Outdoor heating...

With winter fast approaching we are curious as to if and how people heat their outdoor "alfresco" type areas. We have the porter davis copyrighted "alfresco quadrent" with 3 side enclosed.

The obvious choice seems to be the big gas patio heaters, however people mention they go through a heap of gas and need to refill the bottle every 2-3 uses of a few hours. They also arent supposed to go too close to walls/corners which means they will take up a heap of space in the middle of the area...

We have seen electric ones that will mount to wall/roof too. Anybody got something like this? Are they effective?

Thanks...

Hi Vanderlay,

I have a wall electric one. I used it in the old house and it was great. They have three heat settings as you need.

I will be putting it up in my new house eventually but it would have been great to get it preinstalled with the power point. Oh well luck I know a good electrician!!

I would recommend it. And mine is approx 4 years old so there is bound to be some new models out there.

I can give you a phot of what I use if you need.

Tam

We were recently at a country pub that had a small 'alfresco' area heated by 4 electric heaters. I was completely sold on this type of heating (and it wasn't the beer, really!). Not sure what brand the heaters were but each heater was around 0.5m long and maybe 20 cm wide. They were black in colour and hardly noticible but gave off perfect heat - it made the area really cosy.
I think these would be perfect for at home and no worrying about filling gas bottles.

I saw a great product at the Home Show on the weekend - ran off electricity but looked like ceramic panels - suspended from the roof for heating.

I'll try and find their details tonight.

We have our alfresco area closed off with framed panels that have clear plastic inserts, and doors leading to our pergola area. I’ve an electric infrared heater in the alfresco area which works well with the area closed off plus the sliders open from the house so the ducted heating also assists, then I have a gas heater under the pergola for the smokers.

There's a bit on panel heaters at

https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.p ... nel+heater

**creative quote editing**

Actually no that's not what I meant....was trying to be helpful not sarcastic (for a change...... )....I remember the post because I was involved in it....

If your not aware they are called "panel heaters" you probably won't pick it up in a search.....I didn't until I read it....

PS Had to look twice to make sure I didn't write that.....

Found the info from the Home Show

http://www.devi.com.au/comfortL.htm

The 1200 watt panel was about $500-600 plus installation costs.

There is talk of banning them in Europe.

In reality - do you need one?

Steve

Steve.....is it safety, greenhouse....?

Govt sees the waste of energy to heat outdoor areas - so they are considering banning them.
so GH mainly.
Put a bloddy jumper on I say
and if it's to cold - then go inside.
Steve

I love this one ……just don’t sit to close to the table

But if I dont use my decking, then all of the embodied energy in it will be wasted!! And my hard yakka!! and those pine trees will have died for no benefit!!

Seriously though, its just for the occasions we have a large number of people over, which isnt that often....not the party animals we used to be!!

Thanks to everybody for the suggestions!

Better to install clear PVC blinds.
The peoples body heat will keep the area warm, and on those winter mornings when the sun is shining in - the blinds will keep the wind out and you will use the area more often.
Believe me - it'll be a much better use of your bucks.
Steve

Or you could have the best of both worlds like Rodda does:



Patio blinds ^

Outdoor heaters v





They cost bugger all to run and work exceptionally well.

Yep - at least the heat is not just venting into the outdoors.

so matt, how much do those wall mounted heaters cost??

Have you still got the number for the blind manufacturer gents?

http://www.australianoutdoorliving.com. ... stateID=sa