours in Global Concern

A.SANKAR

Executive Director

EMPOWER.

107J / 133E, Millerpuram

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INDIA

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