Upright radiant electric heating appliance

This invention relates generally to portable electric room air heaters and particularly to upright radiant heaters suitable for placement in a corner or any other location in a room while occupying a minimum amount of floor space. As will become apparent to those familiar with the art, aspects of this invention may be used with other types of heaters. An upright radiant electrical heater has a reflector assembly supporting a vertically-extending heating element assembly that radiates energy through substantially 360 degree. The reflector assembly includes heat reflective panels that disperse heat horizontally over substantially 90 degrees through an open grill at the front of the heater and vertically in a substantially uniform manner so that hot spots are avoided. A fan forces room air into the heater from below the reflector assembly, upwardly through an air passage behind the assembly into an open control chamber at the top of the heater, and outwardly into the room through ducts along the top front edge of the assembly. A thermostatic control for the heating element assembly and the fan motor is located in the air passage at the top of the heater. The flowing air maintains the exterior of the heater relatively cool to the touch, allowing parts of the housing to be molded from a thermoplastic material into aesthetically-pleasing shapes. Power is supplied to the heating element assembly by one or more cold wires including a horizontally-extending cold wire section located between the bottom of the heating element assembly and the top of the fan blade. The heating element assembly includes coiled resistance wires which are mounted in tension in order to reduce noise created by the heating element assembly when first energized.