Some addition comments
- Electric baseboard heat is probably the cheapest and easiest to install. The biggest draw back is you can not place anything in front or it will block the heat flow and/or potentially be a fire hazard.
- Ceiling hung propane/natural gas fired heater/furnace is probably the second cheapest/easiest to install. These work great for recovery, especially if the area has had no heat for several hours. Oversizing does not cost a huge amount extra.
- Mini-split heat pumps are probably the most expensive to install, but the big bonus is that you get A/C for free. Oversizing is a good idea, but big units tend to be less efficient and cost a lot more.
In the video, there is a fairly detailed explanation of cost of operation of all 3 choices.
The biggest issue is obtaining Coefficient of Performance (COP) across the ambient temperature range for you specific mini-split ! This data is not easily available for any of the systems I have researched. Without out it, any claims of "cost of operation" are just wild *** guesses !
Most interesting "take away" that I got from the video is that in the mini-split vs propane "cost of operation" debate, propane does WIN if your temperatures are below about +10F !
The author of the above video lives in Northern MN. He know that the number of hours per year when the temp is below +10F is not that many. Mini-split "cost of operation" WINS BIG TIME when the outside temperature is above +30F ! He even states, that having some kind of non/low electricity demand heating solution is a good idea.
