Stop Letting Your Patio Go to Waste in the Winter
It’s a frustrating sight: a beautiful outdoor dining area sitting completely empty just because the temperature dropped. Most people try to fix this with standard air heaters, but in an open-air space, that heat just drifts away the second a breeze hits. It’s a waste of electricity and your guests are still shivering. That’s why we lean on shortwave infrared. Here is the secret: these heaters don’t bother trying to warm up the air. Instead, they send heat straight to the person. It hits their skin and clothes directly. It feels like stepping into a patch of sunlight on a cold day. Making people actually want to sit outside We don’t try to heat the entire patio—that’s a losing battle. Instead, we focus on “heat zones.” By setting up a few high-wattage lamps in the right spots, you create a little bubble of warmth around the table. The second a guest sits down, that chill disappears. And when people feel cozy, they linger. They order that second bottle of wine or a dessert they weren’t planning on. It just happens. Getting the setup right You can’t just toss a heater in the middle of the deck and call it a day. Placement is everything. If you hang them too high, the heat thins out and nobody feels it. Too low? You’re basically grilling your customers. We usually map out a grid based on how far the heat actually reaches. Also, a heads-up on the electrical side: these things pull a lot of power. If you plug ten 2000W heaters into a random outlet, you’re going to blow a breaker right in the middle of the Saturday dinner rush. You’ll probably need a dedicated circuit or a new sub-panel to keep things running smoothly. Is it worth the cost? Pretty much always. If you can push your outdoor season from six months to ten, the gear usually pays for itself before the first winter is even over. More seats filled means more money in the bank. Just one last tip: keep an eye on the glow. Shortwave lamps have a very specific light to them. Position them carefully so your servers aren’t being blinded every time they go to drop off a plate. Get the wattage right, map out your zones, and you’ve turned a dead space into a money-maker.