PTC thermistors are ideal as heating elements because of their specific R/T characteristic. The positive R/T characteristic means that electric power consumed is automatically adapted to the ambient thermal conditions. If the ambient temperature is significantly higher than Tref or heat transfer is restricted, the resistance of the thermistor rises rapidly and power consumption is limited to a very low value. Thanks to these self-regulation properties, heating devices based on PTC thermistors can generally dispense with control and regulating components as well as overtemperature protection.

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