Heating and Cooling Your Outdoor Area

An outdoor area tends not to be used as much in the cooler months so this ends up being a completely wasted part of your house. If you have installed new pergolas then you want to enjoy them for as much of the year as possible. So how can patios be kept warm in the winter and cool in the summer?

There are two options for really improving the heating or cooling of your outdoor area:

  • Opening up the area to cool it down;

  • Closing it off to keep it warm;

  • Installing a heater;

  • Installing fans or other cooling systems.

Whatever you want to achieve with your outdoor area it can pay to have both heating and cooling options. This allows you to use your patio or pergola or year round no matter what the weather is doing. So you need to look at your current outdoor area to see if it needs to be improved before you do anything else.

Upgrading Your Outdoor Area

If you do not have a covered outdoor area then this is your first port of call when trying to make your outdoor area more user friendly over Winter and Summer. There are huge ranges of patios and gazebos as well as sun roof style covers that can be adjusted for the temperature. Just adding a cover will keep you warmer in Winter and cooler in Summer.

If you have an existing undercover area then you might want to replace it with something better or perform some upgrades. Think about how you can better make your outdoor area adjustable to the seasons to improve it. Most outdoor areas are a roof only so adding sides or walls is a great way to protect from the elements.

Types of Heating

If you want to heat your outdoor area there are a few options available. To avoid going down the road of installing a complete wood fire place you will be looking at either gas or electric heating. You can choose cafe style gas heaters that also look fantastic or heat strips that are similar to small indoor heaters.

Another great way to keep your outdoor area heated is to have it enclosed either with full side panels or roll down plastic sheets. Remember, the more adjustable you make your outdoor area the more usable it will be over different seasons. While you want it warm in Winter you don’t want heat trapped when Summer comes on!

Ways to Cool Down

Cooling down in your outdoor area can be done by fans or even outdoor air conditioning. If you are going to have air-conditioning installed outside make sure you can close off your undercover area so you are not wasting power. Fans will keep guests cooler but they are not as good as a breeze coming into your outdoor area.

Make sure that you have air coming through your outdoor area if you can as this will make it less stuffy and cooler. As mentioned previously, sun roof style outdoor areas allow you to open up the ceiling of your outdoor area and this can certainly let any heat out that has accumulated. Try to have the right mix when upgrading or installing your new outdoor undercover area so you can get the most use out of it year round.