Our inspector will allow both types of electric baseboards. It's just
that the standard electric baseboard can't have an outlet above. The
hydronic electric baseboard can.

No gas in our area. We have an oil boiler. Yes, I did think about
adding a zone for the basement, but just the copper pipe alone will
cost me about $300. And I'm not willing to do this work myself. Our
oil supply company does do this work and they want $800 - $1000.

If I go with the electrical baseboards, I can do it for $200 for all
parts for standard electric baseboards, or $300 for the hydronic
electric baseboards. Plus, I can do electrical work myself, and I
enjoy it, so I consider my time to be free.

This room in the basement gets used for only one or two days a week for
only a few hours at a time. It hardly ever gets below 60 degrees down
there, even on the coldest days. So, the heater won't have to work
very hard. This is why I'm leaning towards lower install costs rather
than lower operating costs.

I'm also considering in-wall fan-based heaters. Anybody have an
opinion about those?

John