At 06:58 PM 1/27/2009, chris and/or ruth wrote...
>That old milk house heater? It's huge and noisy. That duel element
>HOLMES "ceramic" heater? They won't put out enough heat...Get a real
>ceramic heater; Pelonis Ceramic disc heater.

As far as electric heaters, an "x" watt heater is an "x" watt heater.
All electric heaters are 100% efficient.

The Holmes in question (HCH4166) puts out 750 or 1500 watts, depending
on the switch setting. The Pelonis NTK15 put out the same max 1500
watts (as do all of the other Pelonis ceramics I looked at). Zero
difference in heat output, although there may be difference in the
quality of the thermostat, construction, etc. The biggest difference is
probably that you pay a premium for a Pelonis (~$50 vs. $25 for a
Holmes) because they have higher advertising costs (and likely higher
profit margins).

I'm pretty sure that government regulations require that all new space
heaters have tip-over cutoffs and other safety features. There seems to
be a 1500W limit for 110AC heaters, I'm not sure if that's by
regulation or a UL requirement. In any case, it would be ill-advised to
use an electric heater of more than 1500W in a Vanagon.

One thing which can make a difference in comfort (but not heat) would
be to get a radiant heater, such as a quartz infrared, which radiates
the heat and can make a person feel warmer if they're positioned in
front of it (because it's warming the person, and not just the air).
These can make you feel warmer than the air temperature. But if we're
talking about heating a Westy so you're warm in the top bunk, it won't
make any difference.