Fast acting fuse okay?

Will a fast acting fuse work okay to protect wire leading to a heating element.

The fuse is 20 amps and the element should only draw 16 amps. I would've preferred slow blow, but I can't find them locally and I want fuses I can drive up the street to a local shop and replace if needed.

Should be fine, but just wondering if anyone has had any problems with them.

The worst that will happen if you use an inferior fuse will be that the heater will draw more current than the fuse can handle and it will burn-out cutting power to your heater. (as it's meant to)

As long as your maximum draw is only 16 amps a 20 amp fuse should be sufficient, if it's not just replace it with a slightly higher amp fuse. Just don't go with a super high-power fuse because that defeats the whole purpose of the fuse. (protecting the heating element from overdrawing and daming itself/burning down your house)

The heating element may have a high inrush current but nothing like a motor startup current. I think the inrush is for such a short time and not high enough, that it wont blow the fuse If it does then go for a slow blow fuse and buy a couple extra though you should not have to replace it.

resistive loads have practically no inrush, youll be fine