Please help me out here. I did TONS of research to see what my equipment puts out in wattage and was even on another forum. I like to get a 2nd opinion here. Here's my scenario:

I have ONE ROOM that I want to heat. My SMALL living room. I have been using baseboard heating since I got the house 18 years ago. When winter comes, its expensive. So, I decided to try infra-red. Ever since I put it in, my heating bill has been going up and up. But then again - it's a very cold winter! So I want to know - if it's the new heater causing it, or the cold weather.

The specs:
My home is kind of old. Was built in the early 70s. It has a 10 foot baseboard heater. Upon research, I see that the average is 225 watts per foot. So that makes this heater 2250 watts.

My infra-red heater is 1500 watts. Its only used in the living room, and we have a heavy blanket covering the entrance way into the dining room, so the only room being heated by this device is the living room.

So - is it more expensive to run this infra-red heater? Or should I keep using the baseboard heater. In the other forum I asked this in they were talking about heat distribution methods, and BTUs, and more. Does this really factor in? I just want a 2nd opinion. Help me save money!

Thanks!!

It's an old house... probibly has little insulation in the walls and attic... and its been a very cold winter. It's a combination of things.

When you close off a room, chances are that heat is being drawn right through inner walls to cold rooms. An early 70s house probably has 4" insulation in the outer walls and attic. First thing you should do is add a LOT of attic insulation. Make sure all windows and spaces around water spigots to the outside in the cellar are well sealed. Go all around the edges of your windows and see if they feel drafty, and if so, seal them with any number of products.

Yes, what method does the baseboard use to transmit heat? I wouldn't call infra red very good unless you are sitting right in front of it. It doesn't store any heat, the way water or oil filled pipes do, or ceramic space heaters. I keep a tiny 200W heater on my desk, because that's where I spend a lot of time. It cost about $20.

I closed off half my house, and expected to save more than I am saving, but I know for sure that the 'degree days' in New England this year are much higher than last year.
Google 'degree days (your state)' and you should find them for any year you want. It does take a bit of work to figure out how they work from season to season.
Also, my electric company snuck in a big rate increase in January! I have propane for heat - that went way up too.
C'est la vie.

3 parts to electric use: usage (KWH), rate, and degree days

This isn't exactly high scientific data, just based on my own limited records.
But, just for the month of Jan. 2014, in central PA we had about 21 days out of 31 where the daily low temperature was less than 20 deg., compared to Jan. 2013 during which there were only 5 days with temps that low.
For that same month, 11 days below 10 deg. in 2014 vs. 2 days below 10 deg. in 2013. Below zero, one day in Jan. 2014 vs. no days blow zero in Jan. 2013.
I think that you have avoided even higher bills by the use of the infrared heater, and your other measures. Infrared heaters can concentrate the heat more directly where you most want it.
It is difficult to compare heating costs from year to year because of the many variables. Heating fuel suppliers use degree days (or at least they used to) to help anticipate homeowner delivery schedules. Degree day def: "a unit used to determine the heating requirements of buildings, representing a fall of one degree below a specified average outdoor temperature (usually 18°C or 65°F) for one day."
If I use my own example and arbitrarily assume that 2013 represented an average temperature year, then Jan 2014 was a negative (-) 323 degree day month on my scale.
For comparison, a Jan., where every day, the actual temperature was one degree lower than every corresponding day temp. in the historically average Jan., would constitute a negative (-) 31 degree day month for me.
I believe that is the equivalent of every low temp. of every day in Jan. 2014 being 10 degrees lower than the low temp. for Jan. 2013 (the month I arbitrarily used to represent an average Jan.).
Not certain that all of the above is 100% accurate, but suffice it to say that this has been a very cold a$$ 2014 so far, in my region.
If you have a finished basement, you can do even better (winter and summer).
Just use appropriate caution with electric heaters. Make certain that you have them on acceptable circuits and avoid leaving them unattended to the extent possible.

Wattage is the factor. You are using less power with the infra red. However, remember that an infrared heater, if direct exposure, only heats the person in front. A quartz infrared does both radiant and convective. A baseboard heater is convective and heats the air. As of 7AM Saturday, the average low temp in the US was 11 degrees F. That's cold and surely a source of your costs.

Thank you for all your replies. I guess its so difficult to see which is better because of all the factors. The infra-red seems to run 24/7. The baseboard tops off at 70 degrees (which the thermostat is set at) and doesn't run 24/7.

I really wish I knew, or really wish I could tell for sure. I'm getting conflicting answers, so I really don't know what to do. Argh.

I only use a heater when I'm sitting right in front of it. I have never found it cost effective to heat a whole room with one of any kind. It isn't storing ANY heat the way the baseboard is.

It's like a woodstove - when the wood is blazing away, tons of heat is emitted. If you put cast iron objects all over it (sash weights, big kettles, anything iron), those objects get hot and retain the heat for slow emission when the fire dies down. The ifra red can't do that; the baseboard does.

One trick you can do it to put a black sheet of steel in front of an infrared heater. Much of the IR energy is converted to convective heat and can heat a room.

If you are using standard electric baseboard, it stores virtually no heat. The more mass an object has, the slower it will heat & cool. IR heats objects, which in turn, radiate their heat to the surrounding air. Conventive heat, such as electric baseboard, heats the air which in turn heats the objects.