How do you choose an electric patio heater?

Are you looking for an electric patio heater? Ask yourself the following questions:

• How much power can your fuse box handle?
• Do you want a patio heater with built-in soft start?
• How large should the heat range of the patio heater be?
• Do you have a little or a lot of wind on your patio?
• Do you want a standing or a hanging patio heater?
• Which accessories or extra functions should the patio heater have?

The most important thing you should know before you buy an electric patio heater is that every patio heater has peak power. This means that the patio heater uses 2 to 10 times more power when starting up. This may cause fuses in your fuse box to blow. Does this happen a number of times? Your patio heater will definitely break. That would be a shame, of course. In this article, we'll give tips to reduce the chance of the fuses blowing.

Do you want to keep the risk of peak power as small as possible? A patio heater with built-in soft start might be the right choice for you. The soft start reduces the peak power, so the risk that the fuses blow is much smaller. Note that with a patio heater with soft start, you still can't be sure that the fuses won't blow. This means you should always have as few electrical appliances as possible connected to a single electric circuit if you want to use an electric patio heater.

A patio heater has a specific heat range in square meters. This indicates the maximum range up to which the patio heater gives off heat. This isn't the range up to which the heater still produces a pleasant heat. This range is often a lot smaller. For example, do you have a living room of 12m² that you want to heat completely? A heater with a heat range of up to 12m² isn't sufficient. Choose a heater with a larger range.

Patio heaters have different heating elements. This determines whether they're suitable for a patio with a lot of wind. As a rule of thumb, all heaters are suitable for a terrace with a lot of wind, except for quartz and heat panels. Do you have a sunroom or a garden with almost no wind? If so, a quartz heater or heat panel is a great choice.

The choice of a standing or hanging patio heater mainly depends on how often you're going to use it. Do you only use it a few times a year? A standing heater might be more convenient. You can easily put it away when you no longer need it. You should always mount a wall or ceiling heater at a fixed location. The advantage of these patio heaters is that they don't take up any storage space.

A lot of patio heaters have functions or included accessories that make using the patio heater a bit more pleasant. Think of a remote or app for operating the patio heater, for example. Or a built-in speaker, so you can have a party on the patio every night.