Looking for the Ideal Commercial Outdoor Heater? Consider the Basic Types

Outdoor spaces are a welcome addition for any business, be it a restaurant, pizza restaurant, café, bar or even an office. Having an outdoor space that wows can attract more customers or clients because it’s a valuable feature. It’s also useful for boosting the morale of the employees, since catching some fresh air in between stressful tasks can help increase productivity and make them feel valued as your most important resource.

As it’s the outdoors, there are some specific challenges that appear when it comes to year-round use. Especially throughout the colder autumn and winter days. Covering up the seating is a solution, but there’s still something missing to provide the needed warmth and make the area cosy.

Instead of closing up terrace-season the minute chilly weather threatens to steal your joy, you can count on the help of heaters and extend the fun outside. You’re in luck because the market is truly abundant, and this blog post is meant to assist you with choosing the ideal heater from the popular options. Besides paying attention to size, clearance requirements, safety, installation, cleaning and maintenance, you’d have to choose by type. So, let’s delve deeper into the two basic types.

Electric Outdoor Heater

These are a trendy choice because of the flexibility they bring about. The array of versatile commercial outdoor electric heaters is endless, and you ought to make the purchase depending on your specific requirements of power and portability. This comes down to choosing between the plug-in and hardwired designs.

The plug-in designs are very handy in the sense they can be plugged into a standard outlet. You can move them around and use them wherever you see fit, or whenever the need arises. The vast range of models isn’t the only benefit you can expect to reap, considering you won’t need to do any installation to put them to good use, which is the exact opposite of the hardwired that require installation.

Unless you’re good with wires and electric projects, you’d have to invest in professional help too, however, this is a price worth paying if you’re seeking more power. Whichever of the two outdoor electric heaters you choose, you can be certain you’d get heating efficiency. This stems from the fact there are infrared lights that project heat and as such are much more eco-friendly than propane, and may cost you as much as natural gas depending on the electricity where you live and have your business.

Some designs come with halogen lights, which are slightly more powerful than the infrared, but this comes at the cost of eye strain since they put out an intrusive brightness. The benefits of infrared electric heaters don’t end up here if we also include the mounting options that allow you to take up minimal space.

On the plus side, they’re silent and you won’t have to bother with any maintenance care as well. In case you decide to repurpose them, like use them indoors when needed, you can do so without the worry they require ventilation. If you need more help with this specific type, you’ve got several adjustable free-standing and mounted heaters, both of which come with their own unique benefits.

Free-standing

Free-standing commercial outdoor electric heaters are available in many designs, and you’re also going to love them for the ease of installation as well as mobility. Simply said, you can take them in and out, and move them around whenever you choose. Depending on the size, you can easily store them too.

Mounted

Mounted electric heaters are advantageous because they don’t use up floor space. You’ve got wall and ceiling mounted designs, though there’s even another integrated model that is fitted in outdoor tables which are perfect for terraces of the hospitality businesses. Since they’re hardwired, these models require professional installation, but this is worth the investment if you plan on heating up larger areas with efficiency.

Gas Outdoor Heater

As long as you add them on well-ventilated decks, patios, or terraces, you can benefit from the addition of gas heaters. Unlike the commercial outdoor electric heaters, these offer more flexibility with the placement since they don’t need to be installed near electrical outlets. You have two options to choose from: natural gas and propane gas heaters.

Natural Gas

Natural gas heaters offer great heat output, in some cases even more than certain electric heaters outdoor models. However, they need to be connected to permanent natural gas lines which is the job of professionals. Unless you have existing gas lines, this isn’t the ideal choice for you. Moreover, another great disadvantage is they need ventilation so you can’t move them around if you eventually decide to use them indoors too.

Propane Gas

Propane gas heaters work as separate power sources that don’t require any connections to lines. This gives them great flexibility with the installation and use, and they put out a lot of heat, even to the point of heating up the surrounding areas. However, there’s a disadvantage considering when your tank runs out of gas, you’re left in the cold with no heating source. This means you’d have to get in the habit of supplying the tanks of gas as well as doing regular cleaning and maintenance. Choose wisely!