Stop letting the winter chill kill your patio profits
Running a restaurant in the winter usually feels like a losing battle with the weather. You look at your outdoor seating and realize it’s basically just expensive furniture taking up space because it’s too cold for anyone to sit there. We’ve found a better way. Instead of trying to heat the entire outdoors—which is a waste of time and money—we use waterproof infrared heaters. Here is the secret: they don’t heat the air. They heat the people. Most heaters just blow hot air around, but as soon as a breeze hits, that warmth is gone. Infrared is different. It sends warmth directly to your guests, almost like standing in the sun on a crisp October day. It’s instant. This means your guests stay cozy even when the wind picks up, which keeps your tables full and your turnover moving during the slow months. Now, the outdoors is a nightmare for electronics. Rain, snow, and humidity usually wreck things. That’s why we use IP-rated waterproof housings. You can mount them on the walls or hang them from the ceiling and just forget about them. No worrying about short circuits or rain leaks. We also wrap them in heavy-duty aluminum, so the internal wiring doesn’t fry itself during a long, 12-hour shift. There is one thing to keep in mind, though. These lamps put out a lot of heat. Like, a lot. If you hang them too low, you’re going to annoy your guests or, worse, singe the fabric of your umbrellas. We usually suggest keeping them at least 2.2 meters up. It’s the sweet spot where people feel the warmth without feeling like they’re sitting too close to a campfire. At the end of the day, this is about the bottom line. If you can make your patio usable year-round, you’ve essentially grown your restaurant’s footprint by 20% without paying for a new lease. You stop having to tell large parties “sorry, we don’t have room inside.” You just lead them outside, flip the switch, and get to work.