Do infrared panels use a lot of electricity?

Infrared panels are rated in watts, just like any heater. Common domestic sizes are 300 W, 600 W and 900 W. A 600 W panel running for one hour uses 0.6 kWh — at roughly 24.5p per kWh that is about 15p an hour.

Because infrared is resistive, there is no efficiency trick: watts in equals heat out. The way to spend less is to run fewer panel-hours, which is exactly what zonal, on-demand heating is designed to do.

First, insulation: a poorly insulated room loses heat two to three times faster than a well-insulated one, so the panel runs longer to hold temperature. Second, run time: heating one room for the hours you use it beats heating the whole house all day. Third, control: a good thermostat and timer stop panels running when the room is already warm or empty.

This is why the same panel can be cheap in a modern home office and expensive in a draughty conservatory — the panel is identical; the building and the habits are not.

Per kWh, infrared costs the same to run as any other direct electric heater and more than a heat pump or mains gas. Its advantage is avoiding wasted heat: you are not warming empty rooms or the air near a high ceiling. For whole-home, all-day heating, a heat pump will be cheaper; for targeted, intermittent heating, infrared often wins.