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A patio heater, also called a mushroom heater or umbrella heater, is a radiant heating appliance for generating thermal radiation for outdoor use.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2025) |
A patio heater, also called a mushroom heater or umbrella heater, is a radiant heating appliance for generating thermal radiation for outdoor use.
A burner on top of a pole, it burns natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), propane or butane, and directs the flames against a perforated metal screen. Heat is radiated from the surface of the screen in a circular pattern around the appliance. A reflector a top the burner reflects heat that would be otherwise lost upwards. This is because the reflecting hood is usually silvered which makes it a poor absorber of heat but excellent at reflecting infrared radiation back. This reduces the amount of heat lost by conduction as silvered surfaces will not absorb infrared light. The chimenea is an alternative to the patio heater for home use, which burns wood instead of gas.
Some newer types of patio heaters are electrically powered radiative heaters that emit infrared energy onto nearby surfaces, which in turn heat up the surrounding air.
Other styles of outdoor patio heaters include:
Patio heaters have become popular with bars and restaurants, since they extend the day and the season for their customers to sit outdoors. This increase in the popularity of the patio heater has led to concerns over their environmental effects. One patio heater can produce four tons of carbon dioxide annually. [1]
The use of external heaters outside cafes has been banned in various cities in France & Germany, due to environmental concerns, starting with Rennes. [2] Previous attempts were overturned in the courts. [3] Alternative sustainable solar solutions have been proposed. [3]
| Area | Distance from heater | Propane and natural gas heaters | Electric heaters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 sq ft | 1 foot | 10,000 BTUs | 1,000 Watts |
| 16 sq ft | 2 feet | ||
| 36 sq ft | 3 feet | ||
| 64 sq ft | 4 feet | ||
| 100 sq ft | 5 feet | 46,000 BTUs | |
| 144 sq ft | 6 feet | 1,500 Watts | |
| 196 sq ft | 7 feet | ||
| 256 sq ft | 8 feet | ||
| 324 sq ft | 9 feet | Requires additional heater | |
| 400 sq ft | 10 feet | Requires additional heater |
Propane patio heaters are the most popular type, as they are portable and easy to find refill locations such as gas stations or convenience stores. The downside to propane is that you need to purchase a separate tank for each heater you own and can be more costly to operate than electric or natural gas.
Natural gas patio heaters are great solution, as more and more houses come outfitted with natural gas lines. This makes it very convenient to hook into; however, it is less portable than propane. Extension hoses are available but can be a tripping hazard, especially after the sun has gone down.
Electric patio heaters are a great choice for easy setup, and has indoor applications as well, for partially enclosed indoor-outdoor space. Electric heaters are typically generally a bit weaker; therefore, it’s best for a small group of people.
Grilling is a form of cooking that involves heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat and vegetables quickly. Food to be grilled is cooked on a grill, using a cast iron/frying pan, or a grill pan.
Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation emitted by the thermal motion of particles in matter. All matter with a temperature greater than absolute zero emits thermal radiation. The emission of energy arises from a combination of electronic, molecular, and lattice oscillations in a material. Kinetic energy is converted to electromagnetism due to charge-acceleration or dipole oscillation. At room temperature, most of the emission is in the infrared (IR) spectrum, though above around 525 °C (977 °F) enough of it becomes visible for the matter to visibly glow. This visible glow is called incandescence. Thermal radiation is one of the fundamental mechanisms of heat transfer, along with conduction and convection.
A portable stove is a cooking stove specially designed to be portable and lightweight, used in camping, picnicking, backpacking, or other use in remote locations where an easily transportable means of cooking or heating is needed. Portable stoves can be used in diverse situations, such as for outdoor food service and catering and in field hospitals.
A barbecue grill or barbeque grill is a device that cooks food by applying heat from below. There are several varieties of grills, with most falling into one of three categories: gas-fueled, charcoal, or electric. There is debate over which method yields superior results.
Water heating is a heat transfer process that uses an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water include cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating. In industry, hot water and water heated to steam have many uses.
A stove or range is a device that generates heat inside or on top of the device, for -local heating or cooking. Stoves can be powered with many fuels, such as natural gas, electricity, gasoline, wood, and coal.
A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. It is a component of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, which can both cool and warm interior spaces.
A gas stove is a stove that is fuelled by flammable gas such as natural gas, propane, butane, liquefied petroleum gas or syngas. Before the advent of gas, cooking stoves relied on solid fuels, such as coal or wood. The first gas stoves were developed in the 1820s and a gas stove factory was established in England in 1836. This new cooking technology had the advantage of being easily adjustable and could be turned off when not in use. The gas stove, however, did not become a commercial success until the 1880s, by which time supplies of piped gas were available in cities and large towns in Britain. The stoves became widespread on the European Continent and in the United States in the early 20th century.
A gas heater is a space heater used to heat a room or outdoor area by burning natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, propane, or butane.
A pilot light is a small gas flame, usually natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas, which serves as an ignition source for a more powerful gas burner. Originally a pilot light was kept permanently alight, but this wastes gas. Now it is more common to light a burner electrically, but gas pilot lights are still used when a high energy ignition source is necessary, as in when lighting a large burner.
Electric heating is a process in which electrical energy is converted directly to heat energy. Common applications include space heating, cooking, water heating and industrial processes. An electric heater is an electrical device that converts an electric current into heat. The heating element inside every electric heater is an electrical resistor, and works on the principle of Joule heating: an electric current passing through a resistor will convert that electrical energy into heat energy. Most modern electric heating devices use nichrome wire as the active element; the heating element, depicted on the right, uses nichrome wire supported by ceramic insulators.
A cooktop, stovetop or hob, is a device commonly used for cooking that is commonly found in kitchens and used to apply heat to the base of pans or pots. Cooktops are often found integrated with an oven into a kitchen stove but may also be standalone devices. Cooktops are commonly powered by gas or electricity, although oil or other fuels are sometimes used.
A kerosene heater, also known as a paraffin heater, is typically a portable, unvented, kerosene-fueled, space heating device. In Japan and other countries, they are a primary source of home heat. In the United States and Australia, they are a supplemental heat or a source of emergency heat during a power outage. Most kerosene heaters produce between 3.3 and 6.8 kilowatts.
A LO NOx burner is a type of burner that is typically used in utility boilers to produce steam and electricity.
A space heater is a device used to heat a single, small- to medium-sized area. This type of heater can be contrasted with central heating, which distributes heat to multiple areas.
An infrared heater or heat lamp is a heating appliance containing a high-temperature emitter that transfers energy to a cooler object through electromagnetic radiation. Depending on the temperature of the emitter, the wavelength of the peak of the infrared radiation ranges from 750 nm to 1 mm. No contact or medium between the emitter and cool object is needed for the energy transfer. Infrared heaters can be operated in vacuum or atmosphere.
Infrared lamps are electrical devices which emit infrared radiation. Infrared lamps are commonly used in radiant heating for industrial processes and building heating. Infrared LEDs are used for communication over optical fibers and in remote control devices. Infrared lamps are also used for some night vision devices where visible light would be objectionable. Infrared lamp sources are used in certain scientific and industrial instrument for chemical analysis of liquids and gases; for example, the pollutant sulfur dioxide in air can be measured using its infrared absorption characteristics. IR radiant energy emitted by lamps cover a wide spectrum of wavelengths, ranging from 0.7 μm (micrometers) to a longer wavelength of 400 μm.
Tankless water heaters — also called instantaneous, continuous flow, inline, flash, on-demand, or instant-on water heaters — are water heaters that instantly heat water as it flows through the device, and do not retain any water internally except for what is in the heat exchanger coil unless the unit is equipped with an internal buffer tank. Copper heat exchangers are preferred in these units because of their high thermal conductivity and ease of fabrication. However, copper heat exchangers are more susceptible to scale buildup than stainless steel heat exchangers.
Radiant heating and cooling is a category of HVAC technologies that exchange heat by both convection and radiation with the environments they are designed to heat or cool. There are many subcategories of radiant heating and cooling, including: "radiant ceiling panels", "embedded surface systems", "thermally active building systems", and infrared heaters. According to some definitions, a technology is only included in this category if radiation comprises more than 50% of its heat exchange with the environment; therefore technologies such as radiators and chilled beams are usually not considered radiant heating or cooling. Within this category, it is practical to distinguish between high temperature radiant heating, and radiant heating or cooling with more moderate source temperatures. This article mainly addresses radiant heating and cooling with moderate source temperatures, used to heat or cool indoor environments. Moderate temperature radiant heating and cooling is usually composed of relatively large surfaces that are internally heated or cooled using hydronic or electrical sources. For high temperature indoor or outdoor radiant heating, see: Infrared heater. For snow melt applications see: Snowmelt system.
An industrial furnace, also known as a direct heater or a direct fired heater, is a device used to provide heat for an industrial process, typically higher than 400 degrees Celsius. They are used to provide heat for a process or can serve as reactor which provides heats of reaction. Furnace designs vary as to its function, heating duty, type of fuel and method of introducing combustion air. Heat is generated by an industrial furnace by mixing fuel with air or oxygen, or from electrical energy. The residual heat will exit the furnace as flue gas. These are designed as per international codes and standards the most common of which are ISO 13705 / American Petroleum Institute (API) Standard 560. Types of industrial furnaces include batch ovens, metallurgical furnaces, vacuum furnaces, and solar furnaces. Industrial furnaces are used in applications such as chemical reactions, cremation, oil refining, and glasswork.
