I am sure JiK could explain this much better that I but I think the new heaters "transfer" the heat to nearby objects by electromagnetic radiation transfer. Kinda like a microwave heats up stuff but with infrared light, BUT, don't quote me on accounta I really don't know a whole lot about them except that several hundred dollars for a 1500 watt heater seems excessive to me so I never bothered to learn about them. Plus, they come in big boxes and surely they must be better than 1500 watt fan force ceramic heaters that come in small boxes for 10% of the price. BUT, I could be wrong.