Commercial Heat Lamps

Start with the format. Strip heaters run above the pass and cover a whole line of plates, pendant lamp style heaters suit front of house, countertop multi-level models hold plated food at the bench, and chip dumps are made specifically to hold fried chips hot while the next batch is frying.

Then choose quartz or infrared. Quartz gives you light as well as heat, so it suits a pass or a servery that needs lighting, and it comes in the better looking formats including pendant lights. Infrared gives less light and heats the food rather than the air around it, so it is the one to pick where the area is already lit.

Last is pull-down or mounted. Pull-down lamps can be pulled into place and pushed back out of the way, which suits a food truck or a counter used for other things, and they work for display alongside countertop hot food displays. Mounted lamps are fixed, generally put out more heat over more of the pass and are usually larger. Either type comes in quartz or infrared. For holding food in volume rather than on plates, look at hot food displays or bain maries.

It depends on the wattage, whether the lamp is quartz or infrared, and how long it runs for. Wattage is the number to compare on the product page, because a higher wattage model draws more power.

Infrared heat lamps give off heat on a non-visible part of the spectrum, so they heat the food rather than the air around it and are warm as soon as you switch them on. They draw less power and give less light.

Traditional heat lamps heat the air around the food and give more light. They take longer to come up to temperature, so they need switching on ahead of service. Roband makes both.

Around 35cm to 45cm above the food gives even heat. Each lamp has its own stated height, so check the instructions for the model you buy.

You will see commercial kitchen heat lamps, food heat lamps commercial, commercial heat lamp for food, commercial heat lamp food warmer and restaurant food warmer heat lamp used for the same kind of equipment. The name changes with the supplier and the region, not the job it does. Compare models on capacity, construction and the specification on each product page, and check the full commercial heat lamps range to see every option side by side.

Heated shelves hold plated food on the bench rather than from above, with no glass over it.

Plenty of passes run both: a shelf for the plates that are waiting, a lamp over the ones about to go out.