Black & Decker Heater Fan BDHF200 - Nice, But....
Written: Oct 16 '03 (Updated Oct 17 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Looks nice, heats AND cools, lots of safety features, portable
Cons: Digital temp display acting wacky, not the best choice as a fan
The Bottom Line: Good for small rooms or offices. Lots of safety features. Temp display not reliable.
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| amyk49's Full Review: Black & Decker BDHF200 Electric Compact Heater |
A few months ago my husband bought the Black & Decker Heater Fan BDHF200 to use in his small shop area, to heat in cooler months, and to use in the fan only mode for summer.
I wanted to give the Black & Decker Heater Fan a try in my office area, because this room is away from the main house and tends to be a cold spot. While typing at the computer my hands sometimes get very cold, and I've been wanting an easy way to quickly warm them up. I have been using with satisfactory results the Delonghi Portable Radiator, but I thought the Black & Decker Heater Fan might work better because it would blow the warm air right at me.
~ Product Description
The Black & Decker Heater Fan BDHF200 is a small, compact unit, designed to be set on a table or on the floor. Its footprint is about 11" x 5", and about 11" high. It has a molded-in handle which is easy to grip, and makes the unit very portable if you need to move it from room to room.
This model also has the nifty option of being used in the fan only mode, which just blows air around like an ordinary fan, for use in cooling down a room.
Here are some other features offered with the Black & Decker Heater Fan BDHF200:
- Room Select Control, which allows you to choose the right amount of heat for small, medium or large rooms.
- Frost Watch Feature, will protect against freezing by turning on the unit if temperature drops below 40 degrees.
- Digital Temperature Display, shows the area temperature
- Cool Touch External Housing
- Overheat Indicator Light
- Thermostat which will cycle the unit on and off at desired setting.
This model also includes a lot of SAFETY FEATURES, such as:
- Protects against electrical fires by shutting off the unit if the cord is damaged.
- Automatically cuts power if the unit falls over in any direction, or is lifted up.
- Tip Over Switch powers off the unit if it's knocked over forward or backward.
- Safety Auto Off, will turn the unit off if it overheats
- Anti-Electric Shock Device built into the line cord
- Thermal Fuse provides backup overheating protection
~ Directions for Use
You should know that no other appliances should be plugged into the same circuit with this heater.
Turn the Room Select Dial to the appropriate setting for the room you want to heat. Suggested settings are Small, for about 10 x 10', Medium for 12 x 12', and Large for 12 x 16'.
Then turn the Thermostat Control to Hot, to activate the heater. Once the room gets to the desired temperature, turn the Thermostat Dial back towards Frost Watch until the fans cycles off. Now the heat will come on and off to maintain the desired temperature.
If you want to use the unit as a fan only with no heat, just move the dial to Fan Only and the Thermostat Control toward Hot until the fan comes on. No heating will occur.
~ My Experience
I decided to set the Black & Decker Heater Fan BDHF200 on a table behind and slightly to the left of where I'm sitting, about 4 feet away. My room is quite small, and I tried using the Small Room setting first. The air the came out of the heater was warm, but not very hot. I switched it to the Medium Room setting, and discovered that the air did not get hotter. On the Large Room setting, the heat coming out of the unit was the hottest. So the room settings, as far as I can tell, just make the air coming out of the unit hotter as you go to the larger room settings. I decided on the Medium Room setting.
I could see the room temperature displayed as about oh, 66 degrees. I let the heater go until the area temperature got to about 70, then turned the dial down toward Frost Watch, and the unit shut off. Now it should cycle on and off to keep the room about that temperature.
I went about my business, and noticed that after a while the unit did come back on. Great! The warm air felt good, and I could put my cold hands right up to the hot air to quickly warm them up.
Oh, and I should mention that the Black & Decker Heater Fan BDHF200 runs very smoothly and relatively quietly. Your basic fan-type sound. It sat very steady on the table.
My only complaint - I've been using the Black & Decker Heater Fan now for several days. It does a nice job of keeping my room comfortable. BUT, I have noticed that the digital area temperature display is going backwards!? After I get it set to the temperature I want, the fan shuts off and the display show the temperature going UP! When the temperature gets quite high, like 76 or so, the unit cycles on and the temperature on the display begins to go DOWN. This has been going on consistently, and I even had my husband look at it because he though I was nuts. But yes, he even verified it, when the unit is heating the temp display shows the temperature going down, and when it shuts off the temp goes up. Go figure.
Now the temperature display does run on batteries, which are included and installed. The batteries should last over a year, and this unit has only been run a few months. It takes LR44 (or AG13) batteries. I haven't tried changing the batteries, so that might fix the problem somehow.
In any case, if I just go by the feel of the room, it works fine. I just can't go by the temperature display.
Now as for the fan only mode, the Black & Decker Heater Fan BDHF200 works okay on the fan setting, but it really doesn't do as good a job of moving cool air around as an oscillating type fan. To get a lot of cooling air you'd want to sit pretty much right in front of the unit. But it would work.
The housing does indeed stay cool to the touch, so you don't have to worry about burning yourself.
~ Final Thoughts
The Black & Decker Heater Fan BDHF200 is a nice looking, portable heater/fan that works well I think for a smaller room. While it is relatively quiet, it does have the usual fan-type sound, so for sleeping you'd have it turning on and off all night. This is suitable for offices, small areas, work rooms, utility rooms and shops. Also, if you have an area you don't want to heat fully, but want to keep from freezing, the Frost Watch feature is nice.
There is a caution that this heater is not intended to be used in wet or moist locations, such as bathrooms or laundry areas, or in areas where paint or other flammable or volatile liquids are used or stored.
While I do like the Black & Decker Heater Fan, I'll probably go back to the quiet reliability of my oil-filled Delonghi Portable Radiator, and let my husband have the Black & Decker for his shop.
Recommended:
Yes
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