The Best Gas Patio Heaters for Your Home

Let’s set the stage… you’re in your outdoor living space (patio, deck, veranda) looking forward to a relaxing dinner with the family. The sun is just about gone over the horizon, and you can smell the pot roast from here. Even though you’re relaxing to the light sound of crickets in the distance, you realize it’s too chilly to have dinner outdoors tonight…

How Gas Patio Heaters Can Make Your Patio Welcoming

We love hanging out in our outdoor spaces just about as much as do, and on nights when it’s a little too chilly to really enjoy your family there we turn to gas patio heaters to save the day (or in this case, night). Gas outdoor heaters create and project warmth directly to the areas you need them the most – your outdoor dining area, casual conversation pit or outdoor relaxation station. Whether you choose natural gas patio heaters or propane patio heaters, you’re going to love the way these systems take your gathering to the next level – long into the night.

Let’s start by taking a look at propane gas patio heaters… Because propane heaters typically use the 20lb cylinder that you would use in a propane BBQ, many of them are truly portable (some even come on wheels for ease of mobility). On a full tank, many of these little beauties will last about 10 hours (outputting about 40,000 BTUs per hour).

Mounted natural gas patio heaters and mounted propane gas patio heaters have a few significant advantages over electric heaters, and a few drawbacks:

• Operational Costs – Typically, natural gas (and sometimes propane) are less expensive to run on a daily basis than electrical alternatives. Before selecting a gas patio heater solution, please check the pricing of the fuel in your area.
• Projects Further - Gas outdoor heaters have longer throw of heat than their electrical counterparts, allowing you to warm more of your outdoor oasis with less heaters.
• Higher Installation Costs – Because gas patio heaters require you to have (or run a new) an existing gas line to your new heater, qualified specialists are required for the installation. Gas heaters typically require electrical connections as well, which means you’ll need an electrician too.
• More Ventilation and Clearances Required – Gas patio heaters require constant ventilation (and so cannot be used in an enclosed space), and a higher clearance to the ceiling, floor, and walls for safe operation.
• Higher Maintenance Needs – Maintaining your outdoor gas heater requires cleaning the burners, manifold and injectors as well as the heater housing frequently for optimum heating.
• Less Effective in Wind – Because patio gas heaters heat the air that warms you, when the wind picks up they don’t do as good of a job.

Business owners will love installing commercial patio natural gas heaters, as they will instantly expand your business capacity by including your outdoor space longer into the year. Commercial gas heaters can be sized from small to absolutely humongous (over 23’ long and kicking out an astounding 150,000 BTUs per hour). Whether you’re heating seating space for an outdoor café or using your outdoor gas heaters to warm a casual conversation area in your trendy coffee bar, the lower operating cost of gas patio heaters is sure to bring much needed green to your bottom line.

You’ll love the significantly higher heat output, instant-on warmth, and larger heating footprint of your new patio gas heaters, bringing extended days to your family outdoor oasis.

Choosing Which Gas Patio Heater is Right for You

One of the fantastic things about working with Patio Heat and Shade is that we have an almost endless supply of outdoor climate experts on staff, ready to lend a hand. When speaking with a new customer, our experts begin at the beginning (always a great place to start) and discuss the space you would like to heat. Do you have a ceiling over the space, is it enclosed, is the area you want to heat near a wall… questions that help to define your outdoor space and how you (would like to) use it.

• Jack has a small backyard patio, with a 4-person dining set and no ceiling. This is the perfect application for a portable LP heater.
• Jane enjoys her oversized veranda (it has a ceiling) with a relaxation area (sofa and outdoor TV), dining space and conversation pit and her home is heated with natural gas… the perfect application for a gas wall heater in combination with a ceiling-mounted heater to cover the entire space.
• David enjoys his cabin in the woods, away from the hustle and bustle of the city rat race. He loves having the forest all around him and can’t spend enough time outdoors. His medium-sized patio is covered, and he uses LP gas to heat his cabin. Our experts discussed with him that he could use two portable LP heaters to handle the space, but that would mean multiple gas canisters swapped out frequently… but since he doesn’t want to detract from his gorgeous natural view by having heaters in the middle of his patio, and his house is heated with LP the best solution is a wall mounted LP gas outdoor heater.

Take the time to truly define your need, what is it that you want to heat, then call our customer consultants to discuss the options for keeping your family warm and comfy throughout the spring and fall.

Styling Your Outdoor Space with Gas Patio Heaters

There’s nothing we like more than gathering with good food, good friends and great times while we watch the sun sink over the horizon. As the evening approaches and the temperatures begin to drop, we can keep the fun going by using just the right gas patio heaters.

Picture this: You’re comfy under your blazing gas patio heater, relaxing on your outdoor sofa or love seat in mid-October, feet up on your patio coffee table (don’t worry, the Mrs. isn’t home right now and we won’t tell) with a cold one in hand, a goofy relaxed smile on your face and watching the clash of two football titans on your outdoor TV while all around you is the splendor of nature. That’s what we call living, and it’s exactly what we’re all about here at Patio Heat and shade.

Love of the great outdoors takes many forms, and though that may work for some we know quite a few people who would love to spend the early hours of the morning leaning back on their lounge chair, hot cup of coffee in hand, basking in the warmth of their portable gas patio heater on one side, and staring longingly into their fire pit ablaze with solid chunks of natural hickory wood while reading the latest novel in a series from their favorite author.

The great outdoors isn’t only enjoyed at home – Since the Covid 19 tribulations of ’20 and ’21, businesses across the country have embraced outdoor spaces in new and exciting ways. Using a series of commercial gas outdoor heaters many restaurants have extended their dining space further from the core building, allowing more seating and a totally different dining experience for their beloved patrons. Whether the business chooses Sunpak gas patio heaters, Bromic gas patio heaters or Calcana gas patio heaters, we’ve got the right products, ready to ship.

People may have different methods of enjoying their outdoor spaces, but we all love the flexibility that our patios allow – from solitary enjoyment bent on winding down after a hard day of work, to large family gatherings that will linger in your kids’ memories long after they forget the trip to Disney. As the day turns into evening, you can turn to your gas patio heaters to keep those good times rolling long into the night.

You may think there’s a lot to selecting the right system, but don’t worry… we have experts ready to walk you through it. Give us a call at (855) 298-4922 and we’ll be right there by you, every step of the way.