The simple way to understand this is that all the different types of energy that a space heater converts electricity into will eventually become heat:
- The heating elements will transfer some of their heat energy to the atmosphere directly through convection.
- Electromagnetic radiation given off by these elements because of their high temperature (both visible and infrared) will eventually be absorbed by some object in the room, increasing the object's temperature. This heat will be transfered to the atmosphere through convection as well.
- Energy lost in the wires connecting the heater to the wall outlet is not really lost, it's converted into heat just as it is in the heating elements.
- If the heater has a fan, this fan will accelerate the air around it, providing this air with kinetic energy. Eventually this kinetic energy will be lost through friction as the moving air collides with objects in the room. Friction results in this energy being converted into... Yup! Heat.
Space heaters, as well as any other appliance whose purpose is converting electricity into heat, do their job perfectly. It is a simple
fact that most forms of
energy will eventually become heat in the system.
Entropy rises, that's life.