If you’re lucky enough to have a large garden with a patio, you probably enjoy hosting barbecues and outdoor parties in the summer, but what about the rest of the year? The summer is all too short, but you don’t have to limit your garden enjoyment to those few short weeks of warmth. With the right outdoor heating system, you can enjoy garden parties at any time of the year.
The Most Popular Outdoor Heating Options
There are several different kinds of outdoor heater, so it should be easy to find one that suits your garden. The most common forms of heating are:
- All weather heaters
- Gas heaters
- Radiant Thermal Heaters
- Open fire heating
- Zero light heaters
How to Heat an Outdoor Patio
The kind of heating you choose will depend on the size of your patio, the weather in your area, how often you want to use the patio, and the sorts of things you will be doing in the patio. If you plan on entertaining children, or you have pets, then you may not want to use an open fire for safety reasons. If you have a relatively small patio, a radiant thermal heater will work well, while a bigger area may require gas heating.
Wall Mounted Outdoor Heating Ideas
Wall mounted heating is a good choice for people with smaller patios that want to maximise the amount of space they have available. Convection heaters and radiant thermal heating are popular options. You can find both gas and electric wall mounted heating for patios. Both of these options require regular maintenance to keep them operating safely and at optimal efficiency.
Radiant thermal heating works just like sunlight – instead of warming up the air in the space itself, radiant thermal heaters give off a heat that is easily absorbed by people and objects. Typically, radiant thermal heating panels are installed under the patio eaves or on an external wall, and give off heat over a radius of about three meters.
Affordable Outdoor Heating
One downside of using electric heating is the expense – on average, it costs 9p per kW Hour to run an electric patio heater. This expense is not an issue for a double-glazed conservatory, where you are likely to run the heating for just a few minutes to take the edge off the cold before using the room. However, for an open patio electric heating may be prohibitively expensive.
Gas heaters come in many different shapes and sizes, from discrete gas fires to more ornamental fixtures. If you are designing a new patio, consider getting gas heating built-in, rather than relying on less efficient free-standing heaters. Open fires are perhaps the cheapest option for occasional use. Oil heaters are another good option.
Zero-light heaters, which work using infra-red energy, heat up quickly and do not consume a lot of power. These are a great option for modern patios.
Heating Safety
Safety is something that you should think carefully about when choosing a patio heating system. Gas heating must be serviced annually to ensure that it is functioning correctly and is well ventilated. There is always the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning with a poorly ventilated gas heating system. Electrical heating appliances must be looked after properly to ensure that they are not a fire hazard.
Fire pits and other open flame heating systems can be dangerous to children and household pets. Make sure that you keep animals and young children away from open flames, and make sure that there are no soft furnishings or flammable materials in the area near the fire pit.
This article was written by Amy and the team from Juice Electrical Supplies. Amy enjoys home DIY and is regularly updating her home. She works with Juice and shares their passion for green energy. Connect with them, here.