How big a heater the marquee needs
Each package is built around an indirect heater of about 50, 80 or 105 kilowatts (kW). As a rough guide, a marquee needs about 1 kW for every 3 square metres of floor on a cold evening, so the smallest suits a marquee of about 9 by 18 metres and the largest one of around 300 square metres. Allow more for open sides, busy doorways or a frost, and consider two heaters for a long marquee so the heat spreads evenly.
Clean heat from outside the marquee
The heater stands outside and burns its fuel in a sealed chamber, sending the exhaust up a flue, so only clean, dry warm air travels down the ducting into the marquee. That keeps fumes and smells away from guests and avoids the condensation a direct heater can leave dripping from a marquee roof. A low level diffuser releases the warm air close to the floor where guests sit, which helps because warm air rises.
Power, fuel and site set-up
The heater needs a power supply for its fan and burner, from a mains socket or a generator, and burns around 1 litre of fuel an hour for every 10 kW, with a full tank typically lasting around 12 hours. Stand it on firm, level ground with the flue well clear of the marquee fabric and capped against rain. Between events, check the fuel filter and store the ducting dry, and add wheel, lifting or side bumper kits to move and protect it.
