I've been looking into a flat panel heater as well. I don't have one as of yet, so all I can share is what I've seen on reviews, mostly off
amazon. The 400 watt flat panel heater sits a few inches off the wall, creating convection heat by warming the air between the panel and the wall. The heat rises and new, cold air enters from below. That air gets heated, released and the cycle continues. However, 400 watts is cheap to run, but also only heats up 400 watts worth of warmth. It's not going to be like a standard room heater.
Some folks have mentioned that there are instructions inside the box stating not to use it in a humid location (like a bathroom) or on an exterior wall. Also, reviewers have said that it did a pretty good job heating things up within the first 9 inches, but after that the efficiency was negligible. There were also quite a few reviews stating that the ceramic had cracked after just a little bit of use, creating a potential fire hazard. If I can find one for under $50, I might give it a try, but the reviews seemed questionable to spend too much money on. I'm currently using a 250 watt ceramic bulb hard wired over the roost, which I'm pretty happy with. When the weather gets REALLY cold, like in January, I add an infrared bulb to heat the air a little more than the ceramic does (it heats surfaces more than air). I barely noticed a blip on my electricity bill last winter, which was a pretty harsh year.
