What I guessed you meant.  The oil filled heaters, to me, are a more pleasant and gentle heat. Efficient?  Dunno. 

Karl Wolz
Sent from my electronic umbilicus

> On Dec 9, 2013, at 9:53 AM, Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> 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.
>>