What does a halogen heater cost per hour to run in the UK?
Halogen heaters such as the Beldray EH0197SSTK and the AMOS halogen heater step between 400, 800 and 1,200 watts, so they cost 10.5p, 21.1p and 31.6p an hour at the Ofgem cap rate of 26.32p per kWh. A two hour evening on full comes to 63.2p. Per unit of heat a halogen heater costs the same as any other electric heater, and it is cheaper only because it is smaller and warms the person in front of it.
What a halogen heater draws
A halogen heater is a set of glass tubes with a heating filament inside each, and the filaments glow orange when they are on. The heat comes off as infrared that warms whatever is in front of the tubes, which is why the heater feels warm the moment it is switched on, before the air in the room has moved at all.
The power steps are the same on both models we checked. Beldray's portable halogen heater, the EH0197SSTK, has three heat settings at 400, 800 and 1,200 watts, and the AMOS halogen heater uses the same three steps. Beldray describes its model as using infrared to focus heat on a specific spot to avoid wasting energy heating an empty room, which is an accurate description of what a halogen heater is good at. We use 1,200 watts as the everyday figure because it is the top setting on both, and the one a cold evening calls for.
Work it out for your own halogen heater
Type in the wattage from the plate on the back, then your own unit rate. The numbers update as you type.
The cost per hour, per evening and per month
At the current cap rate of 26.32p per kWh, a halogen heater costs 31.6p an hour on full. Each setting below it takes 400 watts off, and the price falls by 10.5p an hour each time.
| Setting | Power | Per hour | Two hour evening | Thirty evenings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest | 400 W | 10.5p | 21.1p | £6.32 |
| Middle | 800 W | 21.1p | 42.1p | £12.63 |
| Full | 1,200 W | 31.6p | 63.2p | £18.95 |
A halogen heater stores no heat, so it costs the rate for its setting for every minute the tubes are lit, and when you switch it off the cost and the warmth stop together.
| Appliance | Typical draw | Usage we assume | Per hour (UK) | Per usage (UK) | Per month (UK) | Per hour (US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halogen heater | 1200 W | per hour on the top setting | 31.6p | 31.6p | £19.16 | 22.0 cents |
Rates: Ofgem cap 1 October to 31 December 2026 at 26.32p per kWh (source), EIA residential average June 2026 at 18.34 cents per kWh (source). Checked 2026-09-22.
Why it feels cheaper than it is
Halogen heaters have a reputation as the cheap heater, and on a per hour basis the reputation is earned. A halogen on full costs 31.6p an hour and a 2kW fan heater costs 52.6p, so the halogen is about 40 per cent cheaper to run for an hour.
The reason is size rather than cleverness. A 1,200 watt halogen heater puts 1.2 kilowatts of heat into the room and a 2kW fan heater puts in 2 kilowatts, and every electric heater turns a kilowatt hour into the same kilowatt hour of heat. The halogen is a smaller heater that gets away with being small because it aims its heat at you rather than at the air, and that works well for a person sitting still within a couple of metres of it.
It works badly for anything else. Warming the air of a cold room with 1,200 watts takes a long time, and someone on the other side of the room barely feels it, so a halogen heater left on in a family living room ends up running for hours without making the room comfortable. That is when the cheap heater stops being cheap.
Halogen against the other portable heaters
Against the other heaters people buy to warm one room, a halogen sits in the middle on price per hour, with every heater here priced at full output and the current cap rate.
| Heater | Power | Per hour | Best at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halogen heater, lowest setting | 400 W | 10.5p | One person sitting close to it |
| Infrared panel | 600 W | 15.8p | A fixed seat or desk, wall mounted |
| Halogen heater, full | 1,200 W | 31.6p | One or two people in its line of sight |
| Fan heater | 2,000 W | 52.6p | Warming the air of a small room fast |
| Oil filled radiator | 2,000 W | 52.6p | Holding a closed room warm for an evening |
A fan heater and an oil filled radiator cost the same per hour at the same wattage, and so would a halogen if it were built at 2kW. Choosing between them is about how the heat reaches you rather than about the price of a kilowatt hour.
Against the central heating
For one person in one chair a halogen heater is hard to beat. Three hours on the 400 watt setting costs 31.6p, and three hours of a gas boiler running at around 10 kilowatts costs about £2.39 in gas while it heats every room in the house.
Per unit of heat the boiler still wins comfortably, at about 8.9p a kilowatt hour against 26.32p, so the halogen's advantage depends entirely on heating a small part of the house. Once two or three people are spread across rooms, the central heating is the cheaper way to keep them all warm.
Using a halogen heater well
- Put it close to where you sit and point it at you, since the heat travels in a straight line and a halogen aimed across the room warms the far wall.
- Start on full for a few minutes, then drop to the 400 or 800 watt setting once you feel warm, because each step down saves 10.5p an hour.
- Switch the oscillation off when you are on your own, so the heat stays on you instead of sweeping across empty parts of the room.
- Turn it off when you leave the chair, as a halogen heater warms people and gives nothing to an empty room.
- Pair it with a throw or a blanket on a cold night, which holds the warmth the heater gives you and lets you run a lower setting.
What it costs in the United States
At the EIA residential average of 18.34 cents per kilowatt hour, a 1,200 watt halogen heater costs 22.0 cents an hour on full and 7.3 cents an hour on its 400 watt setting. In California at 34.74 cents the full setting costs 41.7 cents an hour, and in Texas at 15.94 cents it costs 19.1 cents.
Common questions
Do halogen heaters use a lot of electricity?
Less than most portable heaters. On full a 1,200 watt halogen heater uses 1.2 kilowatt hours an hour and costs 31.6p, and on its 400 watt setting it costs 10.5p. A 2kW fan heater or oil filled radiator uses two thirds more than the halogen on full, at 52.6p an hour.
Is a halogen heater cheaper to run than a fan heater?
Per hour, yes, because it draws 1,200 watts at most against 2,000 for a typical fan heater, so it costs 31.6p an hour against 52.6p. Per unit of heat they are identical. The halogen wins for one person sitting still in front of it, and the fan heater wins for warming the air of a small room quickly.
Is a halogen heater an infrared heater?
Yes. The glowing tubes give off infrared that warms whatever they shine on, which is why Beldray describes its model as warming a specific spot. A wall mounted infrared panel works on the same principle at a much lower surface temperature, and a 600 watt panel costs 15.8p an hour against 31.6p for a halogen on full.
Are halogen heaters cheaper than central heating?
For one person in one chair, by a wide margin. Three hours on the 400 watt setting costs 31.6p, while three hours of a gas boiler running at around 10 kilowatts costs about £2.39. Per unit of heat the boiler is cheaper, so once two or three rooms need to be warm the central heating wins.