PICTURE THREAD REQUEST: Space Heaters

[vacbear58]

Dimplex

I am guessing that the Dimplex model was an import from the UK, its a brand name that is still going strong here.

This tupe of heater was very popular in the 1920s and particularly the 1930s, very commonly installed in bedrooms or rooms of occasional use, where a quick warm up was necessary - remember these were the days before central heating was common. Often they were installed on small decorative (and definatly non functioning) fireplaces.

Here is a much later version of something similar, although not as attractive. But it gives the idea

 

[vacbear58]

Malleys Warma

That type of heater was very popular here throughout the 1950s and 1960s too. My aunt had one, and there was a large glass container in the back which held the paraffin ("Pink Paraffin" or "Esso Blue") - there was a domed burner in the front and I suppose it must have operated along the same principle as a gas mantle.

The ones I remember were quite bulky and had a reputation of being very dangerous if they got knocked over. I dont remember seeing them much (if at all) after the late 1960s - i expect most houses had sufficient wiring to accomodate small electric fires or fan heaters which were far more convenient than mucking around with cans of paraffin, not to mention the fire hazard of either the heater or the cans of fuel

 

[vacbear58]

This was also populat here too

No glowing element here, more what we would call a convector heater

 

[vacbear58]

And I am afraid

you have to be of "a certain age" to remember this one - there were two major brands of paraffin that i remember "Pink Paraffin" and "Esso Blue" so named because they were tinted in these colours

As a side point, i wonder if this was voiced by Bill Waddington, who played Percy Sugden in Coronation Street for years

 

[vacbear58]

We had one of these

The two bar Princess model in bronze and with logs.

The logs were created from some sort of papier machie effect which was slightly transparant. Underneath these was a red bulb with s small circular fan type blade over it. The heat from the bulb caused the blade to slowly rotate creating a "real flame" flicker effect as if it really was a basket of glowing logs. At least that was the idea, it looked nothing of the kind really.

 

[vacbear58]

And finally

i could not resist posting this one, the Melrose - this brochure is from 1961, the design looks like it might have come from 1935

Al

 

[74simon]

Very interesting, I didn't know that electric heaters were well known in the USA, as I thought the maximum wattages for a 115v socket would have made them ineffective compared to a European appliance running on twice the voltage, and it's delightful to see I was wrong - the art deco Markel and green Arvin are especially striking.

 

Al, thanks for posting the Belling brochure, I can't help but feel that there's an irony that some of the fires qualified for a Clean Air Act grant, considering that most of of power stations were coal fired back then!  I do think that the 'Adam' was one of the ugliest fires ever!

 

My family had a Paraffin (Kerosene) heater until around 1979-80. Our flat was equipped with an electric fire in the living room, but my mum wouldn't use it as it cost too much for her to run. I think we used Pink Paraffin, and I remember my mum going out to the Paraffin man with our neighbours - he'd drive from street to street in his lorry, like selling ice cream. In winter we used to get dressed and even wash in front of it, as the only other heating in the flat was one of those combined lamp/heaters in the bathroom, and it couldn't cut it in northern Scottish winters. Luckily for us, my grandad was a gas engineer, and we eventually got gas heating and a Berry Magicoal fire put in at family rates!

 

I do think safety can be an issue with older electric fires though. The lack of safety cutouts, and the skimpy element guarding on some (an uncle of mine was injured as a child as he grasped a live bar type element) makes them a worry, and I notice some of the above seem to be Class 0 or 01 - single insulation with no earth.

 

Also, although I think one mustn't panic too much about asbestos content in vintage appliances, I own a couple of 1930s fan heaters that I bought from a family with children who used them sometimes. Part of the construction involved strips of asbestos mat to keep the elements separate, but some of the strips were deteriorating to the extent that they had started to crumble and asbestos dust was present - and would have been blown out into the room if the fire were switched on. One has since been stripped down outside, with the asbestos dampened and double-bagged, the other is still wrapped in a couple of bin liners, but I understand that there are asbestos substitutes available.