How Much Does Infrared Heating Cost to Run? A Simple Winter Calculator

These figures assume the heater runs at full power during that span of 4 hours. In practice, a thermostat cycles the heater on and off once the space is comfortable, so real-world use is often lower. Treat the chart as a ceiling for that scenario, then swap in your own rate and hours.

A Quick Rule of Thumb

A 1,000-watt heater running for one hour uses exactly one kilowatt-hour, so its hourly cost equals your electricity rate. If you pay $0.20 per kWh, a 1,000-watt heater costs about $0.20 per hour at full power, and a 1,500-watt heater costs about $0.30. Once you know your rate, you can size up almost any heater in your head, which makes it easy to compare options before you commit to a purchase.

Why Your Heating Bill Is Different from Anyone Else’s

Two homes with identical heaters can see very different costs. The main reasons:

• Where you live and your electricity rate. Neighbors on the same utility usually pay similar rates, but rates can differ a lot between states and utility areas. A friend across the country may pay half as much, or twice as much, for the same kilowatt-hour.
• Your building envelope. Insulation, window quality, and drafts determine how fast heat escapes. A leaky room needs more run time to stay comfortable.
• Your climate and the weather. A mild week and a deep freeze produce very different run times.
• Your space. Ceiling height, room size, and layout all affect how much heating you need.
• Your thermostat settings and habits. Indoor infrared heaters are typically controlled by a thermostat, which cuts power once the room reaches its set point. The lower you set it, and the more you use scheduling to turn it down while you’re asleep or away, the less energy your heaters use.

The same logic applies outdoors. A covered, wind-sheltered patio holds warmth far better than an open deck, so the same heater can feel very different from one space to another.

Ways to Keep Infrared Heating Costs Down

1. Heat the space you are actually using. Infrared is a form of spot heating: it warms people and objects directly. Those objects then re-radiate the warmth, which also gently warms the air around them. That makes infrared well suited to the areas where you spend your time, such as a home office, a living area, or a workshop, instead of conditioning every room equally.
2. Use your thermostat’s set point and schedule. Indoors, the thermostat decides when power reaches your heaters. When the room hits your set point, the heaters cycle off, and they cycle back on when the temperature drops. Most indoor thermostats don’t have timers that run heat for a fixed number of hours, but many offer scheduling, which lets you set lower temperatures for the hours you’re asleep or away. Outdoors, timers are the better tool, as the last tip explains. Our indoor controls and outdoor controls are designed to pair with our heaters for exactly this reason.
3. Size the system correctly. An undersized setup runs constantly and never quite catches up. An oversized one costs more up front than it needs to. Our heating calculator helps you estimate how many heaters your space needs before you buy.
4. Match your heating to how you use the space. Indoors, avoid turning heat off entirely when you leave a room or the house. Turn the temperature down to a baseline instead. Many thermostats can be set as low as 45°F, which keeps the space conditioned and helps prevent pipes from freezing while you’re away. When you’re home, it’s common to lower rooms you aren’t using to 55–60°F. Outdoors, a timer is the ideal tool: set it so your heaters run at 100% output for a fixed interval while you’re using the space, rather than leaving them on all evening.

Indoor and Outdoor Costs Are Different Things

Indoor heating is usually a long-running cost, with heaters cycling through the day during cold months. Outdoor heating tends to be a short-burst cost. Consider a patio setup drawing 3 kW for a three-hour evening gathering. That’s 9 kWh, or about $1.17 at $0.13 per kWh. Run it twice a week and the monthly total stays modest.

Heated furniture can bring that cost down even further. It uses less energy than a patio heater, and because it warms the person sitting in it rather than the air around the furniture, less energy goes to waste. For seating areas where guests tend to stay put, it’s an attractive way to keep operating costs low, either on its own or alongside a patio heater.

That is why outdoor heating often makes sense even for people who would never heat a space continuously. You pay only for the hours you are out there.