Tuesday 1 September 2009

Propane Heater Choices For Your Patio

The patio outside your home ought to be a distinctive place for you and your visitors to calm down and live trouble-free. It should be an inviting and pleasant refuge with nearly all things as ideal as achievable.

Some studies have shown that the majority of the population actually prefers eating outside rather than inside. Enjoying meals outdoors where the air is fresh and the view is better appears to be more pleasurable than dining inside.

One ever-present potential problem though is the weather, which can make trying to eat outdoors down right miserable. However there are some actions you can take to ameliorate this problem. There are solutions available to counter those chilly evenings that follow what began as a warm sunny day.

An outdoor propane patio heater will add several hours to the amount of time that you can comfortably enjoy being outdoors. This will allow you to take advantage of your patio into the late evening and later into the fall season, as well as earlier in the spring. As you start searching for the best outdoor propane patio heater for you, you will find a wide range of designs to be had and should take into consideration this next list of suggestions to assist you in choosing the most appropriate heater for your situation.

Number one, you have to figure out which general design of outdoor prepane patio heater is best for your situation. An in-ground heater with an underground gas connection that is permanently affixed in-place might be a good option if you happen to live someplace where it is almost always cold, like way up in the Rockies or something.

Another, and much more practical option would be to use a portable propane patio heater. They are much easier to use than installing something permanent, and would likely be the best choice. In addition to being convenient, portable patio heaters are also fairly inexpensive.

Second, you want to figure out the amount of heat that your patio area will need. The warming area of most propane patio heaters is generally listed by the length of the radius out from the unit, since they tend to heat in a circular pattern.

You should select a convenient location in the middle of the area you are trying to warm up as the place where the heating unit will sit and measure the distance from that point out to the perimeter of the edge of the circle you intend to warm. This will be the heating radius you need to look for.

Third, you should consider what style of patio heater would work best for you. Do you want something that stands out and draws attention to itself with its own unique look or would you prefer something unobtrusive that almost blends in with your other furnishings?

Modern propane patio heaters are available in a myriad of shapes and colors. You can choose from bright-colored modern designs, stylish mute-toned heaters and even some that can be disguised and hard to spot.

You don't need to be concerned about safety with today's modern outdoor propane heaters. Just follow the directions and heed the warnings that come with the heater. Today's propane heaters come with shut-off switches that operate automatically. The unit turns off when the preset temperature is reached, and then restarts after the area cools down.

Some of the more common styles of patio heaters you may like to familiarize yourself with are:

Free-standing heaters - these are portable and can be placed wherever heat is needed most. They can warm an area with up to a 20-foot radius.

Tabletop patio heaters - these small units are placed directly on your patio table to keep everyone sitting at the table nice and warm. They are very convenient and can easily be transported to different areas with no trouble at all.

Hanging or wall-mounted heaters - these can hang on a wall or from the ceiling to heat everyone below.

In-ground outdoor propane heaters - these are the in-ground permanently installed units that require an underground gas line. Their greatest benefit though is that they eliminate the need for refillable propane tanks.

By: Don Tedson

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Tag : patio heaters,outdoor patio heaters,propane patio heaters,gas patio heaters


Are Outdoor Electric Patio Heaters Really Affordable?

Deciding on a patio heater should always start with the choice of energy source. You’ll make life so much more easy for yourself once this done. So what make the case for electric patio heaters so strong, and what are they exactly?

Basically, electric patio heaters are fuelled by electricity as a power source. They are available on a variety of models, ranging from heaters fixed to your wall, lone-standing as well some mounted to your patio umbrella.

A Big concern for many homeowners is utilising their outdoor space optimally. If you only have small area to work with, an electric patio heaters may be the number one choice for you.
If your patio area have a low head space, and outdoor electric patio heater will be a good option, as big propane heaters may be unworkable with these area. Heaters fixed to the wall is great for countering this problem and will still leave you with a lot of space to work with.

Electric patio heaters also have a very focussed heat emission. As opposed to propane heaters they do fulfil their function in keeping your guests warm and aren’t merely heating up the outdoor area, leaving everyone and everything feeling an unnatural, crisp warmth. This is arguably one of the most frequent complaints that homeowners have with propane heaters.

The maintenance and operational costs of your electric patio heaters will differ massively from one region to another. It’s worthwhile doing some initial studies and cost forecasts on this to see which option will yield the lowest monthly financial commitment over time. On the issue of costs, if you are trying to trim down as much as possible on the initial spend, an electric heater will be the best choice. They tend to be dramatically lower priced than other heaters.

If you are trying to avoid the smelly, gassy odours of propane heaters, an electric patio heater is also a very good choice. Not only will you eliminate the odour and noise problem, but you will also be able to use your heater indoors – provided that you purchased a loose standing heater which you can move around.

So many homeowners consider safety as a top priority when choosing a suitable patio heater. Although electric patio heaters do have an element of danger in the form of chords and switches, they are substantially safer that its propane and gas counterparts. Bear this in mind especially if you have kids.

Even though outdoor electric patio heaters don’t do much decoratively, they are functionally a great asset to have in your patio area and will keep your friends and family nice and cosy at a staggeringly low capital outlay.

By: Johnathan Gerber

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Tag : patio heaters,electric patio heaters,outdoor patio heaters,propane patio heaters