Industrial Resistive Heating

Joule heat · elements · grid mix

Resistance heating turns almost all of its electricity into heat at the point of use. On today's average US grid it still emits more CO2 than a gas burner.

Bar chart of CO2 per MMBtu of heat delivered: resistive heating on the China grid about 160 kg, on the US average grid about 109 kg, a gas boiler or furnace about 62 kg, and resistive heating on the French grid about 10 kg; a dashed line marks the gas level. Breakeven with gas is about 0.21 kg CO2 per kWh of grid power. Below, heating element materials by maximum temperature: nickel-chromium about 1,200 degrees C, iron-chromium-aluminum about 1,400, silicon carbide about 1,600, and molybdenum disilicide about 1,850. CO2 PER MMBTU OF HEAT DELIVERED Electric, China grid ~160 kg Electric, US average grid ~109 kg Gas boiler or furnace ~62 kg Electric, France grid ~10 kg Breakeven with gas: about 0.21 kg CO2 per kWh of grid power ELEMENT MATERIALS BY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE NiCr ~1,200 °C FeCrAl ~1,400 °C SiC ~1,600 °C MoSi2 ~1,850 °C
Efficiency at point of use
~99%
Breakeven grid
~0.21 kg/kWh
MoSi2 element limit
~1,850 °C
Companies tracked
11, 1 Chinese
Hub
Industry

Finding

Resistive heat is a mature, near-lossless way to make heat up to about 1,800 °C, but it cuts CO2 only where grid power is cleaner than about 0.21 kg per kWh

Current through a resistor dissipates P = I²R as heat, so element heaters, immersion heaters, duct heaters and electric furnaces deliver nearly all their electricity to the process. A gas burner wastes 15-20% up the stack but starts from fuel that emits 53 kg CO2 per MMBtu. Per unit of heat delivered, resistive heating on the 2024 US average grid emits about 75% more CO2 than gas, and on China's coal-heavy grid about 2.5 times more.

The breakeven is roughly 0.21 kg CO2 per kWh: below that, resistance beats a gas burner on emissions. France, Ontario, Quebec, Norway and Sweden are well under it; most US grids reach it only with clean power contracts or on-site renewables. Cost is the other hurdle: at 8 cents/kWh, a megawatt-hour of resistive heat costs about $24 per MMBtu, against about $4 for gas at Henry Hub prices. That is why resistance heating spreads first where it adds value gas cannot - precise control, clean atmospheres in vacuum furnaces, semiconductor and battery-material processing - and why heat pumps take the low-temperature work and thermal batteries buy only cheap hours.

At the high end, resistive technology is reaching into chemical-plant duty. BASF, SABIC and Linde started a 6 MW electrically heated steam cracker demonstrator at Ludwigshafen in 2024; Coolbrook (Finland) builds roto-dynamic heaters that heat gases above 1,700 °C; Kanthal (Alleima, Sweden) supplies FeCrAl and MoSi2 elements and process gas heaters. US makers include Watlow, Chromalox and I Squared R; China's large element and furnace base - SiC and MoSi2 elements from Henan and Zhengzhou producers - supplies its battery-materials and solar industries.

System types

Resistive heating by system type

Industrial resistive heating systems
SystemTypical rangeUsesNotes
Immersion and circulation heatersUp to ~600 °C fluidsWater, oils, thermal fluids, process streamsSimple retrofit for gas-fired heaters
Duct and air heatersUp to ~800 °C airDrying, curing, preheatingOften paired with heat recovery
Electric furnaces and ovens400-1,200 °CAnnealing, heat treating, sinteringControlled atmospheres and vacuum
High-temperature element furnaces1,200-1,850 °CCeramics, glass, battery materialsSiC and MoSi2 elements
Graphite and tungsten furnacesUp to ~3,000 °CGraphitization, specialty metalsVacuum or inert gas only
Electric gas heaters for crackers~850 °C process gasSteam cracking, reformingBASF-SABIC-Linde demonstrator

Constraints

What limits deployment

Resistive heating deployment constraints
ConstraintDetail
Grid emissionsNo CO2 benefit above ~0.21 kg/kWh grid intensity
Energy costElectricity costs several times more than gas per unit of heat in the US
Element materialsMoSi2, SiC, tungsten and refractory alloys from a small supplier base
Site powerMulti-MW heaters need transformer, switchgear and feeder upgrades

Vendors

Heater, furnace and element makers

Heater and furnace builders, then the element makers whose MoSi2, SiC and refractory-metal parts set the temperature ceiling. Active companies first, then pilots, research groups and companies that exited.

Heaters and furnaces
CompanyProductsHQTechnologyReference sitesStatus
ChromaloxImmersion, circulation and duct heaters, electric process heatersUSResistance heaters to multi-MWactive
IpsenVacuum and atmosphere heat-treating furnacesGermanyElectric vacuum furnacesactive
NaberthermIndustrial and laboratory electric furnacesGermanyElectric furnaces to about 1,800 °Cactive
Seco/WarwickVacuum and atmosphere furnacesPolandElectric vacuum furnacesactive
ThermonProcess heaters and heat tracingUSResistance heaters and heat tracingactive
WatlowProcess heaters, thermal systems and controlsUSResistance heaters to multi-MWactive
BASF, SABIC and LindeElectrically heated steam-cracking furnace demonstratorGermanyResistive heating of cracker tubesLudwigshafen demonstrator (2024)pilot
Heating elements
CompanyProductsHQTechnologyReference sitesStatus
I Squared R ElementSiC and MoSi2 heating elementsUSElements to about 1,800 °Cactive
Kanthal (Alleima)FeCrAl, NiCr, SiC and MoSi2 heating elementsSwedenElements to about 1,850 °Cactive
PlanseeTungsten and molybdenum heating elements and hot zonesAustriaRefractory-metal elementsactive
Zhengzhou Songshan Electric Heating ElementMoSi2 and SiC heating elementsChinaElements to about 1,800 °Cactive

Sources

Sources and scope

Scope
Industrial Resistive Heating
Sources
EIA emission factors and grid intensity (2024); China MEE grid factor; Kanthal, BASF, Coolbrook disclosures; ElectronsX arithmetic
Updated
October 2026