Both convert electricity to heat at essentially the same fundamental efficiency — the real difference is delivery, not a hidden efficiency advantage for either.
PTC ceramic: fast, fan-driven, room-wide
The Dreo Atom 316 uses PTC ceramic with a fan, warming a room’s air relatively quickly and evenly, with Dreo naming the technology explicitly rather than leaving it vague.
Infrared: silent, radiant, targeted
The Könighaus P-Serie panel has no fan at all — it radiates heat directly, which Könighaus states suits a well-insulated room or occasional, targeted use rather than sustained whole-room heating in a drafty space.
Noise is a genuine differentiator
If completely silent operation matters — a bedroom, a home office during calls — infrared’s lack of a fan is a real advantage PTC ceramic can’t match, at the cost of a generally higher price for comparable wattage.
Room type should decide, not a general “better” claim
A well-insulated room suits infrared’s targeted, radiant approach. A larger or less insulated space generally benefits more from a fan heater’s faster, more even air warming.
What we would not do
Claim one technology is more efficient than the other without data to back it. Neither manufacturer in this family publishes comparable efficiency figures — the honest answer is that they suit different situations, not that one is objectively superior.
Check your own manual before you follow anything here. Humidity ranges, wattages, voltage and current ratings differ from model to model, and the manufacturer's figures take precedence over anything written on this site. We report what makers and monitors publish — a target humidity percentage, a heater's tip-over and overheat protection, a plug or thermostat's maximum load rating — and we never turn a reading into a health verdict or a diagnosis. Questions about air quality and health are matters for a qualified professional and your national health authority, and this site points you to them rather than restating them. Where wiring, voltage or load ratings are involved, matching them exactly to your appliance is a safety matter, not a technicality.
The questions that keep coming up
Is infrared heating more efficient than PTC ceramic?
Neither manufacturer we've reviewed publishes comparable efficiency data that would let this be answered with a number. What's genuinely different is how the heat is delivered — radiant and targeted versus fan-driven and room-wide — not a settled efficiency ranking.
Last reviewed 24 August 2026