What is infrared heating?

Infrared heating uses electricity to warm a panel, which then radiates long-wave infrared. That radiation travels through the air and is absorbed by whatever it lands on — the floor, the walls, the furniture and you. Those surfaces warm up and gently give heat back, so the room feels comfortable at body level within minutes.

The key difference from conventional heating is what gets warmed first. A radiator or fan heater warms the air, which then has to fill the room before you feel comfortable. Infrared warms you and the room's surfaces directly, which is why it feels fast and works even in draughty or high-ceilinged spaces where warm air would just rise and escape.

In practice, infrared heating is a set of flat panels — on the wall like a large picture, or on the ceiling — each on a thermostat and timer. There is no boiler, no pipework, no flue and no servicing. Panels come as plain metal, mirrors, printed 'picture' panels or glass, so they can blend into a room.

Because it is electric and resistive, infrared costs the same per unit of heat as any direct electric heater — it is not a magic money-saver. Its advantage is control: you heat the room you are in, when you are in it.

Infrared is at its best for single rooms, intermittently used spaces (home offices, conservatories, workshops, churches), hard-to-treat or listed buildings, and as a replacement for old storage heaters. For continuously heating a whole, well-insulated home, a heat pump will usually be cheaper to run. The honest rule is to match the heat to how you use the space.