Enjoy Your Garden And Patio For Longer With A Gas Patio Heater

With the increased new trend in outdoor living, which has undoubtedly been by TV Gardening DIY programs, we are all spending more money on our garden and patio areas. Creating an inspirational outdoor living space is something we can all do, with a wide range of hard and soft landscaping products, lighting, decorations and garden accessories available widely on the market.

Some of the latest innovations are in garden heating which allows us to spend more of our precious leisure time enjoying our garden or patio area, be it for entertaining family and guests or simply for relaxing. Gas patio Heaters provide instant controllable heat and warmth, thus making your outside room as comfortable and enjoyable as any of your inside rooms. On days when the temperature is not as warm as one would like, the patio heater can be turned on to give off a heat circle of around 6 metres and gas patio heaters come into their own after sun set, when they create atmospheres from party to tranquil.

When choosing a gas patio heater always ensure that it has the necessary safety features such as; a tilt sensor, which will cut off the gas and flame if the patio heater is knocked or blown over whilst in use and also an auto shut off switch will cut off the gas if the flame is blown out.

Patio heaters come in many shapes and sizes, but by far the most popular are the upright standing heater, sometimes available with a circular table around the gas bottle housing, and the table top patio heater. Heat output is measured in Kilowatts and sizes range from 12 kw up to 15kw gas patio heaters, which are usually used for pub, hotel and commercial environments. Finished gas patio heaters usually range from coloured powder coated to the more expensive stainless steel models. The main difference in finishes relate to the likely life of the heater. Stainless steel patio heaters look by far the most impressive and will keep their lustre for many years. Powder coated patio heaters tend to weather slightly less well and will rust if the powder coating is damaged.

Table top heaters are very popular but are a lot smaller and also have a much smaller heat output but they are a very effective way of providing heat to people immediately around the garden table.

Accessories for Patio heaters include covers ( which are a must is you intend to leave it outside during the winter), wheels ? which will enable you to easily move the heater around the garden, ballast tanks which give extra stability and most good patio heaters actually come with a gas bottle regulator installed and ready for easy attachment.

Patio heaters run off bottles gas, mainly butane but sometime propane which is widely available in the UK and most other countries. The regulator which is usually supplied with the heater, clips straight onto the bottle and is easy to install. Gas regulators are supplied by all gas bottle suppliers, but ensure that you take you gas bottle along to the dealer as there are varying sizes of bottle head.

Patio heaters require very little maintenance if any at all, and will give extend your time in your garden or on you patio.

Some safety points worth remembering are;

Position in a fairly sheltered area, as this will both reduce the likelihood of damage in strong winds and also increase the amount of ambient heat output.

If the heater is outdoors during the winter, buy a patio heater cover and protect you heater with it.

Always leave the gas bottle in the heater to give it extra weight.

If you patio heater comes supplied with a ballast tank in the base, fill it with sand or if none is available, use water but mix car anti-freeze with it, otherwise the tank may crack when freezing occurs in winter.

Do not let children use the patio heater as a toy or climbing frame.

Enjoy long nights throughout the year with your patio heater ? your life will take a new turn into outdoor living.

 Angus Charlton is managing director of Arboreta Patio heater Store ( http://www.arboreta.co.uk ). He is a keen gardener who has developed a garden furniture business that resources from sustainable rainforests and specializes in patio heating.

Heater Core Problems: Cold Snap Solutions!

Doesn't it figure, that the very first time you have a problem with your car's heater core is when you need it the most: in the middle of a horrible cold snap. Frost on the outside and frost on the inside -- giving new meaning to air conditioned discomfort. Cranking up the heat means billows of cold air filling your car's cabin instead of the soothing and relaxing heat you should be feeling...ugh! Sounds like a job for your mechanic, but it may be something you can repair yourself. Please read on for more information.

Playing with the heat settings does no good and a check of the coolant, hoses, and connections reveals that everything is okay. So, what is the problem? More than likely your Ford heater core has died. You jump in your car and head directly over to your Ford dealer to get a price on a new heater core. Within moments you are gasping for air as the man behind the counter looks over his computerized inventory and quotes an outrageously high price for a new heater core. For a moment you don't know whether to whack the guy over the head or start driving around with a portable heater you plug into your car's cigarette lighter. Quickly you dismiss either option and decide to take matters into your own hands.

Fortunately a heater core isn't all that difficult to change yourself. For most cars, a heater core can be reached by pulling out the dash or checking under the hood adjacent to the firewall, locating the unit, yanking it out, and replacing it with a new one. Naturally, you will pay gobs of money through your dealer's parts department, but you have other options besides visiting the dealer or making a futile trip to your local junkyard: shop the internet.

That's right, online auto parts wholesalers carry Jeep heater cores and heater cores for just about any make/model of car out there. Best yet, when shopping with a wholesaler like the Heater Core Experts, you can save big bucks. By purchasing direct from the manufacturer, a first class wholesaler will turn around and sell a heater core to you for less. A lot less than what Mr. Parts Dealer would charge and without you having to pay for labor costs either.

Yes, you could always ignore the problem and hope that Spring comes early and stays forever, or you can sell your first born child and head over to your dealer's part department and hope they have mercy on you...they most certainly will not! Better yet, shop online for an OEM replacement heater core that meets or exceeds manufacturer specifications, save big, and get warm!

Copyright 2006 - Matt Keegan is a freelance writer covering important automotive topics and products for the Heater Core Experts including: Ford heater cores and Jeep heater cores.

Aquarium Heaters

Heating in an aquarium is essential for fresh water and salt water fish. They both like their water to be hot as they are both tropical species of fish. Goldfish are cold water fish so you don't need to worry about a heater for them. Often when winters comes fish shops get many calls asking why their fish have just suddenly died or are acting strange. This is because people have not turned up the heaters in their fish tank! As the weather gets colder people forget that their house temperature drops and so does the tanks temperature so you have to adjust the heater for this time of year! If there is just a one degree drop in twenty four hours it could bring on a fish disease called "ich" or it could outright kill a fish!

When buying a heater you have to look at all the options. You could buy a very cheap heater but then you have the problem where the heater will probably break, the thermostat isn't as good as regulating the tank and you don't have a temperature heat setting like others would. Then you have the mid priced heaters, they are generally the ones that people use. They have semi decent thermostats and hold their value reasonably well. After a period of time maybe six months to a year you have to change your heater as the heating element isn't always working properly after this time!

Try to check your heater every couple of weeks and check the temperature of the tank everyday so that you can make sure that your fish are not suffering! Too hot and you will basically boil your fish and too cold and you can freeze their blood. So try and keep the temperature regulated!

Always try to place your heater near a filter as this helps to distribute the heat. This helps to save your fish from hot or cold spots! Heating is essential in tanks so make sure that you are adequately prepared in the seasons that count!

William Nabaza of http://www.Nabaza.com specializes in domains, webhosting, webmaster's tools, netpreneur's articles and resources. Stands out as a freebie provider, business opportunity provider and the like. Visit his site at http://www.nabaza.com or contact him directly at william@nabaza.com There's more pet resources here: http://www.nabaza.com/pets.htm