Electrothermal materials transform electric energy into heat due to the Joule effect. To date, resistive wires made of heavy metal alloys have primarily been used as the heat source in many appliances surrounding us. Recent discoveries in the field of carbon nanostructures revealed that they can offer a spectrum of advantages over the traditional materials. We review the production methods of thin films composed of carbon nanotubes or graphene and depict how they can be used as conductive coatings for electrothermal applications. We screen all reports from the field up to now and highlight the features of designed nanoheaters. A particular focus is placed on the analysis of general findings of how to tune their electrothermal properties, why carbon nanostructure devices operate the way they do and in what aspects they are superior to the currently available materials on the market.