Stop Letting the Cold Kill Your Winter Profits
It’s a frustrating sight: a beautiful outdoor patio sitting completely empty while your indoor tables are packed to the gills. You’ve probably tried those big forced-air heaters, but here’s the problem—the heat just floats away. It drifts up into the sky or gets whipped away by a light breeze, leaving your guests shivering in their coats. That’s why we use shortwave infrared. Instead of trying to heat the air (which is basically impossible outdoors), these units heat the people. It’s a different kind of warmth. It feels like stepping into a patch of sunlight on a crisp day. The moment a guest sits down, they feel it. No waiting around for the “area” to warm up. They just feel cozy instantly. When people are warm, they stay longer. They order that extra round of drinks or a dessert they weren’t planning on. It keeps your tables turning and your revenue steady, even when it’s freezing outside. Now, you can’t just slap one of these on a wall and hope for the best. For a commercial patio, we go with high-wattage arrays. You need enough “punch” to cut through the cold. We also make sure these are on their own dedicated circuits. There is nothing worse than having your heaters trip a breaker right in the middle of a Friday night dinner rush. We’ll look at your ceiling height and how much wind you get. If your patio is wide open to the elements, we just bump up the wattage per square meter. It’s the only way to make sure the cold doesn’t win. But let’s be honest about the trade-off: these things pull a lot of power. Depending on your setup, you might need to upgrade your electrical panel or add some sub-panels to handle the load. It’s an upfront cost, sure, but it’s a lot cheaper than leaving half your restaurant empty for four months of the year. Just don’t under-spec the power. If you go too low, the heat won’t penetrate the chill, and you’re basically just paying for a very expensive light bulb. Get the wattage right, and you’ve turned dead space into a goldmine.