Stop Letting the Cold Kill Your Patio Profits
It’s a frustrating cycle. The weather dips, the wind picks up, and suddenly half your outdoor tables are empty. You’re losing money simply because your guests are freezing. Most people try to fix this with those old-school forced-air heaters. The problem? They try to heat the entire outdoors. It’s a losing battle. The wind just blows the warmth away. We do things differently with shortwave infrared. Instead of heating the air, these heaters beam warmth directly onto your guests and their chairs. It’s like sitting in a patch of sunlight on a crisp autumn day. You create a little bubble of warmth that the wind can’t touch. Why this actually makes you money It’s pretty simple: people who are shivering don’t stay for dessert. They don’t order that second round of cocktails. They just want to get inside or go home. When your guests are actually comfortable, they linger. They relax. And when they relax, your average check size goes up. It’s that easy. Getting the setup right You can’t just slap these units anywhere. You have to think about your ceiling height and how windy your terrace gets. For most open-air spots, we suggest mounting high-wattage units about 2.5 to 3 meters up. You want a nice, wide “cone” of heat that covers the whole table. If you put them too low, you’ll end up cooking your guests’ heads, and they’ll ask you to turn the heat off. If they’re too high? The warmth never reaches the table. It’s all about finding that sweet spot. A quick word on the electrics Here is the part where people usually mess up: the wiring. These heaters pull a lot of power. If you just plug them into a random outlet or overload a circuit, you’re going to trip a breaker right in the middle of the Friday night dinner rush. Trust me, that’s a nightmare you don’t want. Make sure you have a dedicated circuit and heavy-gauge wiring. It prevents voltage drops and keeps everything running smooth. Finding the balance The goal isn’t to make the patio a sauna. You want a gentle, consistent warmth that makes people forget it’s cold outside. If you balance the height and the output correctly, you can keep every single seat filled, regardless of what the thermometer says.