The recently issued IEC 60675-3 standard of the International Electrotechnical Commision (IEC) specifies how the radiation efficiency of direct electric heaters is determined and how high this efficiency must be for such a heater to actually be called an infrared heating panel.

For direct electric heaters such as infrared heatings, the radiation efficiency is the most important quality criterion. This tells how well a heating transfers heat output to the surfaces of the room. According to Dr. Peter Kosack of the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, for a heater to be called an infrared heating panel, the radiation efficiency must be in the range above 40%. Only then can the manufacturer speak of a genuine infrared heating panel. The reverse conclusion thus shows that many of the heating panels currently offered as infrared heating are not in this sense at all.