Timeline for Choosing Your Electric Heating Element into Your Device Design

Incorporating Your Heating Element into Your Industrial, Medical, or EOM Application Sooner than Expected

To design a component that functions to the highest level of efficiency and function, all aspects must be considered early in the planning process. Especially for heating elements used in mission-critical applications in medical, military, aviation, industrial, transportation, and other OEM sectors, proper planning and design of the heating element is vital at the inception of the project.

Potential Problems of Waiting Too Long to Design Your Heating Element

Adequate space, accessibility, and power availability are all things that will affect the final product function and design, and therefore deserve to be considered earlier on rather than waiting until the end of the design process and assuming the heating element in mind will fit and function perfectly.

• Space – if you wait until the end to add in the proper heating element, you may discover that not enough space was left to fit the proper heater—including lead configuration, clearances, and possible contamination issues—until it’s too late to make any changes.
  
  
• Accessibility – a continuation of “space,” accessibility needs to be considered as well. Can an engineer access the part of the application where the heating element needs to be installed? Even if you have the right amount of space left, if you cannot access the area to assemble properly, you may run into similar design issues. Access for maintenance or to easily replace a failed heater should also be considered.
  
  
• Wattage – if your specifications require a specific wattage, certain size criteria need to be met. Sometimes too much wattage is requested for the space available within the equipment, which leads to a watt density that is too high. A watt density that is too high results in a shorter life span for the heating element and early heater failure.
  
  
• Custom or stock – you may find that a stock heater is the perfect fit for your product—which may help save you time and money. We’ve had customers who thought they needed a custom-designed and built heating element, and a stock product did the job perfectly well. On the other hand, don’t assume that is the case. A custom heater may also allow you to do more with your end product than you thought possible. Either way, we will figure it out with you.

The Solution – Talk to Us Early in Your Process!

Our team at Backer Hotwatt wants to be a part of your design process as early as possible. Certain applications and industries, like the medical industry, require early collaboration to make sure the final product, often a custom-designed heating element, is as efficient and as accurate as possible. Expand your team’s expertise by involving us in the early stages of your project. You’ll have access to our knowledge and experience with details such as meeting the necessary criteria for certain agency requirements (CSA, UL, or others). Receive guidance in understanding the correct type of heater, along with various special design features, available for your application.

No project is too big or too small to get our feedback on. If you want a sneak peek at the many variables we consider to help you select the right electric heating element, check out our other blog on this topic.

We understand that every application and project is unique, so we’re ready to provide whatever level of support you may require. (We even helped a customer with solutions for $20 worth of heaters, with a three-minute phone conversation—we’re here for whatever you need!)

Bring us in at the beginning of your project to ensure you end up with the best possible outcome. Contact us today to be in touch with our team or connected with a preferred representative.

Why Choose Backer Hotwatt

Backer Hotwatt Incorporated has been manufacturing custom and stock electric heating elements for over 65 years. Backer Hotwatt is a quality supplier to industrial users and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the medical, commercial, packaging, instrumentation, aviation, transportation, refrigeration/air conditioning and military fields.

Our heaters include cartridge, air process, immersion, strip and finned strip, tubular and finned tubular, band, foil, flexible Glasrope®, crankcase, and ceramic heaters. We’re here to help you heat things up! Contact Backer Hotwatt today about your heating application needs and questions.