Stop Letting Your Patio Go to Waste This Winter
It sucks seeing a beautiful outdoor seating area just sit there, empty and freezing, for half the year. Most people try to fix this with those big forced-air blowers, but here’s the problem: you can’t heat the wind. It just blows away. That’s why we use infrared (IR) heaters. Instead of trying to warm up the entire neighborhood, these lamps send out waves that hit people and objects directly. It’s like stepping into a patch of sunlight on a cold day. You aren’t wasting electricity on the air; you’re warming the guests. The secret to keeping people in their seats It all comes down to how the customer feels the second they sit down. If they feel that instant warmth on their skin, they relax. They stop shivering. And when they’re comfortable, they stay. I’ve seen it happen a dozen times—comfortable guests order that extra round of drinks or a dessert they weren’t planning on. By putting some wall-mounted units up, you’re basically turning a “dead zone” back into a place that actually makes money. Getting the setup right We usually go with quartz halogen tubes. Why? Because they’re fast. Really fast. You don’t have to flip a switch an hour before opening to “pre-heat” the patio. You turn them on, and boom—it’s warm. But you have to be careful with where you hang them. If they’re too high, the heat disappears before it ever reaches the table. Too low, and your guests will feel like their shoulders are being toasted. We usually suggest a staggered layout. It’s the best way to make sure there are no weird cold spots where people are still huddled in their coats. A few things to watch out for Now, there is a catch. These things pull a lot of power. You can’t just plug a bunch of these into a standard wall outlet and hope for the best. You’ll need to check your electrical panel. If you’re putting in ten 2kW units, that’s a massive 20kW load on your system. Also, these lamps get seriously hot—hot enough to melt plastic. Give them plenty of breathing room. Make sure your wiring is rated for high heat so you don’t end up with burnt insulation. Get the technical stuff sorted, and you can keep those tables full even when it’s freezing outside.