Almost two decades later, in 1961, heating-appliance engineer Edwin J. Cowan pioneered the
circular radiant heater idea. California’s commercial outdoor set — restaurants, hotels, and country clubs — snapped up the original Sunglo® and stuck it everywhere people were willing to spend money to enjoy fresh air.
Innovations Some of today’s
patio heaters have stuck closely to the original model. But different brands have put their own little
design innovations on the concept. Today’s market offers heaters to fit different décors, settings, climates, and budgets. (If you’re looking to heat something more aisle-shaped, check out our
spot heaters.)
What’s In It For You? Power options.
You want to
move your heater around? Pick a propane-powered model, buy a few spare tanks, and declare war on goose bumps everywhere. If you hate the fuss of refueling, buy a model that runs on natural gas, find it a home, hook it up, and heat away.
Positioning.
The
free-standing models go anywhere; the
in-ground ones go in-ground;
the ceiling-mount ones attach to your ceiling — and Alex, I’ll take “Where I might put my
table-top patio heater” for $200.
Precautions.
Something that throws so much heat might pose a bit of a safety threat — at least, it would if that weren’t so baldly obvious to the manufacturers. With all the
safety features — easy ignition, automatic shut-off when the heater’s tilted or oxygen’s low, etc. — you’d think they didn’t want to get sued or something.
Pulchritude.
Relax — it just means
they look good. (We needed another p-word.) It’s true, though: there are a bunch of attractive — you might even say hot — models on today’s market.
Meet your match:
We sell all kinds of heaters. If you’d like to get to know more about things like
spot heaters, piezo ignition, British Thermal Units, safety-tilt shut-off, etc.,
we can help. If you just want to cut to the chase and get our recommendations, fine. Here. Don’t say we never gave you anything:
| Top gun: Dayva Premier Propane Patio Heater; $469.00 |
 This thing just radiates cool — no, no. It’s hot, we mean. Hot! Twenty feet and 40,000 BTU/hr’s worth of hot. But it looks so chic, with such a sleek commercial-grade build, you might wonder when it’ll drop that offhand “the patios in Milan were so much better” comment. |
