Patent ID: 6960745

Claim:
A heater comprising: a housing, a fan assembly positioned within the housing, the fan assembly comprising a motor and a fan operatively coupled to the motor; a heating element; a front radiative portion, the fan assembly drawing air warmed by the heating element and discharging the warmed air to the surroundings through the front radiative portion; an electronic control circuit electrically coupled to the motor and adapted to provide power thereto, the electronic control circuit comprising a push-button switch, a plurality of discretely incremented pre-set threshold temperature values available in an automatic mode of operation, a sensor for sensing air temperature, and a means for comparing a pre-set threshold temperature to the sensed air temperature, wherein the push-button switch selects one of the plurality of discretely incremented pre-set threshold temperature values by repeated depression of the push-button switch, and further wherein the electronic control circuit provides power to the motor and to the heating element when the sensed air temperature is below the selected pre-set threshold temperature and terminates the power to the motor and the heating element when the sensed air temperature is substantially equal to the selected pre-set threshold temperature value in the automatic mode; and a series of light-emitting diodes, each light-emitting diode corresponding to one of the plurality of discretely incremented pre-set threshold temperature values, wherein each sequential depression of the push-button switch energizes thee light-emitting diode corresponding to the selected pre-set threshold temperature.