Stop Letting Your Patio Go to Waste in Winter
Let’s be honest: most outdoor seating becomes a ghost town the second the temperature drops. It’s a waste of square footage. We fix this with mirror-reflective shortwave infrared heaters. Now, here is the trick. Most heaters try to warm up the air around people. But if there’s a breeze? That heat just vanishes. Our units don’t bother with the air. They beam heat directly onto your guests. It’s basically like sitting in the sun on a crisp October day. The wind can howl all it wants; your customers stay warm because the heat is hitting them, not the atmosphere. The secret is in the mirrors We put high-polish aluminum or gold-plated reflectors behind the heating element. Think of it like a flashlight beam. Instead of the heat spraying everywhere—hitting the ceiling or the mounting brackets—it gets pushed down in a tight cone. Without those reflectors, you’re basically throwing half your energy away. By focusing the heat exactly where people are sitting, you can actually use less power while your guests feel like they’re in a cozy 22-25°C bubble. More comfort, more cocktails It’s pretty simple: shivering people leave. When people are cold, they rush through their meal and get out. But when you create these targeted “warm zones,” guests actually linger. We’ve noticed a huge bump in dessert and drink orders simply because people aren’t freezing. From a business perspective, if you can fill just 20% more of your tables during the off-season, the equipment pays for itself in a few months. You get more turns per night because people are happy to stay for a full course. A few things to watch out for These things pack a punch. If you hang them too low, you’ll end up scorching the tops of your guests’ heads. Too high, and they won’t feel a thing. You’ve got to get the mounting height just right based on the wattage you’re using. And one more thing—these arrays pull a lot of power. Double-check your breakers before you flip the switch. There is nothing worse than tripping the power in the middle of a busy Friday night service.