Panel heaters are simple direct electric room heaters. Their bill impact depends heavily on wattage, hours and controls.
A 1.5kW panel heater costs about 37p per hour at full power using 24.67p/kWh electricity.
Best judged as a controlled room-heating option, not as a special low-cost form of electricity.
Current rate used: 24.67p/kWh electricity, 5.74p/kWh gas, based on Ofgem price cap, 1 April to 30 June 2026 for Direct Debit customers. Your actual tariff can differ by supplier, region, payment method and meter type.
The full-power column is the clean benchmark. The 65% column is a more realistic starting point for a thermostat-controlled heater in a warmed-up room.
| Heater size | Cost per hour | 4 hours | 7 days at 4h/day | 30 days at 4h/day | 30 days at 65% average output |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500W | £0.12 | £0.49 | £3.45 | £14.80 | £9.62 |
| 1kW | £0.25 | £0.99 | £6.91 | £29.60 | £19.24 |
| 1.5kW | £0.37 | £1.48 | £10.36 | £44.41 | £28.86 |
| 2kW | £0.49 | £1.97 | £13.82 | £59.21 | £38.49 |
| 2.5kW | £0.62 | £2.47 | £17.27 | £74.01 | £48.11 |
(watts / 1000) x hours x electricity price per kWh
For this page's 1.5kW example, 4 hours at full output costs £1.48. Used the same way for 30 days, it costs £44.41; at 65% average output it is closer to £28.86.
Short answers to the questions this page is built to solve.
They can be if used as regular room heating for long hours. A 1.5kW panel heater is about 37p per hour at full power on the current benchmark.
Controls can reduce wasted runtime, but they do not change the underlying cost per kWh.