How does infrared heating work?

Conventional heating — radiators, warm-air units, fan heaters — works mainly by convection: it heats the air, the warm air rises, and you feel comfortable once the whole air volume of the room is warm. That is slow, and in tall or leaky rooms most of the heat ends up near the ceiling where nobody benefits.

Infrared skips the air. A panel warms up and radiates long-wave infrared, which passes through the air and is absorbed by whatever it hits — floors, walls, furniture and people. Those surfaces then gently re-radiate heat back, so the room feels warm at body level within minutes of switching on.

An infrared panel is a resistive electric heater, so every unit of electricity becomes one unit of heat — it is not more efficient per kWh than any other electric heater, and a heat pump moving three units of heat per unit of electricity will always be cheaper to run for whole-home heating.

Infrared's saving comes from where and when it heats: you warm only the occupied zone, on demand, without waiting to heat a large air volume. In a workshop used for two hours, a church used on Sundays, or a home office used nine-to-five, that targeted delivery can make it the cheapest practical option.

Infrared is strongest for single rooms, intermittently used spaces, hard-to-treat or listed buildings, and as a replacement for old storage heaters. It is a weaker choice than a heat pump for continuously heating a whole, well-insulated home, because the running cost per kWh is higher.

The honest test is simple: match the heat to the way you use the space. Use our running-cost calculator to see the numbers for your own room before deciding.