Space heaters

Three pages cover portable space heaters. Two are for electric heaters: one for a heater that keeps shutting itself off, and one for a Lasko heater that won't turn on. Both start from what the manuals stress most, that an electric heater which shuts off is usually its own overheat or tip-over protection doing its job rather than a fault. The third is for Mr. Heater's propane Buddy heaters: the Little Buddy, Portable Buddy, Big Buddy and Buddy FLEX, with each model's troubleshooting chart copied from its 2020 owner's manual and cited by page.

Each page works through the causes in the order the manufacturer gives them and says where an owner should stop and hand the heater to the manufacturer or a service agency.

Electric and propane heaters fail and hurt people in different ways, so the safety rules differ too. The electric pages follow CPSC guidance and the manufacturers' manuals on clearance and wall outlets. The propane page quotes Mr. Heater's own carbon monoxide, ventilation and fire warnings. The electricity cost calculator below estimates what an electric heater costs to run.