Is infrared heating worth it?

Infrared makes strong sense when the upfront cost and disruption of a wet system are hard to justify: single rooms and extensions, conservatories, home offices, workshops, churches and village halls used in short bursts, and listed or solid-wall buildings where pipework is intrusive. It is also a popular, comfortable upgrade from ageing storage and panel heaters, with slim fittings and per-room control.

For off-gas-grid homes the comparison is not against cheap mains gas but against oil, LPG and old electric heating — and there infrared's low install cost, zonal control and zero maintenance are genuinely competitive.

If you want to heat a whole, reasonably insulated home continuously, a heat pump moving about three units of heat per unit of electricity will cost less to run, and it qualifies for the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant that infrared does not. With a gas connection, whole-home gas central heating is also cheaper per kWh today. We will tell you honestly when one of these is the better fit.

Worth it is not only about running cost. Infrared adds value through low install cost, no maintenance or servicing, no boiler or flue, instant comfort, and freeing up floor and wall space. For many rooms that mix of low disruption and precise control is exactly what makes it the right call — run your own numbers on the calculator to be sure.