The cost of running an Infrared Panel Heater can be pretty varied, with a wide variety of factors to consider. We shall look at breaking down the following steps to try and best assist someone in answering this question. Chiefly, it comes down to this core process: firstly, what's your total wattage requirement for the set-up? Secondly, what is your current electrical rate and charge (likely measured in kWh)? Thirdly, can you estimate hourly usage in a twenty-four-hour period? Combining these factors should provide a pretty accurate understanding of the running costs.
So, first things first:
What sort of panel heaters do I need?
Luckily, we have already prepared this great article - which will take you, step-by-step, through the process to determine the sorts of panel demands you'd be needing for your requirements - specification complete! Let's move forward to the next stage:
What is my energy cost? - likely measured in KiloWatt Hours (kWh)
So this section is where we can get a little differential in measurement. According to the UK government website:
"The floor unit prices vary by region and payment type but for electricity average at 34p/kWh"
Floor price means the 'maximum cost of running' as such - most of your energy companies or competing energy firms would cost under this, however, let's just run this as an example, one hour's worth of electrical demand, at a kilowatt's worth of draw, would cost the end user such as yourself 34 pence. (prices correct at time of writing 18/05/23). The best way to figure out your cost would be to check on your latest electricity bill or contact your energy provider to ensure your rough rate regarding this, could also be a good cause to check on competitors too!
Estimate or decide upon your total hours heating.
We've reached one of the final steps here. It's time to decide for how long you might want to utilise your infrared panel heaters on for. Naturally, in winter times you're more likely to turn on the heaters, with summer requiring less time or no time spent on. Additionally, many quality infrared heaters have "zonal" controls, such as Herschel's wonderful XLS range. this allows you to prioritise or only use a certain area, such as dining and front rooms or just bedrooms, which further minimises the total units involved in heating. From this, you can estimate a total hours per household, zone or radiator for a certain time period.
Calculate and complete!
Finally, we've reached a conclusive point. With your total kiloWatt hours realised, based on the previous factors (a calculator may well be required for some aspects of this process) you can utilise the total time and kiloWatt draw taken together to get your cost, based on the kWh rate you're being charged. As with above, we'll use an example situation, please note that this is largely estimative and would not reflect a real situation, merely the process that would be required to pinpoint a precise cost:
I have four 800 Watt panel heaters. My bill is the price floor, 34p per kWh. I intend to use both heaters for 2 hours a day, 5 days of a week. So, to work out your total for the month, we would calculate 4x800 - per hour, of which there are two, gives me 6.4 kiloWatt hours. 6.4 kWh at the 34 pence per kWh rate gives me 217 pence, which would work out at 2.17 per day. 5 days a week means this is £10 a week, 4 and a half weeks in a month results in this monthly cost at £48.83 monthly.
Conclusion
We hope the above can assist you in helping to picture clearly what your respectable cost of running infrared heaters would be, as well as help you deduce whether the move over to this wondrous new heating system would be beneficial to yourselves! If you require any further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact us on 01934 253600 where we can aim to better discuss your requirements, we are on hand to offer expert advice from consideration to installation! Many thanks for reading.
