Stop Letting Your Patio Go to Waste in Winter
We’ve all seen it. A beautiful outdoor dining area that looks great in July but becomes a ghost town the second November hits. The problem is that most heaters just try to warm up the air. In an open space, that’s a losing battle. The wind just carries the heat away before your guests even feel it. That’s why we use shortwave infrared. Here is the secret: these heaters don’t care about the air. They don’t try to fight the wind. Instead, they send heat in a straight line, hitting people and objects directly. It feels like sitting in the sun on a crisp autumn day. You get that instant warmth the second you sit down, regardless of how chilly it is outside. Getting the setup right You can’t just throw a few lamps up and hope for the best. We usually go with high-wattage arrays—somewhere between 2000W and 3000W per zone—to really make a dent in the cold. But height is everything. If you mount them too high, the heat disappears before it reaches the table. Too low? Your guests will feel like their heads are being baked while their feet are freezing. We like to use a staggered grid. It kills those annoying cold spots and makes the whole area feel cozy and consistent. When people are warm, they linger. They order that second bottle of wine or a dessert they weren’t planning on. It’s a simple bit of psychology: comfort equals a higher check. The “Gotcha” with the electrics Now, there is one big thing to watch out for. These units pull a massive amount of power. You can’t just plug these into a standard wall outlet and call it a day. If you do, you’re going to trip your breakers right in the middle of a Saturday night rush. You need to make sure your electrical panel can actually handle the load of several 2kW units running at once. It’s worth the investment to get the wiring right the first time. The bottom line At the end of the day, a freezing patio is just wasted real estate. By fixing the temperature, you’re basically adding more square footage to your restaurant without having to build a new room. It turns a seasonal headache into a way to keep the revenue flowing all year long.