Patio heater vs infrared panel
Updated: October 2026
You searched once and got a glowing bar for the garden and a flat plate for the living room. A patio heater vs infrared panel choice is a choice of place first. The bar is the outdoor tool in this set. The panel is the indoor tool. An indoor and outdoor bullet does not turn a glowing bar into a panel, and an IP65 line does not turn a 600 W plate into a patio heater. Prices and the clashes sit on the [wall-mounted radiant heater comparison](/hub/portable-heaters/wall-mounted-radiant-heater), from amazon.co.uk listings checked on 16 October 2026. This is not a lab test.
You searched once and got a glowing bar for the garden and a flat plate for the living room. A patio heater vs infrared panel choice is a choice of place first. The bar is the outdoor tool in this set.
You searched once and got a glowing bar for the garden and a flat plate for the living room. A patio heater vs infrared panel choice is a choice of place first. The bar is the outdoor tool in this set. The panel is the indoor tool. An indoor and outdoor bullet does not turn a glowing bar into a panel, and an IP65 line does not turn a 600 W plate into a patio heater. Prices and the clashes sit on the wall-mounted radiant heater comparison, from amazon.co.uk listings checked on 16 October 2026. This is not a lab test.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Place | Output | IP rating | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Southeatic Southeatic TW30R 3000 W patio heater | Outdoor | 3,000 W | IP65 | 5.7 | about £179.97 | View offer |
 Devola Devola DVPH2000B patio heater | Indoor, outdoor | 2,000 W title | IP65 / IP24 | 5.5 | about £109.99 | View offer | |
 Mylek Mylek 2000 W mica panel, white | Indoor | 2,000 W | IPX4 | 6.9 | about £99.45 | View offer |
On this page
Two machines in one search
The Energy Saving Trust describes home infrared panels as a different product from the intensive glowing heaters used outside. Panels in that account do not glow, and they warm the room they are fitted in. A patio bar throws heat in one direction at people in the beam. Infrared Heaters Direct makes the same split: a panel's output is not enough to offset outdoor cold.
In this basket the indoor plates are the Könighaus panels at 600 W and the Mylek mica panels at 2000 W. The outdoor tubes are the two Devola bars and the Southeatic TW30R. A mica panel is still a panel. It is not a patio heater because the element is called radiant. If you have not picked the room yet, the wall mounted infrared heater buying guide puts the four types in order.
When the bar, when the panel
Use the bar on an open patio or under a canopy, where the heat has to reach people in moving air. The Devola DVPH2000B is £109.99 and the DVPH2400B is £119.99. The Southeatic is £179.97 with steps at 1000 W, 2000 W, and 3000 W, and its place field says outdoor. A UK review calls those three levels warm, hot, and very hot. The heat falls away when you step out of the beam.
Use the panel in a closed room. The basic Könighaus is £121.90, wall only, about 8–16 m², with no IP figure. The white Mylek is £99.45, a 2000 W indoor mica panel with a thermostat and an 18 m² claim. Its IPX4 line is a bathroom-install claim, not an outdoor rating. A 600 W panel will not heat an open patio. A halogen bar is a poor bedroom heater: it glows, and on the 2400 W Devola the remote is the only switch in UK reviews.
The indoor-and-outdoor bullet
Devola's bullets say the bars are for indoor and outdoor use, and they say IP65. The fields do not agree. On the 2000 W listing the special-features field says IP24, one field says Indoor, and the room type says outdoor. Both heat-output fields say 1200 W. The 2000 W bar is 8.33 A at 240 V, about 2000 W, and the 2400 W bar is 10 A at 240 V, about 2400 W, so the amps support the titles. A dual-use sentence on top of that clash is not a specification.
Electrical Safety First says not to use a patio heater indoors and not to use an extension lead. Heat Outdoors says an electric infrared bar can be used indoors if you keep the clearances, and forbids gas heaters indoors. Those two sources cannot both be your permission. Follow the manual in your hand. Lead length sits on the how to mount a wall infrared heater page.
Weather rating is not a room rating
IP65 is a jets-and-dust claim, not a promise of any weather. One Devola review reported water inside the 2400 W bar after three days of light rain. If the manual still wants a cover, the cover still matters. The 2000 W page printing both IP65 and IP24 means you do not yet know which line the product was built to.
A 3000 W Southeatic step sits at the 13 A socket limit. None of these outdoor lines is a bathroom zone. If the room has a bath or shower, the rules are on the bathroom wall heater IP rating page. Choose a panel when you can close the door, and a bar when people are outside in the beam. The Southeatic is the outdoor listing whose watt steps agree, on 11 reviews. The white Mylek is the indoor listing with 2000 W and a thermostat, on 36 reviews. The best wall mounted infrared heater UK page writes the skip line for each heater.
Common questions
Can a 600 W panel heat a patio?
No. The Könighaus panels are 600 W indoor plates, with a room coverage claim of about 8–16 m². Infrared Heaters Direct says that output does not offset outdoor cold. Take a bar outside.
Can I use an IP65 patio bar in the bedroom?
Do not plan on it. Electrical Safety First says not to use a patio heater indoors. Heat Outdoors allows an electric bar indoors only with the clearances kept. The Devola indoor-and-outdoor bullet is not a bedroom approval.
Why does Devola say indoor and outdoor while one field says outdoor only?
The DVPH2000B bullets say indoor and outdoor and IP65. The special-features field says IP24, and the room type says outdoor. The heat-output field says 1200 W while 8.33 A at 240 V is about 2000 W. Read the manual. Do not let one bullet overrule the fields.
Is IP65 better than IP44 for a living room?
Not for the room. IP65 is a dust-and-jets claim on the patio bars. IP44 on the smart Könighaus is a splash claim for humid rooms. A jet rating does not make a glowing bar a quiet panel.
Does a glowing bar cost more to run because it is 2,000 W?
A 2000 W bar at full output draws more than three times the power of a 600 W panel, for as long as you leave it on. This page has no national pence-per-hour figure. Turn the bar down, or off, when nobody is in the beam.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources listed in the research digest. Listing prices, stars, and review counts are from amazon.co.uk on 16 October 2026.
- Regulation (EU) 2015/1188 — seasonal efficiency for local space heaters (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- GOV.UK — placing energy-related products on the UK market (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- SELECT Bathroom Guide 2022 — Section 701 zones and IP ratings (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Electrical Safety First — Regulation 701.512.3, socket distance (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Electrical Safety First — ratings of electrical appliances (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Herschel Select XLS infrared panel — IP44 and bathroom zones (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- amazon.co.uk listings for the eight ASINs in this comparison (retrieved 16 October 2026)