Combustion heater

In a combustion heater for heating a vehicle compartment or for keeping foods warm, said combustion heater including a combustor having a glow plug, voltage-applying means for applying a voltage to said glow plug, fuel supply means for supplying fuel to said combustor, air supply means for supplying air for combustion to said combustor, ignition-detecting means for detecting ignition of said combustor, and control means for controlling operations of said glow plug, said voltage-applying means, said fuel supply means, and said air supply means,

• the improvement wherein said control means is responsive to an instruction signal instructing starting ignition of said combustor supplied thereto for starting to cause said voltage-applying means to apply a first predetermined voltage to said glow plug, and at the same time starting to cause both of said fuel supply means and said air supply means to operate for a first predetermined time period, and when ignition of said combustor is detected by said ignition-detecting means, said control means starts to cause both of said fuel supply means and said air supply means to operate, and at the same time starts to cause said voltage-applying means to apply a second predetermined voltage lower than said first perdetermined voltage to said glow plug;
• said control means causing said voltage-applying means to apply a third predetermined voltage lower than said first predetermined voltage to said glow plug after a second predetermined time period has elapsed after said first predetermined time period elapsed, until ignition of said combustor is detected by said ignition-detecting means.