Fan Heater Tiger
One of the products most strongly associated with the Frico brand across many countries is the fan heater Tiger. We have tried to replace the Tiger with something new many times in the past. The reality, however, is that neither we nor any of our competitors have been able to develop a better product at a more competitive price. Nothing stands up against a Tiger.
Portable fan heaters became a part of the Frico product range in 1955 and have since been through several development stages. Back then, portable fan heaters were primarily used at construction sites to heat and thus dry out new buildings.
During the late seventies and early eighties, the requirements on temporary work sites increased and fan heaters were used more commonly for additional heating on sites where people worked. New fans were developed to meet demands to make them quieter, smaller and the air outlet warmer. To make the fan heaters functional in a less rugged setting, the colour was changed from green and grey-blue to white.
In 1992 R&D at Frico was given the task to create a new platform for a portable fan heater that would meet the demands from customers regarding design, usage and quality while maintaining production and assembly efficiency. After a thorough market analysis, a series of products with few details were created. However, the many features and components of these products were carefully selected and held the highest quality. The name of this new product series was Tiger which was launched in 1995.
Because we knew that design and ergonomics are crucial, we hired an industrial designer who created the shape and colour scheme. We asked what is essential at any worksite and came to the conclusion that fan heaters and fire extinguishers had this in common, therefore we chose to paint the Tiger fan heater red.
Former R&D Manager, Frico
A fun fact regarding its colour is that it was meant to be “Frico Red”. However, the manufacturer who made the tubular frame had another customer who ordered large quantities and used a red colour that only deviated slightly from “Frico Red”, so the colour of the Tiger fan heater today is IKEA-red no 7.
In the past 30 years, the competition has increased, but the Tiger is still manufactured in Sweden with the same high level of demand for quality and components. Customers within the trade know that buying trustworthy products, whether rain or shine, will pay off in the long term.
Speaking of rain or shine, the Tiger fan heater has an extra seal for the motor ensuring functionality in demanding environments such as rain. Below we have highlighted a few features that have made the Tiger fan heater successful for nearly 30 years.
The Tiger frame is designed to carry and protect the fan heater and therefore needs to be robust and stable. Devices up to 9 kW are balanced ensuring the Tiger remains portable and easy to carry and will not chafe against a person's leg.
The projecting part at the front ensures that the fan heater will not be able to be too close to a wall creating high temperatures on any surface. At the rear, the motor is protected by part of the frame which can also be used for temporary wall mounting. Many competitors have tried to copy this simple yet well-designed frame.
The so-called construction fans have high output with effective airflow resulting in efficient drying. The outlet grill of the Tiger directs air and heat longer with lower airflow which results in minimizing heating costs.
A smart added feature on the smaller models is a 230V-outlet socket. During the development of the Tiger, this was aimed at servicing power tools. Today this socket is used ideally for charging batteries or a smartphone.