What size infrared heater do I need
Updated: 22 October 2026
You are trying to warm a kitchen corner or two chairs on a covered terrace, and the amazon.co.uk results all say infrared. What size infrared heater do I need is the wrong first question until you know the job, because a flat panel, a portable tower and an outdoor bar are different machines. Infrared warms what the beam hits, so one side of you can feel fine while the other stays cold. This page is the order of checks. The eight GBP rows sit on our [infrared heater comparison](/hub/heating/infrared-heater). Figures are amazon.co.uk listings saved on 19 October 2026, with no lab test. Peter F. checked those listings. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You are trying to warm a kitchen corner or two chairs on a covered terrace, and the amazon.co.uk results all say infrared.
You are trying to warm a kitchen corner or two chairs on a covered terrace, and the amazon.co.uk results all say infrared. What size infrared heater do I need is the wrong first question until you know the job, because a flat panel, a portable tower and an outdoor bar are different machines. Infrared warms what the beam hits, so one side of you can feel fine while the other stays cold. This page is the order of checks. The eight GBP rows sit on our infrared heater comparison. Figures are amazon.co.uk listings saved on 19 October 2026, with no lab test. Peter F. checked those listings. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Job | Power | Place | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Warmlite Warmlite WL42013 | A chair or a desk | 500–1000 W | Indoor tower | 9.0 | about £56.46 | View offer |
 Harrier Harrier 2000 W patio | Covered terrace | 2000 W | Stand or wall | 8.7 | about £48.99 | View offer | |
 Könighaus Könighaus Smart Dual 450 W | Small closed room | 450 W | Wall or feet | 7.9 | about £99.90 | View offer |
On this page
Start with the job, not the brand
Choose the shape before the star rating. A far-infrared panel is a flat face with little glow, for quiet top-up in a small closed room. A carbon or quartz tower glows and aims heat at a desk or a chair within about a minute. An outdoor halogen bar is for a covered seat. Putting those three in one “best heater” sentence is how a 450 W panel ends up pointed at a windy garden.
A home-worker who wants heat on their legs for an afternoon is a tower job. The Warmlite WL42013 states two levels up to 1,000 W, oscillation, a floor stand and indoor use. A wall panel fits when you want gentler background warmth for hours. A patio bar belongs outside, under shelter, aimed at the chairs. If the title says outdoor and the manual says indoor only, follow the manual. That clash shows up on the Pro Breeze row. How a flat face differs from a glowing tube is on infrared panel vs halogen heater.
Match watts to the space and the socket
Watts size the job and the load on the socket. Seller tables are a rule of thumb. Electric Radiators Direct cites about 15 W per cubic metre in a very new insulated home and about 30 W per cubic metre in a poorly insulated pre-1930 home. A room 3 m by 3 m by 2.4 m is about 22 cubic metres, roughly 330 W at the lower figure and 650 W at the higher one. A 450 W panel can sit in that band for a small, well insulated room. It will not carry a large draughty lounge.
Treat “200 square feet” or “coverage 270” as a slogan, not a measured heated area. One kilowatt-hour of electricity is about one kilowatt-hour of heat, so a “95% efficient” bullet does not beat another electric heater of the same wattage. The seasonal-efficiency floors in Regulation (EU) 2015/1188 are a legal minimum, not that percentage. A BS 1363 13 A plug is the portable norm, about 3 kW at 230 V. The SOUTHEATIC, at 3,000 W, sits on that limit. One heater in an existing socket is a plug-in job. A second heater, a new outdoor socket, or bathroom-zone wiring needs an electrician. In England, Part P makes a new circuit, a consumer-unit change, or bathroom special-location work notifiable. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own building rules.
Outdoor IP ratings and the socket
The heater’s water rating and the socket’s rating are separate. IPX4 or IP44 means splashes. IP65 means jets. Neither mark, on its own, clears a bathroom zone or an uncovered storm. Bathroom zones follow BS 7671, which means fixed wiring by an electrician where a wet zone needs it.
Electrical Safety First asks for outdoor sockets of at least IP44, a UK 3-pin plug, and no extension lead. A cable reel under a 2 kW or 3 kW bar is a common way to overheat the reel. The Harrier claims IPX4 and can stand or hang. The Pro Breeze title claims IP65, yet at least one reviewer found a manual that read indoor only. If the instructions forbid outdoor use, the title does not override them. Shelter, lead length and the three outdoor rows are on the outdoor infrared patio heater page.
Controls, running cost and thin review samples
Two or three heat steps are a switch, not a thermostat. A weekly schedule matters only when the listing includes a timer or an app. Steps and a remote are enough for an hour on the terrace. A panel you might leave on through a workday needs a real thermostat if you care about the meter. The Könighaus panels claim Wi-Fi schedules. The Warmlite and the SONBION do not confirm a timer in the saved specs.
On the Ofgem cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026, Great Britain Direct Debit default electricity is 26.32 p/kWh, with about 54.83 p a day standing charge, and 0% VAT on electricity this quarter. Northern Ireland sits outside that cap. Full power is about 12 p an hour at 450 W, 26 p at 1 kW, 53 p at 2 kW and 79 p at 3 kW. A thermostat cuts the hours. A heater left on high does not. Read “does not heat a large room” on a 450 W panel as a sizing miss. A failed tube, a scorched cover, or a manual that contradicts the title is a product problem. The Hocosyme UK-T-180W prints both 180 W and a 1,000 W bullet, with three reviews. Leave that wattage unresolved. Eleven SOUTHEATIC reviews are shopper opinion, not a lab ranking.
When to pick a different heater
Choose a fan heater when you need the air in a small closed room warmed and you can live with the noise. Choose infrared when you will sit in the beam: a desk, a shed bench, or chairs under a roof. Choose neither plug-in type when you are trying to heat a whole home. The hourly sums above scale badly if several kilowatts stay on all evening.
Skip a glowing outdoor bar for a bedroom, a 450 W panel for an open-plan diner, and any heater that would force an extension reel or a bathroom mount without an electrician. If the breaker already trips, or a plug has browned, stop before you add another load. Named picks for a seat, a terrace and a small room are on best infrared heaters. Then use the comparison table for the rows that still match the shape, the watts and the socket.
Common questions
Will an infrared heater heat the whole garden?
An outdoor bar warms people and furniture in the beam, under shelter, while it runs. It will not raise the temperature of an open lawn. Plan for the chairs you sit in. A second seating group needs its own heater, and a second 2 kW or 3 kW load needs its own safe supply rather than a reel from the kitchen.
Can I plug a patio heater into an extension reel?
Electrical Safety First advises against extension leads for these heaters. A 2,000 W or 3,000 W bar is a heavy continuous load, and a coiled reel can overheat. Use the heater’s own cable in a weatherproof outdoor socket rated at least IP44, with RCD protection. If the cable is short, have a socket fitted closer to the mount.
What IP rating do I need for a UK patio socket?
Electrical Safety First looks for outdoor sockets of at least IP44. On the heater, IPX4 or IP44 is splash resistance and IP65 is a jet claim on the listing. Confirm the manual agrees with the title. An IP mark does not by itself allow a bathroom install or use in driving rain with no shelter.
Can I use an outdoor bar indoors?
Only if the manual allows indoor use. A glowing tube near curtains, a sofa or drying washing is a fire risk, and Electrical Safety First wants at least one metre from combustibles. If reviews say the instructions read indoor only while the title says waterproof, follow the instructions and do not leave that unit outside.
How far should furniture be from the heater?
Keep combustibles at least one metre from the heater. That clearance covers cushions, throws, gazebo fabric and clothes. You can sit in the beam beyond that gap. If the heat feels harsh on your face, use a lower setting or change the angle, and keep soft furnishings outside the one-metre zone.
Do I need an electrician for a 3 kW wall heater?
Plugging one heater into an existing 13 A socket is ordinary use, and 3 kW is already the top of what that plug is for. You need an electrician for a new outdoor socket, a hard-wired spur, bathroom-zone wiring, or more than one heater on the same socket. A burnt plug or a breaker that trips is a stop, not a cue to try a thinner lead.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources from the research digest. Listing prices were saved on 19 October 2026.
- Ofgem, changes to the energy price cap, 1 October to 31 December 2026 (retrieved 21.10.2026)
- Regulation (EU) 2015/1188 on legislation.gov.uk (retrieved 21.10.2026)
- BSI, BS EN 60335-2-30:2009+A13:2022, room heaters (retrieved 21.10.2026)
- Electrical Safety First, portable heaters (retrieved 21.10.2026)
- Electrical Safety First, patio heaters (retrieved 21.10.2026)
- GOV.UK, fire safety in the winter (retrieved 21.10.2026)
- Electric Radiators Direct, what size infrared heater do I need (retrieved 21.10.2026)
- Infrared Heaters Direct, infrared heating buying guide (retrieved 21.10.2026)