In order to melt particulate material in an electric furnace with the help of at least one electric arc burning between a burner electrode arranged in the lid of the furnace and a bottom electrode arranged in the bottom of the furnace, the material is introduced into a space surrounding the electric arc. It is melted by the radiation heat of the electric arc and is collected in a melt bath covering the bottom part of the furnace. In order to attain a high energy exploitation and to prevent the material to be melted from being extracted, a fixed bed of the material to be melted is formed in the space surrounding the electric arc, which takes its root on the bottom part of the furnace and peripherally surrounds the electric arc. The material is melted on the side of the fixed bed facing the electric arc. The fixed bed is moved approximately radially towards the center of the furnace to an extent corresponding to the melted material volume. The material to be melted is charged between the fixed bed and a shell externally surrounding the fixed bed.