Electric Radiator and Storage Heater Manufacturers

Electric heating is the second most common form of home heating in the UK after gas, and the majority of installations are in domestic properties¹. The brands behind it are a mix of French and German manufacturers, British makers building in Leeds, and importers bringing German fireclay-core radiators into the UK market. This page profiles the names a householder actually meets when shopping for electric radiators, storage heaters and instantaneous water heaters: Atlantic, Electrorad, Trust Electric Heating and Stiebel Eltron, with the prices, specifications and control features each one offers.

The headline figures are these. Atlantic's Oniris radiators run from £263.66 including VAT for the 1000W model to £397.95 including VAT for the 2000W model, and its Accessio thermofluid range spans 300W to 2000W at £187.74 to £351.45². Electrorad holds stock in Leeds and offers next-day delivery⁴. Stiebel Eltron's DHB-E 27 LCD Set delivers 27 kW of instantaneous hot water on a three-phase supply, with 40 A fuse protection and an IP25 rating⁵. Around 8.6% of UK homes are heated by electricity, whether from traditional storage heaters or modern heat pumps⁶.

Who makes the electric radiators and heaters sold here

The UK electric heating market is supplied from three directions. Atlantic is a French manufacturer whose radiator ranges are sold here through distributors. Electrorad is a UK-based company that imports German electric radiators with fireclay cores and states it was the first company in the UK to do so⁴. Trust Electric Heating is a British manufacturer that builds its neos electric radiator in Leeds, describing it as "Made in Britain in Leeds" and "inspired by German Electric Heating technology"⁷. Stiebel Eltron is a German maker whose instantaneous water heaters are sold directly into the UK market⁵.

Electric radiators sit inside a wider heating landscape. Radiators of some kind still share the heat for around 90% of all heating systems in the UK⁸, and most of those are fed by gas central heating. But electric heating has a distinct role: BEAMA, the trade body for the sector, notes that direct electric space heating is best used where there is a requirement for rapid response or intermittent heating, and that it is particularly sustainable when paired with self-generated energy such as from photovoltaic panels¹. That last point matters for households thinking about energy independence, and it is returned to at the end of this page.

The choice of manufacturer matters for practical reasons rather than prestige. A maker with UK stockholding can supply a replacement radiator quickly; one without it cannot. A maker building in Britain shortens the supply chain. And a maker's control philosophy, whether its radiators use thermofluid, fireclay cores or dry elements, shapes how the heater behaves day to day. The sections below cover each of these in turn, alongside the wider guide to home energy equipment manufacturers and the page on where home energy products are made.

Oniris and Accessio: the Atlantic heater ranges

Atlantic sells two wall-mounted electric radiator ranges in the UK. The Oniris is a dry electric radiator range; the Accessio is a thermofluid range, meaning the element heats a fluid inside the radiator body, which then circulates to spread warmth across the surface. Both are sold through UK distributors, and both are priced by wattage, so a household sizes the radiator to the room and pays accordingly.

The Oniris range runs from 750W to 2000W. UK prices as of 17 September 2026, including VAT, were £269.95 for the 750W model, £263.66 for the 1000W model, £281.66 for the 1250W model and £397.95 for the 2000W model². Note the oddity that the 750W model lists slightly higher than the 1000W model; that is what the listings show. The same 1000W radiator also appears in a listing at £219.72 excluding VAT, and the 2000W model at £331.63 excluding VAT, so the two figures differ in how VAT is treated rather than in the underlying price².

The Accessio thermofluid range spans 300W to 2000W. Listed prices were £187.74 for the 300W model, £225.86 for the 750W model, £254.79 for the 1000W model, £289.94 for the 1250W model and £351.45 for the 2000W model³. As with the Oniris, ex-VAT listings exist alongside these: £156.45 for the 300W, £188.22 for the 750W, £212.33 for the 1000W and £292.88 for the 2000W³. Some listings also show a regular price of £353.95 against a sale price of £251.97, so the figure a household pays depends on the listing and the day³.

All prices are distributor prices as of 17 September 2026 and include VAT unless stated otherwise. Atlantic does not publish a UK price itself; what a household pays is set by the retailer, and the ex-VAT and inc-VAT listings above show why comparing figures without checking the VAT position misleads.

Electrorad: German fireclay cores, held in Leeds

Electrorad's proposition is availability. The company states it holds large stocks of all products at its Leeds warehouse, with quick response times and next-day delivery if required⁴. For a household with a failed radiator in winter, that is the difference between a day and a fortnight. Electrorad also states it was the first company in the UK to import German electric radiators with fireclay cores⁴.

The fireclay core is the distinguishing feature. Rather than heating air directly with an exposed element, these radiators heat a slab of fired clay inside the body, which then releases warmth steadily. The practical effect is that the radiator continues to give out heat after the element switches off, smoothing the room temperature. It is a different philosophy from a thin panel heater, which warms quickly and cools quickly.

Electrorad's UK base also matters for the longer term. A company holding stock in this country can supply spare parts and replacements without waiting on European shipments, which is the practical test of any manufacturer's support. The wider questions of what happens when a maker cannot or will not support its products are covered on manufacturer support and spare parts and when an energy equipment manufacturer fails.

Trust Electric Heating, covered earlier, builds its neos radiator in Leeds⁷. Between them, these two companies represent the British end of a market otherwise dominated by continental manufacturers, and a household weighing a UK-built radiator against an imported one can read more on buying direct from a manufacturer or through an installer.

The controls fitted as standard, and what they do

The controls built into an electric radiator determine most of its running cost, because an efficient heater that is badly controlled still heats empty rooms. On the radiator side, the market has moved towards programmable electronic controls, and add-ons extend them further: smart radiator valves are available that let a household schedule each radiator separately, with one UK-listed model, the WundaSmart Radiator Head, priced at £30 as of September 2026⁹.

On the water-heating side, Stiebel Eltron's DHB-E 27 LCD Set illustrates what a modern control package looks like. The temperature is shown on an LCD screen and selected via a rotary selector, and the maker states the water temperature is continuously controlled by three electronic sensors, using what it calls 3i technology and electronic closed-loop control⁵. The point of closed-loop control is that the unit holds the set temperature rather than simply switching full power on and off.

Two wider developments affect what controls will be fitted in future. Smart meters, which are the precondition for time-of-use tariffs, come with an in-home display, and accessible versions can be requested from various suppliers including Bristol Energy, EDF Energy and E.ON Next¹⁰. Time-of-use tariffs themselves are offered by providers including Octopus Energy, EDF Energy and E.ON Next¹¹. A household on such a tariff gains most from heaters that can be told when to run.

The regulatory direction is also towards smarter appliances. BEAMA, responding to the Energy Smart Appliances Regulations consultation, disagreed with the proposed tamper protection requirement in regulation 17 for heat manufacturers, arguing it was carried over from EV smart charging regulations and is not appropriate for electric heating appliances¹³. The detail is technical, but the direction is clear: electric heating is expected to become a grid-aware appliance category, which has implications both for flexibility and for who ultimately controls the heater.

Heater placement and IP rating explained

An IP (ingress protection) rating tells a household where an electrical appliance can safely be installed. The Stiebel Eltron DHB-E 27 LCD Set carries an IP25 rating⁵, which means it is protected against water jets from a nozzle. That is the rating that makes a water heater suitable for installation in and around bathrooms, where it will be splashed or cleaned around.

The same unit is also designed for under-sink use. Stiebel Eltron states it offers "greater convenience when installed undersink, since the appliance cover and the programming unit can be turned the other" way up, so the display and controls read correctly when the unit sits low⁵. Installation is described as quick with the maker's PROFI-RAPID system⁵.

Placement affects running cost as well as safety. Independent guidance recommends installing radiator reflector panels behind radiators attached to an external wall, so heat that would otherwise be lost into the wall is reflected back into the room¹⁴. There are also structural limits on where electric heating can go at all: for park homes, electric storage heaters are only an option where the home has its own electricity supply, because otherwise the supply arrangement does not allow it¹⁵.

Stiebel Eltron DHB-E 27 LCD Set: 27 kW of instant hot water

The DHB-E 27 LCD Set is an instantaneous, or tankless, electric water heater: it heats water as it flows through, with no stored cylinder. Its headline specification is a rated output of 27 kW⁵, which is a large draw, comparable to the power demand of an entire gas-heated house. It exists for homes, typically flats, that want mains-pressure hot water on demand without a cylinder.

The electrical requirements are the practical constraint. This is a three-phase, 400 V appliance drawing 39 A with 40 A fuse protection⁵. Most UK homes have a single-phase 230 V supply, so this unit is for properties with a three-phase supply, and the electrical work is a job for a qualified installer. The maker's own specification is the authority here; a household should not scale it from a smaller model.

The DHB-E range also comes in lower-output variants. The same product is specified with a rated output of 24,4 kW at 380 V, drawing 37,1 A, and a three-step variant rated at 19,4, 22,6 and 25,8 kW, drawing 30,1, 32,2 and 36,3 A respectively, with fuse protection of 32/32/40 A matching the three output steps⁵. So the range spans 19,4 to 27 kW, and the fuse requirement follows the output chosen.

Instantaneous electric water heating is one of two approaches. The other is stored hot water, and Haier's EWH range covers both instant and storage electric water heaters, with storage capacities of 30, 50, 80 and 100 litres¹⁶. A household choosing between instant and stored electric hot water can compare the two approaches on the hot water cylinder manufacturers page.

Temperature control, anti-scalding and installation

The DHB-E 27 LCD Set's temperature setting runs from Off to between 20 and 60 °C⁵. It is suitable for preheated water up to 55 °C with reheating, and up to a maximum of 70 °C without reheating⁵. Those figures matter for households with a preheated supply, for example from a solar thermal or heat pump system, where the water heater tops up rather than heats from cold.

Safety is built in. The maker states anti-scalding protection can be permanently activated, giving a high safety level by limiting the temperature at the tap⁵. The temperature shown on the LCD screen and selected via the rotary selector is held by the three electronic sensors and the closed-loop control described earlier⁵.

For context on temperature itself, guidance on maintaining the ideal home temperature sits alongside these appliance settings: the household sets the target, and the appliance holds it¹⁴. The DHB-E's 20 to 60 °C range covers the whole span a domestic hot water system needs, with the 70 °C preheated maximum for special cases⁵.

Installation is where the practical questions land. The unit's compact dimensions, 466 mm high, 225 mm wide and 116 mm deep, and its 2.90 kg weight make under-sink siting realistic⁵. The PROFI-RAPID installation system is the maker's own quick-fit arrangement⁵. But the three-phase supply requirement and the 40 A fuse protection mean this is not a plug-in appliance: it needs a qualified electrician and, in most homes, a supply upgrade first.

Electric heating and your home's energy self sufficiency

Electric heating is defined simply: it is any system that uses electricity as the main energy source to heat your home¹⁷. That single sentence contains both the promise and the problem. The promise is that electricity can be generated on site, by solar panels, in a way gas never can. The problem is that for most households the electricity still comes from the grid, on a tariff, from a supplier.

The context is a national transition. More than 80% of UK households currently heat their homes with gas or oil, and the move to electrified heating will ultimately affect all of them¹⁹. Consumer research for the EPC reform programme puts the same point in plainer terms: over the next 10 years many households will need to make significant changes to the way they heat their homes, moving from gas and oil central heating to electrified heating such as a heat pump²⁰. Government tracking of public attitudes covers the same ground, including technologies not yet available, such as hydrogen-ready boilers²¹.

Where does direct electric heating fit? Energy Saving Trust notes that some electric systems use electricity when you want to heat the room, as opposed to storage systems that charge off-peak²². The trade body view is that direct electric radiators suit rapid response or intermittent heating, and are particularly sustainable with self-generated energy such as from photovoltaic panels¹. The Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering makes the same point from the engineering side²³.

That is the independence case in one line: an electric radiator paired with solar panels can heat a home partly on energy the household generated itself, with no gas supply, no combustion and no standing charge for gas. The dependence that remains is equally clear. Without generation, an electric radiator is 100% grid-dependent, and because electricity unit rates are higher than gas rates, a poorly controlled electric radiator costs more to run than the gas system it replaced. Time-of-use tariffs shift the economics: several providers offer smart storage battery tariffs, including British Gas, E.ON Next and EDF Energy¹¹, and leading time-of-use tariffs are available through providers like Octopus Energy, EDF Energy and E.ON Next¹². A household that can concentrate its heating into cheap windows, or store cheap electricity, changes the sum materially.

For a household weighing electric radiators against a heat pump, the honest summary is that they are different tools. Electric radiators convert one unit of electricity into roughly one unit of heat and are best where rooms are used intermittently or where self-generation covers the load¹. A heat pump delivers more heat per unit of electricity but costs more to install and suits homes in continuous use. The heat pump manufacturers page covers that side of the market, and manufacturers and household energy independence develops the wider argument.