I have heard about air ionizers that produce harmful ozone in the air and I was wondering if electric ceramic fan heaters produce ozone?
Firstly, no - they do not produce ozone. Secondly, ozone is a necessary gas that shields the earth from ultraviolet radiation and you from skin cancer. Breathing ozone gas gives me a bit of a sore throat and isn't particularly healthy, but the small amount produced by air ionizers is harmless. Ever notice that funny smell around large copying machines? That's ozone gas. It's produced whenever a highly charged wire is exposed to ordinary atmosphere or when an electric arc is maintained in the air as in some manufacturing plants such as during the plastic extrusion process for making bags. Some copy machines use these high voltage corona wires to charge the copying drum or to pull the powdered toner onto the paper.
No. Ceramic heaters just warm the air. The only thing special about a ceramic heater is that the ceramic heating element is an electrically heated, conductive ceramic material that becomes electrically non conductive at some temperature, so that it automatically limits how hot it will heat itself. This is a fire safety issue and an operational regulation issue, but does not involve any process that produces ozone. -- Regards, John Popelish
Any electric appliance that has more than a couple of volts potential difference in it, makes some ozone. So yes, a ceramic heater will make a few thousand ozone molecules. not enough to detect without specialized equipment, and not enough to worry about even if you have asthma. Probably more made by the fan in that heater, and more still by the wiring in your house. Still only barely detectable.
