I bought a Delonghi oil heater three months ago and for the past week it hasn't been heating like it used to. I've got it plugged into the same outlet as always, but it barely gets warm. Does this happen to anyone else or is mine just broken?
If it's been three months and it suddenly got worse, it could also be that the thermostat has reached the end of its life - those Delonghi models aren't the most robust in that regard. What I'd do is plug it into a power strip with a power indicator to see if it's consuming the watts it should be, because if the heating element is starting to fail internally, the unit keeps running but heats a lot less without anything looking wrong on the outside.
It's not necessarily broken, because oil heaters have several failure points that aren't serious. Most likely the thermostat is miscalibrated or there's dust buildup inside that's reducing heat transfer - those things get pretty dirty over time. Before you toss it, try cleaning it really well on the outside with a damp cloth and check that the vents aren't clogged. If that doesn't work, it could be a thermostat issue, which is the cheapest thing to repair or replace.
Before you assume it's broken, check the power cable, especially where it plugs into the radiator - those connectors loosen up over time from vibration, and then the heating element gets less current than it should. Try plugging it into a different outlet to rule out problems with your house's electrical circuit. If it's still just warm, then it's more likely the thermostat is failing or the oil has slowly leaked out (though that's rarer in Delonghi), but that loose cable is what nobody checks first and it's the most common issue.
Have you noticed if the cable is hot to the touch or if the radiator hums like it usually does when you turn it on? I'm asking because something that nobody's mentioned is that these devices have an internal thermal safety fuse, and if it trips even once, it doesn't reset on its own. It happens when there's a voltage spike or if the heating element starts to fail. In that case it won't even warm up even if the thermostat works perfectly.
What I'd do is plug it into a different outlet somewhere else in the house, but in a different room to rule out problems with that circuit. Oil radiators use quite a bit of power, and if your wiring has something weird going on or is overloaded, the voltage the device gets might drop. Also check that the cable isn't bent anywhere where you store it or where it's resting, because that degrades the insulation and causes intermittent power cuts.
The thermostat that was mentioned above is a likely suspect, sure, but before assuming it's dead I'd say check carefully where you're plugging the thing in and how you're storing it. After three months it should still be throwing out a lot of heat, so something external to the radiator itself is going on. If it's still the same after you try a different outlet, then it starts to sound like an internal failure.
Log into answer.
