Senior Living Facilities Improve Their Amenities With Patio Grills & Heaters

What distinguishes a senior living facility as a desirable place for older adults? Naturally, basic cleanliness and maintenance are non-negotiable expectations. A warm, welcoming environment is crucial. Beyond that, some of the most sought-after senior residences are those that offer additional amenities like laundry services, transportation assistance, social events, communal spaces, and fitness facilities.

These living arrangements are always looking for ways to enhance their offerings and attract new residents. Older adults particularly value features that allow them to stay active and socialize. It’s vital for residents to feel integrated into a community and to continue engaging in the activities they’ve cherished throughout their lives.

The Answer: A Grilling Patio

There’s something undeniably homely about an outdoor barbecue. Most seniors have participated in countless barbecues over the years. There’s nothing quite like a cozy evening in the backyard with family and friends, savoring delicious home-cooked meals.

Sr. living facilities come in various forms, and all of them can benefit from a well-designed grilling patio. From 55+ apartments and condos where residents live independently but share common areas like pools, patios, and meeting rooms, to care centers where some residents require assistance and nurses are available 24/7—no matter the mix of residents and staff, if there’s a shared outdoor space, it presents an opportunity to transform it into a vibrant gathering spot with patio grills and heaters.

Once this lively social patio is established, the fun doesn’t stop when dinner is over. There can be card and board games on the patio in a comfortable setting with heaters, offering entertainment day and night. The patio becomes the perfect spot to linger over a morning coffee and the daily paper. Simply reading a book or chatting with neighbors takes on a special charm when the patio is set up to be as inviting as possible.

An outdoor grilling area is ideal for residents to host family gatherings. Grandchildren can play freely while parents showcase their culinary skills. If it’s just adults attending, the menu can shift from burgers and hotdogs to more sophisticated dishes like steaks, chicken, and chops.

Outdoor Grilling Equipment

An inviting patio is bound to get a lot of use, so it’s essential to have grills and heaters that are durable and reliable. They need to be user-friendly for seniors and easy to maintain.

Patios Grills

The T-Series grills from AEI Corporation are an excellent choice for high-performance patio grills in senior centers or retirement communities. These robust grills are used globally in apartments, condos, golf clubs, sailing clubs, and restaurants with outdoor kitchens. They’re available in rugged cast aluminum or stainless steel.

These are commercial-grade grills built to withstand regular, heavy use. The focus is on quality construction and practical features rather than flashy extras. A T-Series grill works perfectly for a grandparent cooking a few burgers for the group and a program director preparing a feast for the entire building. They grill, roast, and even offer a rotisserie option.

These grills come with lift-assist grill handles, making it easy for someone with an arm in a cast or a senior in a wheelchair to open and close the device.

Arguably the most valuable feature of these grills is the PGS FuelStop® one-hour gas flow timer. In a large community where not everyone always remembers to shut things off and tidy up, leaving a gas burner on is problematic. At best, it’s a waste of fuel; at worst, it’s a safety hazard. However, with a PGS T-Series grill, that won’t happen! The gas automatically turns off after an hour. Building managers can rest assured that the fuel won’t keep running if a resident forgets to turn the grill off.

These grills can be mounted on wheeled carts or built into grilling islands designed to accommodate them. They can also be custom-installed into outdoor countertops. They are available in both natural gas and liquid propane models.

Patios Heaters

An outdoor grilling space is fantastic for sunny days and mild summer evenings, but there’s no reason to limit the fun to warm weather. With patio heaters, you can keep the party going even when the air gets cooler. This is especially beneficial for seniors, many of whom tend to feel chilly more easily than they did in their younger years.

There are several types of patio heaters suitable for senior centers, and one of them will suit your outdoor space perfectly.

In outdoor restaurant dining areas, you often see mushroom heaters. These have circular tops sitting atop long poles. These can be natural gas heaters with the fuel source directly beneath them in cement. Alternatively, liquid propane mushroom heaters have a tank at the base. They’re typically on wheels, allowing you to move them around the patio as needed.

Mushroom heaters radiate warmth in a 360-degree pattern and are ideal for large patios. You should assess the size and layout of your patio to determine how many you need and where to place them.

If there’s a convenient wall or other structure, a box or rectangular heater might be a better option. These heaters mostly run on electricity or natural gas, either hardwired into the building circuitry or connected to the property's natural gas line. They can be mounted on a wall or directed downward from the ceiling of a covered patio. Some can even be recessed so they’re flush with their surface.

Enjoying a Well-Equipped Patio

A patio by itself is merely a flat area where people might place chairs and chat briefly. A patio with a grill becomes a hub for gatherings. When there’s a commercial-grade grill like a PGS T-Series, the gathering place can accommodate larger groups. The food can be better and more plentiful, and the good times just keep expanding.

Adding patio heaters to a senior residence creates a new “room” for your building. Like a game room or a meeting room, it offers a common space where residents can entertain friends and family. With a safe and easy-to-use grill, many of them will be able to prepare delicious outdoor meals, and others will have meals prepared for them, whether by their guests or by the staff.

With the right arrangement of patio heaters, no one will have to bundle up and retreat indoors when the temperature drops. The patio won’t go unused as autumn arrives.

When older adults and their families tour senior facilities, they look for places where the comforts of home aren’t sacrificed. For many, grilling outdoors and entertaining on the patio was a significant part of their social life. They’ll want to live where they can continue to enjoy the pleasures of outdoor cooking and spending time with loved ones in a pleasant natural setting.