Honeycomb type heating device and method of using the same

A method of using a honeycomb type heating device including a pillar-shaped honeycomb substrate which includes a porous partition wall defining a plurality of cells extending from one end face to the other end face and a circumferential wall surrounding the partition wall;

• and a plurality of heaters which are disposed adjacently in a circumferential direction of an outer circumferential face that is an outer surface of the circumferential wall, on the outer circumferential face, wherein each heater is a resistance heating heater which radiates heat by a current supplied thereto, each heater comes into face-contact with the outer circumferential face, and a ratio of a total area of a portion covered by the heaters of the outer circumferential face with respect to the entire area of the outer circumferential face is 50 to 100%, comprising
• installing the honeycomb type heating device having an exhaust gas purifying catalyst loaded on a honeycomb substrate in an exhaust gas emitting path for an exhaust gas emitted from an engine, and
• beginning supplying a current to each heater before start-up of the engine to heat each heater and increase a temperature of the honeycomb substrate loading exhaust gas purifying catalyst thereon to a temperature equal to or more than a catalyst activating temperature of the catalyst.