To be clear, when I said "oil filled" heaters, I wasn't referring to
heaters that use oil as a fuel, we don't do that here on the West Side
of the USA near as I know. I meant the kind that look vaguely like an
old-school steam radiator which are filled with oil -- possibly mineral
oil -- and the electric heating elements heat the oil, which is then
radiated by the "fins" of the heater.

--
Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
Bend, Ore.

On 12/09/2013 08:33 AM, Dennis Haynes wrote:
> For the most part you are correct. Different types of heaters do "feel" better for various reasons. Depending on your electric rate electric may be competitive with oil.
>
> Dennis,
>  From my phone.
> ________________________________
> From: Rocket J Squirrel<mailto:camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: ‎12/‎9/‎2013 10:59 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM<mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Subject: [OT] Efficiency of electric heaters?
>
> Hi all,
>
> (This is not Vanagon-related but I don't know another pool of engineers
> and scientists to write to, so I'm writing here for help.)
>
> It's pretty cold here in Bend, Oregon, and the house that her son is
> renting is colder than he'd like. It's an older house, built cheaply,
> and only has electric baseboard heaters -- no gas, no fireplace.
>
> Mrs Elliott has been looking at electric heaters and asks whether some
> put out more heat than others. "1500 Watts is 1500 Watts, same BTUs" I sez.
>
> I sez, "It doesn't matter whether the heating elements are fifteen
> one-hundred Watt light bulbs, or whether the heating elements are put in
> an oil bath; it doesn't matter whether they write the words `infrared'
> or `quartz' on the enclosure: you'll put the same heat into the room.
> All heaters are alike in terms of heat output.
>
> "Sure, an infrared heater can be `aimed' directly at your body, which is
> real nice; and others have blowers that can direct the heated air and
> stir the air to keep the colder air from pooling on the floor, but in
> terms of how warm the overall air in the room eventually gets, all 1500
> Watt heaters are the same."
>
> That's what I sez. But she knows I'm a bit of an idiot sometimes and is
> tempted by expensive 1500 Watt heaters, thinking there must be a reason
> why they promote this quartz or that oil-filled feature. She points out
> that when you turn off an oil-filled heater, it still radiates heat for
> quite some time afterwards; I point out that the slow cooling is matched
> by slower warming.
>
> Can the engineers and scientists in the room comment on this matter? So
> that This Marriage Can Be Saved? If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.
>
> (Probably don't want to clutter up the list with this, please email to
> me directly.)
>
> --
> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
> 1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
> Bend, Ore.
>