It should automatically restart.....BUT what happened is that when you unplugged it, you cut off the blower at the same time you cut off the heat element(s). The way it is supposed to work, is the thermostat cuts power off to the elements and the fan continus to run for a per-determined amount of time to remove al the heat from the elements. Then another 'fan control switch' shuts off the fan once the 'residual' heat is removed from the heater. Without that 'cool down' cycle, the hot element had enough 'residual' heat in it to trip off the 'thermal overload' in the circuit. The 'thermal overload'... or...'hi limit'...or...'hi temperature control' is resposible for shutting power off to the element(s) in the event that the blower fails.
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It should automatically restart.....BUT what happened is that when you unplugged it, you cut off the blower at the same time you cut off the heat element(s). The way it is supposed to work, is the thermostat cuts power off to the elements and the fan continus to run for a per-determined amount of time to remove al the heat from the elements. Then another 'fan control switch' shuts off the fan once the 'residual' heat is removed from the heater. Without that 'cool down' cycle, the hot element had enough 'residual' heat in it to trip off the 'thermal overload' in the circuit. The 'thermal overload'... or...'hi limit'...or...'hi temperature control' is resposible for shutting power off to the element(s) in the event that the blower fails.