Heated Outdoor Furniture

I’ve had this crazy idea for a long time, so bear with me as I explain it. I live in Northern California right on the Monterey Bay. The views are gorgeous and the weather is generally good, but it can get pretty chilly at night. It’s a shame, because the clearest most gorgeous nights are often the coldest. I was sitting around a little firepit we have with my brother one day when an idea hit me–what if the furniture could be heated, even just a little bit? You know how nice it is to have heated seats in your car, well this would be the same for the lawn furniture. While I was at it, I wanted to get the heat from the camp fire to do it, and I decided the best way would be a heat exchanger and circulate the hot water through the furniture cushions in some tubing of some kind.

As so often happens with these sorts of things, especially when a little alcohol and some cigars are involved, that idea vanished in a puff of campfire smoke. It was just an idle fancy anyway.

Okay, so what prompted this post? Well, scanning through the MAKE Magazine blog recently, I was reminded of the idea when I came across this photo:

Charcoal-fired pool heater…

That particular heat exchanger is for a pool heater, and is a little more elaborate than what I had in mind. I figured a couple of loops laid down amidst the fire grate ought to do the job.

Maybe I’ll resurrect that crazy idea!

 

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