Electric Panel Heaters

Slim wall-mounted electric convection heaters. Instant heat, easy to install, expensive to run on a standard tariff.

Last reviewed: 2026-06-27 • Reading time: 8 minutes • Verified against: 5 sources

Electric panel heaters, also called convector heaters or slim-line radiators, cost £150–£350 per heater including installation. Running them costs £1,500–£2,200 a year for a typical 3-bedroom home on a standard electricity tariff (24p/kWh), roughly two to three times what gas central heating costs (£720/year). They're a sensible choice for single rooms, extensions and rental properties where the low upfront cost and instant heat outweigh the running cost, but expensive as a whole-house solution unless the property has no gas alternative.

What Are Panel Heaters?

Panel heaters are thin wall-mounted electric heaters that warm a room by convection. Cold air is drawn in at the bottom of the unit, passes over an internal electric element, and rises out through vents at the top as warm air, setting up a slow circulation loop in the room. They're around 100% efficient at turning electricity into heat, there's no flue loss and nowhere for combustion gases to escape, but that efficiency doesn't make them cheap to run, because it's the price of electricity per kWh that drives the bill, not how efficiently the heater converts it.

Cost Breakdown

Purchase price: £80–£200 per heater (500W–2000W)
Installation: £50–£150 per heater if hard-wired, or free if simply plugged into an existing socket
Whole-house (6 heaters): £900–£2,100
Annual running cost: £1,500–£2,200 (3-bed home, roughly 12,000 kWh/year heat demand, 24p/kWh)

Sizing a Panel Heater to a Room

Undersized heaters run constantly at full power and still struggle to hold a room at temperature, which pushes the electricity bill up without delivering comfort. As a rough starting point, allow about 100W per square metre of floor area for a room with reasonable insulation and normal ceiling height, and more for rooms with poor insulation, high ceilings, or a lot of external wall.

Small bedroom or box room (10m²): around 750–1000W
Double bedroom or home office (15m²): around 1000–1500W
Living room (20–25m²): around 1500–2000W, or two smaller units
Poorly insulated conservatory or converted garage: size up by 30–50% over the floor-area estimate, since heat loss through single glazing or thin walls is much higher

A thermostat, either built into the heater or fitted separately, matters as much as the wattage. Without one, a heater either runs the room too hot and wastes electricity, or cycles on and off in a way that never quite settles at a comfortable temperature.

Types of Panel Heater

Standard convector panels. Basic fan-free convection, relying on air naturally rising past the element. Slower to heat larger rooms because there's no forced airflow. Cheapest to buy, typically £80–£120.

Fan-assisted panels. A small internal fan pushes air across the element faster, warming a room noticeably quicker, often 30–50% faster than an equivalent fan-free model. Costs £120–£200. The fan adds a small amount of noise, which some people notice in a bedroom at night.

Low-surface-temperature (LST) panels. Built with a cooler outer casing so the surface stays below 43°C, reducing the risk of burns. Standard in schools, care homes and nurseries, and worth considering for households with young children or vulnerable adults. Costs £200–£350.

Smart panel heaters. App-controlled or compatible with smart thermostats, letting you schedule heating by room and adjust remotely. Useful for holiday lets or second homes where you want to bring a property up to temperature before arriving. Costs £150–£300.

Running Costs vs Other Electric Heating

Heating System	Annual Cost (3-bed)
Electric panel heaters	£1,500–£2,200
Storage heaters (Economy 7)	£900–£1,400
Infrared panels	£1,200–£1,800
Gas central heating	£720

Panel heaters cost more to run than storage heaters mainly because storage heaters buy most of their electricity at the cheaper Economy 7 off-peak rate (around 9p/kWh) rather than the standard rate (around 24p/kWh). Panel heaters can be run on Economy 7 too, but since they heat on demand rather than storing charge overnight, most of their use falls during the day at the standard rate.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Instant heat, no warm-up delay the way storage heaters or a cold boiler system has
Room-by-room control with individual thermostats, so you only heat occupied rooms
Easy to install, plug-in models need no electrician at all
No boiler, no pipework, no annual servicing
Low upfront cost compared with any gas or heat pump installation

Cons:

Expensive to run, typically two to three times a gas central heating bill
Convection currents can feel draughty, especially near the floor where cold air is still being drawn in
Heat output stops the moment the heater switches off, there's no thermal mass holding warmth the way a storage heater or radiator does
Can struggle in large or poorly insulated rooms without oversizing the unit

When Panel Heaters Make Sense

Extensions or converted garages, where running a radiator off the existing gas system means expensive pipework
Supplemental heating for one persistently cold room in an otherwise gas-heated house
Rental properties, since portable plug-in units need no permanent installation and travel with a tenant
Homes without a gas connection where the upfront cost of a heat pump isn't affordable right now
Very well-insulated properties with low overall heat demand, where the running cost gap versus gas narrows considerably

Related Guides

Sources

Ofgem, "Default Tariff Cap" (June 2026: 24p/kWh electricity).
Energy Saving Trust, "Electric Heating" guidance (running costs and sizing advice, 2026).
Which?, "Electric Heaters: Which Type Is Best?" (product category comparison, 2025).
BEAMA, "Guide to Electric Heating" (wattage sizing and LST panel standards, 2024).
NHS, "Reducing the Risk of Burns in Care Settings" (low-surface-temperature heater standards, 2023).

Last reviewed: 2026-06-27