Stop Letting Your Patio Go Cold in the Winter
Ever notice how most outdoor heaters are kind of a joke? You turn them on, they try to warm up the air, and then a light breeze comes along and just… blows all that warmth away. It’s frustrating. That’s why we stick with shortwave infrared. Instead of fighting the wind, these heaters work like the sun. They send out heat that hits your customers and their chairs directly. It doesn’t matter if there’s a draft; the people feel warm because the heat is hitting them, not the empty space around them. Keeping the seats full When you set up these infrared arrays, you’re basically creating “warm zones.” Imagine a guest sitting under a 2500W beam. They feel that heat instantly. It kills that shivering, “I can’t wait to get inside” feeling that usually makes people avoid outdoor tables once November hits. When your guests are actually comfortable, they stop looking at the indoor seating and stay put. It keeps your bookings steady while the place across the street is fighting for every indoor square inch. Speed is everything If you want to flip tables faster, you can’t be waiting around for the patio to warm up. The best part about infrared lamps is that they hit peak temperature in seconds. No two-hour pre-heating ritual. You flip the switch, the zone gets cozy, and you can seat the next party immediately. One quick tip on setup: mount them between 2.5 and 3 meters high. If they’re too low, your guests will feel like they’re sitting under a heat lamp at a buffet—way too hot. Too high, and the heat loses its punch before it even reaches the table. The “Gotcha” (Read this before you buy) Here is the thing: these units pull a lot of power. You can’t just plug a few of these into a standard 10A outlet and hope for the best. You’ll trip your breaker in minutes. You really need to check your electrical panel to make sure it can handle the load of several 2kW units running at once. If your wiring is too thin, the lamps won’t get enough juice and you’ll lose that warmth. Get the wiring right, and you’ve basically just added more square footage to your restaurant for the entire winter. It’s a simple way to keep making money when the weather tries to shut you down.