Fall is simply gorgeous, but it is also the time when the chilly wind starts blowing. The winter too has its own beauty, but few of us are actually ready to brave the cold to enjoy its splendor. The spring is warm and beautiful, but that is only the later part of the season. In short, in North America or Europe, most part of the year is too cold for outdoor living. Although we are high spirited and adventurous by nature, we are forced spend indoors most of the time. Or, may be we were…

Not anymore! The advent of technology has seen to it that we can enjoy the bounty of the nature without having to rough it out. We no longer have to brave the cold to watch the moon traversing the sky. We now have patio heaters to keep us warm even in cold weather. Well, that does not mean that a patio heater can turn the winter into the spring, but what it can do is to increase the temperature by quite a few degrees within a certain radius. If you sit within that radius, you can remain warm and comfortable while rest of the patio is cold and freezing.

However, you just cannot wake up one day and decide that you are going to bring a patio heater home. To buy a suitable patio heater, you have to undertake an extensive research. There are quite a few types of it and you have to know what you exactly want.

The first thing you need to ask yourself weather you want it for your residential patio or is it for a commercial space. Then you will have to decide how large an area you will have to heat up. Higher is the BTU of the heater greater will be its capacity and larger the area it will be able to warm up. However, a patio heater with higher BTU will also have a higher running cost and therefore unless it is required to heat up a large space, there is no point in buying a patio heater with higher BTU.

For your residential patio, you are free to choose any mode of heating. You can buy an electrical heater or the one that run on natural gas or even propane. Then, there are chimaeras, fire pits, fire bowls or even electric fireplaces. However, people often prefer gas or electric patio heaters for the convenience they offer. However, you do not have so many options as far as commercial space is concerned. Mainly three types of commercial patio heater are available in the market and they are as follows:

Ceiling or wall mount electric heater
Natural gas patio heater
Propane portable heater

Many people find the electric heater, be that residential or commercial, very convenient because they can be mounted out of reach for most, especially children and pets. There is no fear of tipping. Moreover, as these do not have any live flames, there is no chance of surrounding area catching fire from it. If you buy the infrared variety, you can save a lot of energy because such a heater heats up only the solid object in its path, not the air in between.

An electric commercial patio heater is popular for more reason than that. Because they run on electricity, you do not ever have to worry about running out of fuel. However, if you have a natural gas line, you do not have to worry about running out of fuel even it is a natural gas commercial patio heater. It is only in case of a propane commercial patio heater that you have to worry about fuel supply and refilling of empty cylinder. However, a propane heater has its advantage too.

Since the fuel tank of a propane patio heater is located at its base, supply of fuel is automatic. That is why such a heater is truly portable. You do not have it installed, but simply place it where the heat is required. Bigger commercial heaters are generally mounted on wheels and therefore transportation is not an issue. Moreover, they are all fitted with anti-tilt mechanism so that if the heater is tilted, it automatically shuts off. In fact, all the three variety of commercial patio heaters have their own advantages, learn about them and compare them side by side before choosing the one that you think is most suitable for you.

Author Bio: Article by Kenny Leichester of PatioShoppers.com, a website with the best aluminum umbrella and artificial Christmas tree information on the web.

Category: Home Management
Keywords: patio cushions, propane patio heaters