Best Patio Heater 2026: 10 UK Models Ranked by What They Actually Heat

This is the shape most people picture when they say patio heater: a 2.2-metre gas pillar with an umbrella reflector on top, on caster wheels, with push-button ignition and a 27mm regulator and hose in the box. It runs on propane and the listing says it takes 5kg, 11kg or 13kg patio bottles, so the bigger the bottle you will carry, the fewer trips you make. Safety is the two features that matter outdoors: a tip-over switch that cuts the burner if it goes over, and a flame failure device.

It takes first place because gas is the only thing here that heats a group rather than a seat. Thirteen kilowatts is about six times the output of the most powerful electric heater on this page, and radiant gas keeps working when a breeze moves the air, which is exactly when an electric heater stops feeling useful. It also carries 330 ratings at 4.5 stars, the deepest gas sample here, and its listed coverage — 200 square feet, about 18.6 square metres — is plausible for this class rather than fantasy. Ignore the same listing's "maximum temperature setting" of 100 degrees Celsius; that field is noise.

The honest costs come separately. Gas is not included, so budget for a bottle and refills, and the unit is 2.2 metres tall and heavy enough that gravel and steps are a nuisance. It is outdoor only: a 13kW burner consumes oxygen, so it must never go in a tent, awning or garage. At full output it is a serious flame — not cheap to run, but the only heater here that keeps six people outside in October.

The DONYER is the hanging type: a 42cm halogen disc weighing 2kg, suspended by a 1m adjustable chain from a gazebo beam or a ceiling, with 800W and 2000W modes and the listing promising warmth in three seconds. It is IP24, so splash-proof rather than weatherproof, and the listing recommends hanging it at about 70.9 inches, high enough to clear children and pets.

It takes second place on evidence. It carries 287 ratings at 4.1 stars, the deepest pool of any electric heater here, and its buyers publish the kind of number the listings never do. One hung it under a gazebo and kept six people warm on a 3m by 3m deck in rainy, cold Bank Holiday weather; another used two in a 6m by 3m gazebo and reported the party stayed warm on a late September evening. Nine square metres of honest coverage from 2000W, in other words, which is the figure worth comparing against the "200 square feet" claims on the wall panels.

What you accept in exchange is the mounting: there is no stand, so it needs a beam above it, and IP24 means it should not be left out in driving rain. Its own coverage claim is the smallest on this page at 65 square feet — six square metres — and one spec field files it under indoor use, which it is not. For a covered gazebo, a pergola or a garage, though, it is the cheapest way here to warm more than one seat.

The Pro Breeze is a wall-mounted halogen panel: 1000W on low and 2000W on high, IP65 rated so it can stay out in the rain, with a remote control and all the fixtures and fittings in the box for a wall or a ceiling. It has two settings rather than three and no timer, which is the trade against the more expensive panels here.

It earns third place on evidence per pound. At GBP 64.99 with 311 ratings at 4.2 stars it is the cheapest heater on this page with a serious review history, and buyers give it a coverage figure the listing never does: one owner reports plenty of heat "so long as you're sitting nearby (ie within ten feet)", which is roughly three metres — the honest size of the warm zone from 2000W. Another notes it is "expensive to run", which is the same point the German owner of a similar 2kW panel measured at 52p an hour.

Its listing is the worst offender here for measurement, worth knowing before you trust any number in it. Coverage is published as "16 foot", a distance rather than an area, and the maximum temperature field says 2000 degrees Celsius, which is the wattage pasted into the wrong field. One recurring complaint in the reviews is the remote failing with no spare parts available, so treat the remote as a convenience rather than the control. What matters more is the IP65 rating: a panel that can stay outside is one you will actually use.

The pyramid is the showpiece of the category: a 13kW propane heater built around a glass tube that shows the flame, on a pedestal base with a 13kg bottle inside it, and three heat settings. The listing says it will light in all weather without matches or lighters, radiates warmth in a circle, and comes with the hose and the 27mm regulator for Calor Patio Gas, BP Gas Light or Flogas cylinders.

It sits fourth because of what the same advert admits in its own specification table. The title says 13KW; the Heat Output field says 1,500 watts — a difference of nearly nine times, in the manufacturer's own data feed, in the same listing. Everything else in that table should be read with the same suspicion: the brand field says GASDEPOT rather than REALGLOW, which is why the model keeps appearing under two names. The one figure that is plausible is the flame: this is the heater you buy when the point is the look as much as the warmth.

The practical side is the same as any bottle-fed heater. It is 13kg-bottle capable, so refills are less frequent, and it works in a breeze where an electric panel does not. It is also a big object to store, it needs to come in for the worst of the winter, and at GBP 199.99 it is the second most expensive thing here. Buy it for the flame and the heat together, not for a number in the title.

The Devola is the most controllable heater here: a wall-mounted infrared panel with four power settings, an LED display, a remote and WiFi, plus a 24-hour timer and an intelligent mode. It is IP65, so it stays outside, and it is the only heater in this ranking listed as made in the United Kingdom, with a one-year warranty extendable to two.

The two coverage numbers in the listing agree with each other, which is rare here: 269 square feet in the spec table is 25 square metres, and the bullet says "ideal for rooms up to 25m²". That consistency is why it sits above the more powerful panels, and its 2.4kW at full output puts it in the middle of the electric running-cost range rather than at the top of it.

Two numbers in the same table are wrong. The Heat Output field says 1,200 watts while the bullets and the model number say 2.4kW, and the maximum temperature field says three degrees Fahrenheit, which means nothing in a heater. Buyers use it for outbuildings as much as patios: one has it in the garage for winter darts, another in a dog kennel on a plug-and-play basis. Both are the right use for a wall panel — a small enclosed or sheltered space, not an open lawn.

The SOUTHEATIC is a 3kW wall panel with three power levels — 1000W, 2000W and 3000W — a remote control, brackets for wall or ceiling mounting and an IP65 rating. It arrives with a 13-amp fused plug already fitted so no wiring work is needed, and it claims 98 per cent efficiency with gold halogen tubes that produce heat in a second.

It scores 4.7 stars, the highest in the ranking, and it is 10th in Amazon's Patio Heaters category. It sits sixth rather than higher because of the sample: those 4.7 stars come from 11 ratings, split 86 per cent at five stars and 14 per cent at three with nothing in between. That is a thin signal rather than a settled verdict, and at GBP 152.96 it is also the dearest electric heater here.

Two details deserve checking before you buy. The dimensions field reads 96.5cm deep by 16.2cm wide by 10.5cm high, which would make it a metre-long object protruding from the wall — on a flat panel the true body is closer to the 16cm by 10cm face, so the 96.5 figure is the tube length or the packaging. And the remote takes batteries that are not included. What remains is a simple proposition: if you need maximum electric output on a wall, this is the one that has it.

The STATUS is a free-standing electric tower: 650W, 1300W or 2000W, a pull cord rather than a remote, adjustable height and an angle-adjustable head so you can point the heat where you are sitting. It is 2.1 metres tall and weighs 9.2kg, which makes it the electric equivalent of the gas pillars — it stands where you put it with no drilling and no bracket.

It earns seventh place on honest reviews. At GBP 44.99 with 88 ratings at 4.4 stars it is the cheapest heater here that does not need a wall, and its buyers describe exactly what a 2kW heater does: "plenty of heat for a corner space, but may need two if open area and a little wind chill is in effect". The second review is even more useful — the owner bought a second unit because "the heat just didn't cover the other end of the space we needed". That is the coverage limit of electric made plain.

The listing's own measurement is the familiar fiction: 200 square feet, about 18.6 square metres. Two 2kW heaters failing to cover a garden suggests less. What you get for the money is convenience: plug it in, put it beside a bench, and it works in seconds, with a tip-over switch for safety. What you do not get is a warm patio on a windy evening — for that, the gas models exist.

The TW20R is the 2kW version of the SOUTHEATIC panel higher up this page: three power levels, a remote control, a tip-over protection field and an IP65 rating, for wall mounting, at GBP 84.98 against that model's GBP 152.96. If 3kW felt like overkill for a small patio, this is the same heater with two thirds of the output and 45 per cent of the price.

It scores 4.2 stars from 24 ratings, and its best review is a direct comparison to the rest of the market: "would recommend it as a more affordable option to some on the market". A second owner describes the controls as simple and effective across all three power settings. It is filed 45th in Amazon's Patio Heaters category.

One field in the listing is nonsense and worth flagging: the Indoor Outdoor Usage field says "Indoor", while the bullets describe an IP65 outdoor heater for patios, gazebos, restaurants and garages. Take the bullets. The coverage claim is the standard 200 square feet, about 18.6 square metres, which is the same figure three other listings here use and should be treated the same way — as a starting point rather than a promise.

The Azuma is the tabletop option: a 66cm halogen unit with a single 1500W setting, a pull cord, a black powder-coated steel body and an IP44 rating, which is splash-resistant. It sits on the table rather than beside it, so the heat lands on the people around it and nothing else has to be moved to make room.

It earns ninth place for a specific buyer rather than a general one, and the best review here says exactly who that is: an owner who chose it over a gas heater because "calor gas bottles would now [be] too heavy for us to move around" and who calls it safer for that reason. That is the honest case for a tabletop electric — no bottle, no wheels, no storage, at the cost of heating a small circle instead of a patio.

Its listing is also the most honest about coverage in the entire ranking, by accident: the Heating Coverage field says "small to medium" rather than pretending to a number. The room-type field, however, lists a bedroom, a home office and a living room, which is nobody's idea of a patio heater and a reminder of how these fields get filled. IP44 means it should not be left out in heavy rain, and at 1500W one setting is all you get.