January 8th, 2013 by Shaun Day

If you don't mind, I've got few questions relevant to the use of patio heaters to ask you before starting...

• Do you like spending time in your garden or on your patio?

• The weather is now quite cold and you don't really want to go outside to benefit from the fresh air without being freezing?

  ...the answers should be ''Yes I do, I love my patio to bits!!!'' to the first one and ''No, are you mad? It's godamn freezing outside!!''. I see, I see... so you definitely need a guide to patio heaters and HSD is here to help you!  

With an outside heater, you'll have more opportunity to spend some good moments in your garden or on your patio during the cold weather. Even if inside your home, you benefit from an efficient heating system, it's still nice to think that you can enjoy your back garden in the middle of the winter, don’t you agree?

 Economic patio heaters can easily be installed in an outdoor environment such as your garden, your patio obviously and also in your garden shed...    

Different type of heaters: enjoy your garden in autumn or even winter!

-'ALL WEATHER' PATIO HEATERS ------> Perfect for an outside environment however, the heater needs to be water-proof so it's not dangerous in case of sudden heavy rain...

-'ZERO LIGHT' HEATERS ------------------> It basically provides warmth without any light. It can be useful for environments where there are other sources of light.

-'FREE-STANDING' HEATERS ------------> They are the most mobile and therefore they are really practical in a garden environment. Most of them are water-proof.

-GAS HEATERS ------------------------------> Probably the most aesthetically pleasing heater as you can see the fire which warms you up making it nice to look at. Also, most of them are easy to use and can be controlled by a remote so you can set the temperature you want.

-HANGING HEATERS -----------------------> If you don't want to clutter your garden environment with another appliance, the hanging heater is the perfect one. It's practical, useful and aesthetically pleasing like gas heaters.

-'TABLE-TOP' PATIO HEATERS ----------> Gas-operated, they are very efficient in providing ample warmth for people sitting around a table.  These table-top patio heaters can be placed wherever required.

  (By the way, for the most technical of you guys, we recommend reading the ehow.com article  or have a look to our recent post about the electric energy and the heat for a better technical understanding of how patio heaters work).    

A heater that can be used in my garden, how?

  Basically, an outdoor heater is a practical and nice looking piece of equipment:

• It diffuses very soft warmth in order to improve the comfort of your area.
• It spreads the warmth by the heater chasing the cold air away and will increase your dinner time along with your "chilling" moments.

  Shed heater   Thanks to patio heaters, you won't neglect your outdoor place during the cold months of the year. Also, a heater installed outside will not only warm you up but also the chairs, table and the floor which is quite nice if you're eating your dinner. Another area where a heater can be installed in your garden would be in your shed. If your shed is tidied and big enough, why not use it as your office?  You can comfortably work in it once it's warm. Most of those heaters are low cost energy resulting in you being able to run them for a long period and savour your moments.    

Advantages of patio heaters?

  Many terrace/patio heaters are presented as wall mounted heaters, outdoor mobile heaters, gas or electric heating sunshades... Advantages of patio heaters? A heater installed outside can also be very ecological compared to gas patio heating:

• it doesn't diffuse CO (a bit like Eddie Middleton from Dragon's Den explains to the multi-millionaire investors...)

• It doesn't smell,
• It's silent,
• It's very economical.

Outdoor heating can be installed inside your house and will work as a space heater.      

Take care of your domestic patio heater...

  Most domestic patio heaters are generally fitted with steel plates or even chrome burners. It means that these will over time suffer rust. Basically, to prolong a chrome plated burner, you need to avoid leaving out in the winter months as the humidity (but also snow, rain, wind...) can seriously damage it and therefore decrease the warmth performance of your heater. If you've got one, use a full length shelter in order to protect it. Wall mountable patio heater   (P.S: We do not recommend storing a propane gas cylinder indoors or below ground level as it can be really dangerous...obviously...).  

Where to buy garden heaters?

The price of these kinds of heaters are different according to the outdoor heating type that you are going to buy. Many sites provide these kinds of heaters at different prices. HSD online.co.uk provide low running cost efficient and really powerful heaters or patio heaters that can be installed on your patio, in your garden or in your shed.   To summarise my thoughts, how cool is it to feel warm enjoying evenings on the terrace in your garden when it's freezing!!  

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