Efficiency :
A heat pump is bar none just a whole lot more efficient. I used to have to heat my room with a Walmart special radiator heater . (If your going to heat with space at least use the radiator) I grabbed a kw meter to measure how much power that thing consumed . Lets just say it is ridiculous . I researched how and why they did so much. I found out that they have to basically make the power. Heat pumps simply dont have to make theirs. They use Freon and a few other electronics to basically borrow the energy.
How heat pumps work :
A heat pump uses a liquid that is called Freon this is its blood . The compressor is the heart . When you turn on the heat . The outside Freon is usually gas this allows the heat to be gathered and absorbed much easier than if it was still in a liquid form . It is transferred through a few tubes and valves to get changed from a gas to liquid this increases the heat also from it being compressed then it comes to the inside and is blown out through the air vents to keep you warm.
How a heat pump works with a experiment:
The simplest way to get a visual aid of how a heat pump works is by using a balloon a sharpie and someone with good lungs.
First you air the balloon up hold the bottom so the air cant escape . Make 10 smiley faces on your balloon with your sharpie. This is basically what is happening on the outside . The smiley faces are your heat. Next step is option 1 you can hold it and let all the air out . Or if you have a kid let it loose and watch it fly all around the room (dont do this in a glass room ). Now you will retrieve your balloon . You look at all your smiley faces . They are much smaller and grouped together. This is how the Freon is on the inside now and the heat is more compact and a fan is being blowed across to release the energy into your room. The reason that the Freon acts this way is when it is a gas it is much easier for energy to be absorbed than when it is in its liquid state. You can take your sharpie and attempt to draw the same amount of smileys you would find that you would run out of room rather quickly unless you used some sort of microscope but that would then defeat the purpose of the demonstration.
Comparison:
I have found that my mini split uses 3 times less energy to heat the same amount of space . To put this in laymen terms . I can heat my whole half house on a harsh condition day to where with the space heater i could only heat one room. The mini split is much more comfortable than the space heater although the space heater does get much more hot and is relaxing to be in front of . So the next time your thinking about getting something to heat with . You may wanna check into a mini split.