There are primarily two types of heaters Radiant heaters and Convective heaters - each serves a bit of a different purpose and each will have its own group of fans. In general, a radiant heater is more than sufficient to warm a room, although both the radiant and conductive models have their own good and bad points.
What Does a Convective Heater Do?
A convective heater warms the air. That is the air is pulled in heated and then pushed out. These heaters are typically used in larger spaces to warm the air thereby warming the room. Convective heaters usually have a fan system as well as a heating element. The system will drive the air in and heat it using the heating element than push it back out through the fan system this is a continuous cycle that is complete when the air reaches a certain temperature and registers on the thermostat attached to the heater. Usually the heater is set to a certain temperature and will shut down when that temperature is reached. Convective heaters typically use electricity as their power source, but can sometimes rely on a combination of energy sources.
What Does Radiant Heaters Do?
Unlike a convective heater a radiant heater does not heat up the air. Instead the heat is focused toward one specific area. It works by the heating element getting very hot and giving off heat. Usually the heat will not be felt beyond five feet maximum into a room. The element heats up and usually turns a bright red or orange and emits heat from the elements thereby warming anything in the immediate vicinity. The element gets very hot to the touch and can cause burns. There is usually a warning grid in front of the unit that will shut the unit down quickly if something or someone bumps up against it or if it tips over. Radiant heaters are very good for small spaces or to keep one or two people warm that are sitting in the immediate vicinity of the heater they are not very effective at keeping an entire room warm.
Costs
The cost for initial purchase of the heaters is around the same. The operating costs may be a bit higher with the radiant models simply because they do not heat as effectively and may be ran more often. Typically it is going to cost around ten dollars a day to run either type of heater. They are not very energy efficient.
