Anyone in the know about infrared/quartz heat?

Some friends ripped the antique gas space heater out of their basement and now pipes are bursting left and right. They don't want to put it back because it's "not to code". They are thinking about infrared/quartz heat. I am not sure about it because electricity here in Illinois just became deregulated and prices shot up by 1/3.
Anyone have any advice about this?

Examples:

http://www.valuevacuum.com/EdenPure_Suntwin_Quartz_Infrared_Heaters_s/18.htm

Thanks!

ho333ard said:

gas space heater

Click to expand...

Is there still gas available? That would be the cheapest way to heat.

Rancher

One way with gas is to use one of the new heaters that discharge through a PVC pipe. They are efficient and relatively inexpensive.

I have seen the kerosene or fuel oil fired torpedo heaters that do a good job for temporary heat. http://www.air-n-water.com/product/E48.html

Here is a site that has natural gas fired heaters 30,000 BTU per hour capacity that cost less than $250. http://www.glowwarm.com/

Quartz heaters are just another way of converting electricity to heat. If I needed to use electric heat in an emergency, I would get the cheapest heater I could find. Even turning on the electric stove could help get through the cold snap.