Seasonal

What to run at 50, 40 and 30 degrees

The honest answer changes three times as the season goes on, and only the last one involves spending real money on heat.

This page contains affiliate links. If you buy through one we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. How this site is funded. We have not tested these products — here is what we do instead.

Most buying advice in this category answers one question — which heater — as though the season were a single condition. It is not. A patio at 50F on a still evening and the same patio at 32F in a breeze are different problems, and the second one cannot be solved by the equipment that solves the first.

The bands below are approximate and personal — people differ more than ten degrees in what they find tolerable. The point is the ordering, which holds regardless: shelter first, then aimed heat, then output.

This is the reason the wind section exists and the reason the cheapest fix is nearly always a windbreak rather than a bigger heater. Every band below assumes reasonable shelter. Without it, move down one.

This is the band where people buy heaters they did not need. At 50F, still, with a jacket, most people are comfortable sitting outside for an evening without any heat at all. What actually changes the experience is not warmth, it is the sense of enclosure and the surfaces you touch.

• Something at your back. A screen, a wall, a planter. It cuts air movement and it changes how exposed the space feels, which matters more than a couple of degrees.
• Cushions and throws. A cold metal chair is what ends the evening, not the air temperature.
• Light. A dark patio in October feels colder than a lit one at the same temperature. This is not a heating fact but it is a true one.
• A fire pit, if you want one. At this temperature a fire pit is doing atmosphere rather than heating, which is exactly what it is good at.

If you are buying anything in this band, buy the heated blanket rather than the heater. It costs a fraction of a cent an hour and it solves the seated case completely.

This is where a heater starts genuinely earning its place, and where the right one is a radiant unit pointed at where people sit rather than a large convective one warming the general air.

A 1,500 W electric infrared heater delivers about 5,118 BTU/h, nearly all of it onto whatever it is aimed at. At 40F, over a seating group, mounted high and angled down, that is usually enough — and it costs about 28 cents an hour against roughly $1.40 for a propane tower.

• Mount it at seven to nine feet, angled down. Aim is the whole game with radiant heat. On the floor pointing sideways it warms a shin.
• Cover the seating, not the patio. Radiant heat is a cone. Trying to cover the whole area with it is how people conclude electric does not work.
• Add the blanket. Blanket plus aimed heater at 40F is warmer, and cheaper to run, than a large heater alone.

If there is nothing overhead to mount to, this is the band where propane becomes the practical answer instead — not because it is better, but because it needs no structure.

Quick picks

Ranked for fit, not for hype. Output is the maker’s published figure; reach is computed from it or from the maker’s own radius claim, and the table says which. Tap a row for the full write-up, or go straight to the listing.

#	Product	Best for	Output	Reach	Price
1	Cordless hooded throwThe wearable answer, and the one that finally makes the hooded category recommendable. It is cordless, it has nine heating zones and a hood, and unlike a lap throw it keeps working when you get up to check the grill.	Standing up without losing the heat	n/a	n/a	$49.99 · Check on Amazon-22%
2	Dr Infrared 1500 WRadiant heat that a breeze cannot blow out, on a plug. 1,500 W is only 5,118 BTU/h, which sounds like nothing next to a propane tower and lands far more of itself on you.	Wind, and anywhere with a roof	1,500 W	256 sq ft	$148.98 · Check on Amazon
3	Hiland HLDS01The mushroom tower the whole category is a copy of. 48,000 BTU is enough for a genuinely open patio, and the parts are the easiest in the category to replace when something eventually fails.	A full open patio	48,000 BTU	2,400 sq ft	$315.00 · Check on Amazon

Reach marked “claimed” is the maker’s own published figure. Reach without that label is ours, computed from published output at 20 BTU per square foot for an open patio. Neither is a measurement we took.

#ad · how this site is funded · price as of October 16, 2026

Top pick · Standing up without losing the heat

Cordless Battery Heated Throw Blanket with Hood, 20,000 mAh

The wearable answer, and the one that finally makes the hooded category recommendable. It is cordless, it has nine heating zones and a hood, and unlike a lap throw it keeps working when you get up to check the grill.

Fuel

Accessory

Output

Not published

Reach (computed)

Not published

Cost per hour

n/a

Reach is ours, computed from published output at 20 BTU per square foot for an open patio. We have not measured any of this in person.

What works

• It is wearable, with a hood. A lap throw stops working the moment you stand up; this does not, which on a patio where people move between the table and the grill is the difference between using it and folding it
• Nine heating zones across a shawl covers shoulders and back — the places a blanket over the legs never reaches
• Cordless and battery powered, so it stays on the right side of the one genuinely unsafe idea in this category
• Roughly half the price of the ActionHeat throws, which makes it the easy second one to own

What does not

• The maker publishes no battery voltage and no run time per setting. That means we cannot compute its cost per hour the way we can for the ActionHeat pack, and you cannot plan an evening around a stated duration. 20,000 mAh is a capacity, not a runtime
• No safety listing is published, which is worth noting on a heated textile even at USB voltages
• A wearable shawl is a different object to a blanket — some people find them warm and some find them faintly ridiculous, and that is not something a spec sheet resolves
• Nine zones is a marketing count as much as an engineering one; more zones across the same battery does not mean more heat

Published specification
Power	20,000 mAh battery pack, USB
Zones	Nine heating zones
Settings	Three heat levels
Form	Wearable shawl with a hood
Battery voltage	Not published
Run time	Not published per setting
Maker’s coverage claim	None published — the reach figure above is ours
Safety listing	No safety listing published by the maker

Who it is for

Anyone who wants heat that follows them around the patio, or who wanted a hooded model and found the category was all unbranded stock.

What it is not for

Anyone who wants a stated run time they can plan around — for that, the [ActionHeat plush](/blog/heated-blankets) publishes its hours at each setting and this does not.

$49.99 · Check on Amazon-22%

#ad · how this site is funded · price as of October 16, 2026

Sources for this entry

• Amazon listing — cordless battery heated wearable throw with hood, 20,000 mAh, nine zones, three levels

2 · Wind, and anywhere with a roof

Dr Infrared Heater DR-238 Carbon Infrared Patio Heater with Kasa Outdoor Smart Plug

Radiant heat that a breeze cannot blow out, on a plug. 1,500 W is only 5,118 BTU/h, which sounds like nothing next to a propane tower and lands far more of itself on you.

Fuel

Electric

Output

1,500 W = 5,118 BTU/h

Reach (computed)

256 sq ft · 9.0 ft radius

Cost per hour

$0.28

Reach is ours, computed from published output at 20 BTU per square foot for an open patio. Cost at 18.34 cents per kWh. We have not measured any of this in person.

What works

• Infrared warms objects, not air, so it is the only heat that survives a breeze — this is the single reason wind changes the whole buying decision
• No combustion means no flue gas, which is what makes it legal and sensible on a screened porch where propane is not
• Three settings matter more than they sound: 900 W costs a third less to run and is enough most evenings

What does not

• 1,500 W is 1,500 W. Nothing at this wattage heats faster than anything else at this wattage; the differences between electric heaters are beam shape and build, not power
• It heats what it points at. Step out of the beam and you are cold immediately — this is a fundamentally different experience from a tower
• A 120 V plug-in unit is capped by your circuit, not by the maker. See why 1,500 W is the ceiling

Published specification
Rated power	1,500 W at 120 V
Settings	900 W / 1,200 W / 1,500 W
Element	Carbon infrared lamp
Reflector	Mirror aluminum, 90% reflectivity per the maker
Housing	Anodized aluminum, rated for outdoor use
Mounting	Wall and ceiling brackets plus remote in the box
Bundle	Currently sold with a Kasa EP40 outdoor smart plug
Maker’s coverage claim	None published — the reach figure above is ours
Safety listing	ETL listed, per the maker's published product data

Who it is for

A covered patio, pergola or screened porch where you can mount it overhead and point it at where people sit, and anywhere wind ruins a flame.

What it is not for

A big open patio with nowhere to mount it. Radiant heat needs a line of sight and a place to hang from.

$148.98 · Check on Amazon

#ad · how this site is funded · price as of October 16, 2026

Sources for this entry

• Amazon listing — Dr Infrared DR-238 carbon infrared heater bundled with a Kasa EP40 outdoor smart plug
• Dr. Infrared Heater — DR-238 published specification

3 · A full open patio

Hiland / AZ Patio Heaters HLDS01-CG 87 in Propane Patio Heater

The mushroom tower the whole category is a copy of. 48,000 BTU is enough for a genuinely open patio, and the parts are the easiest in the category to replace when something eventually fails.

Fuel

Propane

Output

48,000 BTU/h

Reach (computed)

2,400 sq ft · 27.6 ft radius

Cost per hour

$1.40

Reach is ours, computed from published output at 20 BTU per square foot for an open patio. Cost at $2.674 per gallon of propane. A 20 lb cylinder runs it about 9.0 hours at full output. We have not measured any of this in person.

What works

• 48,000 BTU is real output — on our sizing arithmetic that is a 2,400 sq ft open patio at the rule-of-thumb rate, so it is never the unit that is undersized
• Every wear part on this platform is a stocked commodity: thermocouples, control valves, dump switches and reflectors are all available separately
• The weight bladder in the base is the single most useful anti-tip feature in the category and most rivals leave it out

What does not

• An 87 in open-flame tower is the worst possible shape in wind — this is the unit our wind guide exists for
• The maker does not publish a coverage radius, so the reach figure we show is ours, computed rather than quoted
• Full output burns a 20 lb cylinder in well under a night. See the runtime arithmetic

Published specification
Rated input	48,000 BTU/h
Height	87 in
Fuel	20 lb propane cylinder, not included
Reflector	33 in aluminum heat shield
Safety	Anti-tilt cutoff and thermocouple flame-failure cutoff
Extras	Wheels, integrated table, weight bladder for the base
Maker’s coverage claim	None published — the reach figure above is ours
Safety listing	CSA certified per the maker's product literature

Who it is for

An open patio with no roof, where you need volume of heat and can accept swapping cylinders. Also the right answer if you want a unit whose parts you can still buy in five years.

What it is not for

A screened porch, a garage, or anywhere without open sky above it. It is an open-flame combustion appliance and needs genuine outdoor ventilation.

$315.00 · Check on Amazon

#ad · how this site is funded · price as of October 16, 2026

Sources for this entry

• Amazon listing — HLDS01-CG, 48,000 BTU, 87 in, published specification
• AZ Patio Heaters — HLDS01 owner's manual (PDF)

At freezing, aimed radiant heat over a seating group is no longer enough on its own for most people, and the honest answer stops being a single purchase.

1. 1Enclose what you can. This is the band where vinyl curtains genuinely change what is possible, turning a porch into a room. With the important caveat that an enclosed space means an electric heater, not a gas one.
2. 2Bring real output. A 46,000 to 48,000 BTU propane tower is roughly nine times the gross heat of a plug-in electric unit, and at 30F on an open patio that difference is the difference between sitting down and standing near something.
3. 3Keep the aimed heat too. The tower does the space; the radiant unit or the blanket does the people. Restaurants run both for exactly this reason.
4. 4Accept the cost. A tower at this duty is around $250 a season on a typical pattern. That is the price of a usable patio in real cold, and it is worth knowing before rather than after.

There is a point where outdoor heating stops being about comfort and starts being about duration. Below the mid-20s, a patio is a place you go for twenty minutes with a drink, not somewhere you host dinner, and no amount of equipment changes that for most people.

You can push it further with full enclosure and serious output, which is what commercial terraces do. But this is the band where the useful advice is to plan a shorter visit rather than a bigger purchase — and where what genuinely works in deep winter is worth reading before spending anything.

One adjustment the thermometer does not show. A damp evening at 45F is less comfortable than a dry one at 40F, because moisture pulls heat out of you far faster than dry air and because damp cushions end an evening on their own.

The practical consequences are not heating ones: cover the seating so it stays dry, prefer radiant heat which warms you rather than the air you are sitting in, and treat a wet evening as a band colder than the number suggests. It is the same correction as the wind one, for a similar reason.

1. 1Block the wind. Free to run, moves you a whole band, and makes everything after it work better.
2. 2Warm the people. Blankets and cushions. Essentially free per hour.
3. 3Aim radiant heat at the seating. Cheap to run, needs somewhere to mount.
4. 4Add output for the space. The expensive one, and the last one to reach for.

Almost everyone does this list backwards, starting with the largest heater they can afford and wondering why the patio is still cold in a breeze. Done in the right order, most patios never need step four at all.