Now that we are well and truly into winter many people find that they use their deck less and less. This does not have to be so. In Brisbane we have in fact quite mild winters and with a little bit of deck heating you should find that you can use your deck almost all year round.

Outdoor Deck Heating

Before we get into the ins and outs of which are the best deck heaters there are some very obvious points that really make a great deal of difference to how effective your deck heater is going to be.

Firstly do you have a covered deck? And does your covered deck have some form of side protection such as privacy screens? Naturally the more enclosed your deck is, the greater effect your deck heater will be.

Having noted the above it does not mean that if you have a completely exposed deck you can’t still get a lot of heat from a deck heater, it just impacts on what is the best deck heater for you.

Varieties of Outdoor Deck Heaters

There are many, many options in terms of deck heating and the best deck heater for you depends on many different factors such as the size of your deck, the protection your deck has, whether you want inbuilt deck heating or portable heating, whether you have a preference for gas or electricity, whether you have (or how expensive it would be to install) electrical or natural gas connections on your deck, how important is the initial purchase price, the running costs and ambiance you might want to obtain… The list just goes on.  Thus for this article we have just picked a few examples of what we believe to good ideas for deck heating and hope that this will help you with your decision making.

Portable Space Heaters for Deck Heating

Space heaters are a really good solution to deck heating. Firstly they heat up a large area (you have probably seen them in the alfresco sections of restaurants) and secondly they can be portable. Probably the most common space heater is the one that seems to have a long stem with mushroom or umbrella at the top of it, such as the Fiametta stainless steel gas outdoor heater.

You can now also buy space heaters which also offer some ambiance with the flames of the heater enclosed in a tube such as the Jumbuck Outdoor Gas Flame Heater. These heaters also have a safety feature which is an auto-tilt shut off which is very important when using on a deck.

A similar idea but using electric is the Jumbuck Outdoor Electric Heater with a carbon fibre element.

Fixed Outdoor Electric Deck Heating

One option is electric radiant strip heaters such as produced by Heatstrip. These electric panel heaters can be added to your deck roof, naturally you will need the electricity supply.  These electric deck heaters are not intrusive and in fact have a modern stylish appearance.

 Photo by Rachel Lewis, Deck Designed by Dig Design

These types of electric panel heaters can be cost-effective in terms of running costs.  This would be even more so if you have solar power with battery storage. Some of the more upmarket electric outdoor panel heaters come with added extras such as timers which can also help save on your electric bill. You also don’t have any of the hassle of refilling gas bottles etc.

Mostly these electric heaters require minimal maintenance and once installed and with the timers set you can forget about them and just enjoy the radiant heat that they generate.

All We Do Is Decks

If you are looking for deck builders who are specialised in deck building and deck building only, please give us a call and we would be more than happy to advise you on your new planned deck and the best deck heaters for your specific custom built deck.