[DoctorOetker]

> In terms of converting electricity to heat it is almost 100% efficient like every other electric heating element.

except there are many types of heat pump in this world that routinely achieve well above 100% efficiency, since pumping heat from a cold heat bath to a hot one can cost significantly less energy than generating that heat resistively.

[hagbard_c]

That is not in any way related to the theoretical efficiency of resistance heating and not really of any help here unless there is some working fluid which allows for the temperatures needed for industrial processes. It might be possible to recuperate process heat if a suitable working fluid can be found which evaporates at the temperature of the product leaving the process chamber and condenses at a temperature suitable for (pre-)heating the process chamber. I have not heard of such though.

[IshKebab]

Heat pumps are not heating elements.

[hristov]

Yeah except heat pumps are really not very efficient at high temperature differentials. They are great if the outside temp is 5 deg C to bring it to a nice comfy 20 deg C. They would not work very well if you want to brung the temperature to thousands of degrees C.

Don't get me wrong, it would be super cool if someone creates a heat pump that can bring the temperature up enough to melt iron ore at greater than 100 percent efficiency, but it does not seem like anyone currently making heat pumps considers this remotely possible.