Weatherproof Heaters

Weatherproof heaters can play an important part in improving a bar, restaurant or any outdoor hospitality business’ bottom line.

They offer operators the chance to use their outdoor spaces 365 days a year. This, in turn, increases capacity and potential revenue.

In recent years there’s been an explosion in the number of hospitality venues seeking these benefits and purchasing outdoor heating.

However, in some cases, the heaters selected have not been fit for purpose and not suited for outdoor use.

At best, choosing the wrong weatherproof heater can be an expensive mistake, at worst, it can be dangerous.

What to look for in a weatherproof heater

To help you select the right heater, we have compiled a handy checklist to guide your search.

1. Get familiar with IP ratings

Before doing anything else, it is worth spending some time learning about IP ratings. We all know water and electricity don’t mix and IP ratings are an internationally-recognised way to provide buyers with information on how protected an electrical product is against liquids, including water and solids, like dust. IP ratings are the prime way you can tell whether or not a heater will be suitable for the intended use. The higher the IP rating the more protection the product has against ingress of liquids and dust.

We have produced a guide to IP ratings and our article on IP rated heaters also contains useful information.

2. Decide where are you going to locate the heaters

A prime consideration should be where you are going to locate the heaters. If you plan to have them out in the open, not under any type of structure, then you will need a heater with a higher IP rating. If the heater is to go in the roof of a wooden shelter or under a canopy or umbrella, then a lower IP rating will suffice.

3. Minimise the environmental effects

With climate change an ever-increasing threat, it is important that your weatherproof heaters are as green as they can be. It is reckoned that a traditional gas heater emits around 3kg of Co2 on an average night. Electric forms of heating offer the advantage that they can use renewably-generated power. Potentially this reduces their C02 emissions at point of use to zero. Another advantage is that heating such as infrared is up to 98% efficient in converting energy to heat. Compare this with the 75% efficiency that gas patio heaters typically attain.

4. Consider the effects of weather

Choose the wrong type of weatherproof heater and it can turn out to be very expensive to run. There’s the efficiency of the heater to consider but it is also important to think how it is affected by the elements. Wind has the biggest influence, it can literally blow the heat away from where you want it to go.

Heaters that use convection to heat areas (such as gas heaters) are particularly prone to wind effects. An alternative is to look for heaters that use induction. Induction is how the sun heats and it is also how infrared heaters work. These heat objects and people directly and not the air around them. It means that no matter the gale that’s blowing, the heat you are paying for is warming your customers and not the great outdoors around them.

5. Don’t forget about fixings

If your heaters are to go beneath a parasol, canopy or umbrella then pay particular attention to whether the heater you are looking at offers the fixings necessary to affix them. We have come across plenty of heaters that just offer standard wall mounts - these will be no good for what you need them to do.

Tansun’s range of IP-rated heaters

All Tansun’s outdoor heaters are weatherproof and are rated IP55, with the exception of Eclipse, which is rated IP X4. Choose from any of the model below;

Tansun’s range of weatherproof heaters

All Tansun’s outdoor heaters are weatherproof and are rated IP55, with the exception of Eclipse, which is rated IP X4. Choose from any of the model below;

Rio. The Rio is a range of fully weatherproof infrared heaters that can be used in all seasons and which come with a safety guard fitted as standard. Choose from the compact 1.5kW Rio IP, the 1.5kW – 2KW Rio Grande Single or the3kW Rio Grande Double.

Bahama. The Bahama range has unique glare-reducing gold reflectors and specially designed low-glare lamps. The range includes a single 1.5kW and double 3kW.

Monaco & Monaco XL. Monaco are low-glare heaters perfectly designed to heat large areas. Suitable for both indoors and outdoors, the heaters have much less glare than is normally associated with powerful infrared heaters. Monaco heaters are available in single 1.5kW, double 3kW and triple 4.5kW versions whilst the XL models include 2.4kW single, 4.8kW double and 7.2kW triple.

Riviera Elite. This is an elegant free-standing weatherproof Infrared Heater constructed from robust aluminium. It can provide instantaneous warmth to everything within 35 square metres of the heater. The Riviera Elite’s versatility offers heating solutions especially useful in commercial restaurant settings. It is available in kilowatt configurations of 3kW, 4.5kW all the way up to 6kW.

Sorrento. The Sorrento is one of the most installed commercial infrared heaters, due to its exceptional build, easy installation and unrivalled aesthetics. Choose from the 1.5 to 2kW single, 3 to 4kW double or 4.5kW to 6kW triple.

All of Tansun’s products are made in the UK and are designed using premium components. We have been trading for 35 years and pioneered the concept of infrared electric heaters alongside Philips technology. Tansun has the largest range of commercial, domestic and industrial infrared heaters in the world, providing maintenance-free, safe and healthy shortwave heaters for many different types of heating applications.

If you'd like advice regarding specifying weatherproof heating products for your outdoor hospitality space project, you can call us on 0121 580 6200 or send an email.

HEATERS TO SUIT THIS APPLICATION