Electric Heating in Switzerland: All Systems, Costs and Regulations 2026

Can you still heat electrically in Switzerland? Short answer: yes. But not every electric heater is equally efficient, equally affordable or equally legal. This article honestly compares all four common systems: storage heaters, convection heaters, infrared panels and heat pumps. You will learn what each system costs, how efficient it really is and which options are future-proof under current Swiss regulations.

Four Ways to Heat Electrically

If you want to heat with electricity in Switzerland, you have four fundamentally different options. Each works differently, costs differently and has a different legal status. Here is the overview:

1. Storage Heaters (Night Storage Heaters)

Storage heaters charge up overnight using cheaper electricity and release heat during the day. This sounds clever, but the technology is outdated. The units are large, heavy and nearly impossible to regulate. If it suddenly gets warm in the afternoon, they keep heating. If it turns cold in the evening, the storage is empty. In Switzerland, they are being gradually replaced with more efficient systems.

2. Convection Heaters (Electric Radiators)

Convection heaters warm the air directly. Hot air rises to the ceiling, cold air sinks to the floor — the result is often a warm head and cold feet. They stir up dust and dry out the air. Cheap to buy, but expensive to run and not particularly comfortable.

3. Infrared Heaters (Radiant Heat)

Infrared panels work fundamentally differently: they do not heat the air but directly warm walls, floors, furniture and people — similar to sunlight. This means more even warmth without dust circulation, no air currents and no dried-out mucous membranes. The warmth feels comfortable at a lower room temperature, which saves energy. Read more about the honest strengths and limitations in our article on infrared heating pros and cons.

4. Heat Pumps

Heat pumps use electricity to extract heat from the environment (air, ground, groundwater). For every kilowatt-hour of electricity they deliver 3–4 kWh of heat (COP 3–4). This makes them the most efficient electric heater. However, they require a water distribution system (underfloor heating or radiators), are expensive to install and are not suitable for every building.

Cost Comparison: Electric Heating at CHF 0.28/kWh

The following table compares the four systems for a typical Swiss room of 25 m² with a heating period of 200 days per year. All running costs are based on the current average electricity price of CHF 0.28/kWh.

When Is Each System the Right Choice?

Heat pump: When you are heating the whole house

For an entire single-family or multi-family building, a heat pump is the most economical long-term solution. Prerequisite: a water-based distribution system (underfloor heating, radiators) must already exist or be feasible to install. In older buildings without water distribution, the retrofit costs are often so high that the efficiency advantage is never recouped.

Infrared heating: When you are heating specific rooms

Infrared panels are particularly suitable for:

• Zone heating: Bathrooms, home offices, bedrooms — warmth where you need it, when you need it
• Older buildings: No retrofit needed, no water distribution system required — just a power socket
• Holiday homes and chalets: Fast heat-up time, no frost risk when unoccupied, zero maintenance
• Complementing a heat pump: For bathrooms or rarely used rooms not connected to the water circuit

Convection and storage heaters: No longer recommended

Storage heaters are technically obsolete and are subject to mandatory replacement deadlines between 2028 and 2035 in most cantons. Convection heaters are cheap but inefficient and offer no advantage over infrared panels — neither in running costs nor in comfort.

Legal Situation: MuKEn 2025 and the Solar Exception

The Model Energy Prescriptions for the Cantons (MuKEn 2025) restrict new fixed electric resistance heaters — this includes storage heaters, convection heaters and infrared panels when powered exclusively by grid electricity. But there is an important exception.

The solar exception permits an electric heater if a rooftop photovoltaic system generates at least as much electricity as the heater consumes annually, plus a 10% safety buffer. An infrared heater combined with a PV system is therefore fully MuKEn-compliant and future-proof.

More on the legal framework and cantonal deadlines in our articles on the Climate Protection Act and infrared heating and the electric heating ban in Switzerland.

What Does an Infrared Heater Actually Cost?

A SunWave Ceramica infrared panel (60 × 120 cm, 250/350 W) costs CHF 550 including a WiFi thermostat. A 25 m² room typically needs one to two panels. Installation takes less than an hour — wall-mount with four screws, plug into the socket, done. No installer, no water connection, no permit.

By comparison: a heat pump for a single-family home costs CHF 20,000–35,000 including installation and ground-source drilling. Infrared heating for three rooms costs around CHF 1,650–3,300 — less than a tenth.

Running costs do converge over time: the heat pump is more efficient per kilowatt-hour. That is why we recommend infrared heating where a heat pump cannot be sensibly installed, or where the total-cost comparison over the expected usage period favours infrared — typically for zone heating and in buildings without a water distribution system. More in our gas vs. infrared cost comparison.

Frequently Asked Questions