Our current place is a loft on the edge of Emeryville. Each unit has one of these giant boxes attached to the ceiling:
This Reznor heater is freakishly loud (imagine a 747 taking off in a small space) and so we hate using it.. I really hate using it, but the spouse will use it if he's desperate. Suffice to say, no one should be that desperate!
Fortunately Costco had one of these Dyson Hot+Cold things and with a $100 instant rebate (til Feb 1st) It was still a bit expensive but with some holiday gift cards we received from family, that helped make it a bit less painful. =)
Suffice to say Alexander likes it a LOT! He sits right next to and makes me a little nervous.. but as long as he doesn't stick his paws in or on it.. it's all good. We currently have it in our kitchen where it seems be placed in a good enough spot to warm a little of the living room area and the kitchen as a whole.. and doesn't short out the outlets.. (we originally had it plugged in near our window where it gets chilly, not realizing a good portion of our outlets were on the same circuit and tripped when I tried to use the microwave at the same time).
Here's a little video I made of Alexander looking very content: