Safe use of portable heaters at UCL

Portable heaters or air-conditioning units require authorisation from Estates for the following reasons:

• Portable heaters close to temperature sensors can ‘fool’ the sensors into thinking that the entire building is warmer than it is, preventing other parts of the building being heated. 
• The electrical system may not be designed for heavy electrical loads that heaters typically require, and they can potentially cause overloads, trips and disastrous circuit failures. 
• Portable heating/cooling units produce three times more CO2 compared to centralised heating/cooling systems. 
• Portable heaters can pose a fire hazard, which has led to fire incidents in buildings. 

If existing systems are found by Estates Services to be incapable of meeting acceptable conditions due to plant failure, building condition, or extreme climatic conditions, Estates will consider appropriate options to maintain a comfortable internal temperature, which may include the provision of portable heating and cooling devices. For further information, please see the UCL Heating, Cooling and Ventilation Policy. 

Please make service requests via the Customer Services Helpdesk (or via MyCampus if related to one of the pilot sites). 

Any portable heaters or coolers that are not provided by Estates may be removed by the Estates team without notice. 

Which portable heaters are allowed (subject to Estates authorisation) 

• Oil filled (radiant) radiators 

Which heaters are not allowed 

• Open electrical bar heaters 
• Halogen heaters 
• Convector heaters (e.g. fan heaters) 

You can find out more regarding the safe use of portable heaters on the TN040 technical note from UCL Fire Safety.