electric garden patio heaters
It may not be clear when first thinking about the question, but electrically powered patio heaters in fact cause more environmental pollution than gas powered models. This is according to the Wikipedia page on patio heaters. That page sites a 2007 report by the Carbon Trust that makes the claim that electrical patio heaters are 2.9 times more carbon intensive than gas. This is worrying for people concerned about the environment. Admittedly in many countries there is now a smoking ban inside bars and restaurants. So in a bid to keep their customers many establishments have resorted to installing outdoor patio heaters in their smoking areas to let their customers enjoy their cigarettes and still remain relatively warm. Of course it can be argued that people who smoke have made their own choice so therefore it is up to them to deal with smoking outside. However many smokers may be turned off visiting places that do not have garden heating facilities. The message from the report mentioned above seems to be that places that have gas outdoor heaters are much less damaging to the environment as far as carbon emissions are concerned.
Many people though are not so concerned about the environmental impact of using electrical garden patio heaters and therefore simply want to find the best value appliance available to them. There are many electrical patio heaters on the market today. These are made by companies such as Garden Sun, Fire Sense, Endless Summer, Mr. Heater, Dimplex, Uniflame and many more. The running costs of electrical patio heaters may well work out to be more expensive than gas powered outdoor heaters. It really depends upon the cost of fuel in your area. Using electrically powered units will mean you can avoid the smell of buring gas but you may have to pay extra for this priviledge. So it really depends upon what is more important to you, lower costs or non-smelly air.
Electrical patio heaters are also known as infra-red patio heaters. They come with relatively long power cords that run from the outdoor heating unit to a nearby power outlet. So simply by connecting the plug to the power outlet in the wall you the unit is able to draw the electrical energy it needs to provide heat in your garden. For commercial heaters, this may well be a courtyard or other such area. While these machines are known as patio heaters they can be used in many more places than simply patios. Of course they can be used there too but really any outdoor location near to a power outlet is a reasonable place to use them. These types of outdoor warmers come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. There are the smaller styles including table top electric patio heaters all the way through to the free standing tall patio heaters that may be more familiar to you. When standing near these heating solutions you must always take care not to get too close because they can actually be a fire hazard and also may be dangerous if you actually touched the heating element simply due to their extreme temperatures.
Are electrical or gas patio heaters better?
This is hard to answer categorically as it depends upon your personal preferences and desires. Some people think that gas patio heaters are better while others like the electrical variety more. This is because different people and establishments have varying needs and wants. Some will be unable to use electrical outdoor heaters simply because the area that they are to be used is too far away from an electrical power output. This means that in these sort of circumstances gas heaters will be the only real option. Conversely, there may well be situations where gas is unsuitable due to potential fire risks. This may well be the case in built up areas where an outdoor patio heater is being used in a courtyard for example. But even when there are no restrictions one style may be preferable over the other. However this will need to be decided on a case by case basis.