AEI Corporation

A restaurant can have 30 patio seats sitting just outside its doors. A hotel might have a beautiful pool deck with lounge chairs, tables, and plenty of room for guests to gather. A winery may have an outdoor tasting area overlooking the property.

All of that space has value, but only when people actually want to use it. When temperatures drop in the evening or cooler weather arrives, outdoor spaces can quickly become less inviting. Restaurant guests ask for tables inside. Hotel guests leave the pool area earlier. People at bars and entertainment venues head indoors instead of spending time outside.

Infrared patio heaters can help hospitality businesses get more use from outdoor areas they already have.

For restaurants, that can mean keeping more patio tables available during cooler weather and creating more opportunities to serve customers. At hotels, resorts, clubs, and other hospitality properties, patio heating can improve the guest experience in less direct but equally useful ways. People can stay outside longer, enjoy more of the property, and leave with a better overall impression of their visit.

That is why commercial patio heating is about more than keeping people warm. A well-planned heating system can help a business make better use of valuable outdoor space.

Where Are Infrared Patio Heaters Commonly Used?

Infrared patio heaters are commonly used at restaurants, bars, wineries, hotels, resorts, country clubs, entertainment venues, pool decks, outdoor waiting areas, and communal patios. They are especially useful anywhere a hospitality business wants guests to comfortably spend more time outdoors during cooler weather.

The type of space makes a difference when choosing a heater. An open restaurant patio has different heating needs than a covered hotel lounge, and a pool deck may call for a different approach than an outdoor valet area. There is no reason to force the same heating solution into every part of a property.

Why Infrared Heat Works Well Outdoors

Heating an outdoor space is different from heating a room inside a building. Indoors, walls and ceilings help contain warm air. Outside, that air can quickly move away from the people you are trying to keep warm, especially when there is a breeze.

Infrared heaters work differently because they transfer radiant heat toward people and surfaces instead of relying primarily on heating the surrounding air. That makes infrared heat well suited for patios and other outdoor hospitality areas where air is constantly moving.

It also gives property owners plenty of choices when designing a heating system. Depending on the heater, units can be installed overhead, positioned around the perimeter of a patio, or placed within an open seating area. Different heater styles and mounting configurations allow the equipment to fit the way the space is actually used.

Appearance matters too. Restaurants, hotels, wineries, and resorts put a lot of thought into the look of their outdoor spaces. Commercial patio heaters are available in different finishes and configurations, making it easier to select equipment that works with the property's architecture and overall aesthetic instead of looking like an afterthought.

1. Restaurant, Bar, and Winery Patios

Restaurants are probably the most familiar place to see infrared patio heaters. There is a straightforward business reason for that: a table is far more valuable when guests are willing to sit at it.

Imagine a restaurant with 60 seats inside and another 30 on its patio. On a mild evening, the restaurant can potentially make use of all 90 seats. Once the temperature drops, customers may begin asking to sit indoors instead. Before long, there could be a wait for inside tables while perfectly good patio tables remain empty.

The restaurant has not lost those 30 seats physically. It has lost some of its usability.

This is where patio heaters for restaurants can make a noticeable difference. By making the outdoor dining area more inviting during cooler periods, heaters can help restaurants get more use from patio seating they have already invested in.

During a busy dinner service, that flexibility matters. Hosts have another seating option to offer customers instead of waiting for indoor tables to open, and the restaurant has more opportunities to serve guests throughout the evening.

Patio heating does not guarantee additional revenue, of course. Occupancy, weather, operating hours, table turnover, local demand, and many other factors affect restaurant sales. What heaters can do is help remove one common reason outdoor tables go unused: guests do not want to sit in the cold.

Outdoor Dining Is Also Part of the Customer Experience

Not every benefit can be measured by counting tables.

Think about a couple having dinner outside on an otherwise pleasant evening. The temperature begins dropping after sunset, and halfway through the meal they put their jackets back on. Soon they are thinking less about dessert or another drink and more about getting somewhere warm.

Now consider the same dinner on a properly heated patio. The temperature outside still dropped, but it never became the defining part of the meal. They finish dinner at their own pace and enjoy the outdoor setting the restaurant worked hard to create.

Small differences like that shape the customer experience. Guests may remember the view, the food, the conversation, and the atmosphere instead of remembering how cold they were during the last 20 minutes of dinner.

The same idea extends beyond traditional restaurants. Bars use patios for additional seating and social space. Wineries often depend on outdoor tasting areas where the scenery is part of the experience, while hotels and country clubs may operate restaurants with substantial outdoor dining areas. Even a small diner with limited indoor seating can benefit from getting more use out of a modest patio.

In each case, the goal is similar: make the outdoor seating people already enjoy available more often.

2. Clubs and Live Music Venues

Outdoor areas at clubs and entertainment venues serve a different purpose. Guests may not be sitting down for a full meal, but they still need places to gather, talk, take a break, or enjoy part of the event outside.

A patio can give a busy venue some breathing room. Guests can step away from a crowded indoor space without leaving the property, and outdoor seating or standing areas can become an important part of the overall experience.

That works well until a chilly night makes everyone want to head back through the doors.

Infrared patio heaters can make these areas more inviting after dark and during cooler months. Instead of guests spending only a few minutes outside before heading back in, a heated patio can remain a useful part of the venue throughout more of the evening.

There may be business benefits as well. When guests enjoy several different areas of a property, they have fewer reasons to leave simply because one space feels crowded or uncomfortable. An outdoor lounge can become part of the night rather than just somewhere people briefly pass through.

For entertainment businesses, that flexibility can be valuable. The property feels larger because more of it is actually being used.

3. Poolside Lounges at Hotels and Resorts

Hotels and resorts invest heavily in outdoor amenities because those spaces help shape the guest experience. A pool surrounded by lounge chairs, cabanas, tables, and attractive landscaping may even be one of the reasons a traveler chooses one property over another.

Yet pool decks have a problem that becomes obvious as soon as the sun goes down. Guests may be perfectly happy outside during the afternoon and start heading indoors once the air cools.

A heated pool does not completely solve that issue. Eventually people have to get out of the water.

Strategically positioned patio heaters can help keep nearby lounge and gathering areas usable during cooler mornings and evenings. Guests can sit around the pool, enjoy a drink, talk with friends, or relax outside without feeling like they need to retreat to their rooms as soon as temperatures fall.

For a resort that promotes its outdoor amenities, getting another hour or two of use from those spaces can be meaningful. The property has already invested in the pool deck, furniture, lighting, landscaping, and maintenance. Patio heating can help guests enjoy that investment for more of the day and during more of the year.

Poolside heating can also make sense at country clubs, community centers, and multifamily properties. The exact business case may change, but the principle remains the same. An outdoor amenity delivers more value when people want to spend time there.

4. Valet and Outdoor Waiting Areas

Some of the most important outdoor areas on a hospitality property are easy to overlook. A valet waiting area is a good example because guests may only spend a few minutes there, yet those few minutes often happen at the very end of their visit.

Imagine leaving a hotel after a great dinner or event. Service was good, the property looked beautiful, and everyone had a nice evening. Then you stand outside for ten minutes on a cold night waiting for the valet to bring your vehicle around.

That last part can stick with you.

Hotels, restaurants, resorts, shopping centers, and other properties may have customers waiting outside for vehicles, rideshare services, taxis, or shuttles. An infrared heater positioned around the waiting area can make that short part of the visit much more pleasant.

Nobody is likely to choose a hotel solely because the valet area has patio heaters. That is not really the point. Good hospitality often comes from dozens of small details working together, and keeping guests from shivering while they wait for their car is one of those details.

An infrared heater in the right location can quietly improve the final few minutes someone spends at the property. Sometimes the things guests barely notice are the things that help an entire visit feel well managed.

5. Communal Patio and Grill Areas

Communal grills are another outdoor amenity where the time spent using the space goes well beyond the actual cooking.

Someone may stand at the grill for 15 minutes preparing hamburgers, steaks, or vegetables, then spend the next hour eating and talking at a nearby table. Families gather. Friends sit around after dinner. At a resort, guests who did not know each other before may even start conversations while waiting for food to cook.

Hotels and resorts use communal grill areas as an added amenity for guests, while apartments, condominiums, community centers, and similar properties use them as gathering places for residents.

Cooler weather can shorten all of that. People cook their food and head inside rather than staying around the patio.

Adding infrared heating around the seating and gathering portions of a grill area can help people enjoy the space for longer periods. This can be particularly useful in the evening, when many people have time to barbecue but temperatures are starting to fall.

Planning matters here because grills and heaters both produce heat and have their own installation and clearance requirements. The layout should account for seating, walkways, cooking equipment, overhead structures, and heater placement together rather than adding each piece independently.

That is one reason patio heating works best when it is considered as part of the overall outdoor design.

Mushroom or Horizontal Infrared Patio Heaters?

Once a property owner decides to add heating, the next question is usually more practical: which type of heater makes sense for this particular patio?

Two common options are mushroom heaters and horizontal heaters. Both provide infrared heat, but the way they distribute that heat and fit into a patio can be quite different.

Mushroom Heaters for Open Patio Areas

Mushroom heaters have the familiar round reflector positioned above the heating element. They distribute heat around and below the heater, making them useful when people are seated or gathered on several sides.

For that reason, mushroom heaters are often a good fit for open and uncovered patio areas. Depending on the model and application, they may be mounted on a post, installed using a base plate or post hole configuration, or suspended overhead.

AEI carries Sunglo mushroom heaters for commercial outdoor applications.

Propane mushroom heaters can also offer portability. Because the fuel tank travels with the heater, portable models can be moved when seating arrangements change, brought out when extra heating is needed, or stored when they are not being used.

That flexibility can be useful for restaurants and hotels that regularly change their outdoor layouts for events or seasonal seating.

Horizontal Heaters for Covered and Perimeter Areas

Horizontal patio heaters have a long, narrow shape and direct infrared heat toward a defined area. They are commonly mounted overhead or around the perimeter of a patio and aimed toward the people below.

That makes them especially useful for covered patios, outdoor dining areas next to buildings, and locations where keeping equipment off the floor is important. A restaurant, for example, can install horizontal heaters above dining tables without giving up valuable floor space between chairs and walkways.

AEI carries horizontal patio heaters from Sunpak, SunStar, and Infratech.

The right choice depends on the patio rather than a universal rule. An open courtyard may be a natural fit for mushroom heaters, while a covered restaurant patio could be better suited to horizontal units. Some properties benefit from both.

Natural Gas, Propane, or Electric?

Commercial patio heaters are available with different energy sources, and each can make sense depending on the property. Natural gas, propane, and electric heaters are designed specifically for their individual fuel or energy source, so these options are not interchangeable.

Natural gas heaters connect directly to the property's gas supply. They do not require propane tanks to be changed and are typically a good match for permanent patio layouts where the heater locations will remain consistent.

Propane heaters carry their fuel in a tank. Portable propane mushroom heaters can be particularly useful when a property needs flexibility because they can be repositioned as seating arrangements or heating needs change.

Electric infrared patio heaters offer another option for permanent installations. AEI carries Infratech electric heaters, which are hard-wired into the property's electrical system by a qualified professional rather than plugged into a standard wall outlet.

Electric systems can also offer advanced control options, including heating zones, scheduled operation, analog controls, and centralized control systems. On a larger property, that can allow different outdoor areas to be heated according to when and how they are actually used.

One Property Can Have Several Different Heating Needs

A large hospitality property rarely has one patio repeated over and over again. It may have a covered restaurant, an open pool deck, a lounge beside the building, and an outdoor gathering space several hundred feet away.

A resort is a good example. Horizontal heaters might be installed above tables on a covered restaurant patio where keeping the floor clear is important. Mushroom heaters could make more sense around an open lounge where guests gather on several sides. Another covered portion of the property might use electric infrared heaters connected to a zoned control system.

Trying to make one heater style work everywhere can create unnecessary compromises.

Ceiling height, wind exposure, rooflines, walls, seating arrangements, walkways, available utilities, and the location of other outdoor equipment can all affect heater selection and placement. Even two patios on the same property may need completely different approaches.

The better question is not, "What is the best patio heater?" It is, "What is the right patio heater for this space?"

Plan Heat Coverage Before Installation

That question is not always easy to answer by looking at product specifications.

A patio owner may know the dimensions of the space and where the tables will go, but it can still be difficult to visualize how several heaters will work together. Putting heaters wherever there happens to be an available mounting location is not much of a heating plan.

AEI offers a complimentary heat map service to help property owners, architects, designers, and contractors plan commercial patio heating before installation.

Our patio heating experts can create a visual diagram of the space showing projected heat zones from potential heater locations. This makes it easier to see how the proposed system relates to tables, seating areas, walkways, and other parts of the patio.

The process can also reveal issues while they are still easy to correct. A group of tables might sit outside the intended heat coverage, while another section could have unnecessary overlap. The original heater location may need to move because of mounting conditions or the way people actually use the space.

Finding those issues on a plan is much easier than discovering them after the heaters are installed.

It also means owners do not have to simply guess how many heaters their patio needs or where each one should go. They can plan the system around the actual property.

What Could More Usable Patio Seating Mean for a Restaurant?

Restaurant owners have another factor to consider: what could happen if more outdoor tables remain usable during cooler weather?

AEI's free restaurant revenue boost calculator is designed to help owners estimate the potential increased revenue opportunity from installing patio heaters. Users can enter factors such as the number of patio seats, occupancy rate, table turnover, average spending per person, and the number of colder days or evenings their location experiences each year.

The result is an estimate rather than a promise of additional sales. Weather changes, customer demand varies, and every restaurant operates differently.

Still, the calculator can help owners look at patio heating from another angle. Instead of only asking what a heating system costs, they can also consider the existing value of outdoor seating that may currently go unused during colder periods.

For a restaurant with a substantial patio, that can be an important part of the planning process.

Commercial Patio Heating Is a Long-Term Investment

A commercial patio heater becomes part of the property. Restaurants may use their heaters night after night, while hotels and resorts can have systems installed across several outdoor areas.

Long-term product support therefore matters almost as much as selecting the right equipment in the first place.

AEI has spent more than 60 years supplying outdoor appliances to businesses across North America. We carry commercial patio heaters from Sunglo, Sunpak, SunStar, and Infratech, along with OEM replacement parts that can help owners maintain and repair their equipment over its service life.

Product information is also readily available on our website, including brochures, owner's manuals, and specification sheets. When a question goes beyond the paperwork, AEI's patio design experts can help with heater selection, layout, installation planning, maintenance questions, and other aspects of commercial patio heating.

Access to OEM replacement parts can be particularly valuable over time. If a serviceable component eventually wears out, replacing the correct part can extend the useful life of the heater instead of requiring the entire unit to be replaced.

For a business operating multiple heaters across a property, that can make a meaningful difference in long-term return on investment.

Turn More of Your Patio Into Usable Space

A restaurant patio with empty tables on a cold evening is still valuable space. So is a hotel pool deck that guests stop using after sunset, an outdoor lounge that clears out when temperatures fall, or a valet area where people spend the last few minutes of their visit waiting in the cold.

Infrared patio heaters can help hospitality businesses get more from those spaces. Sometimes the benefit is direct, such as helping a restaurant make more of its patio seating available. In other cases, the payoff comes through a better guest experience, a more inviting property, or simply giving people another place they want to spend time.

The heating system still has to fit the property. A restaurant, hotel, winery, resort, club, or entertainment venue may need mushroom heaters, horizontal heaters, natural gas, propane, electric heat, or a combination of several options.

You do not have to figure that out from a product catalog alone.

AEI's patio heating experts can review your outdoor space, help you compare heater options, and develop a layout based on how your patio is actually used. Our complimentary heat map service can also give you a visual look at potential heater coverage before installation begins.

Restaurant owners can use AEI's free revenue boost calculator to explore the potential value of getting more use from existing patio seating during colder weather.

Ready to make more of your outdoor space usable throughout the year? Contact AEI Corporation to speak with one of our patio heating experts and request a complimentary patio heat map for your property. We can help you find an infrared heating solution that fits your patio, your guests, and the way your business operates.

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