# Flame & Flagstone > Keep the patio usable past October. An independent US publication about outdoor heating: how much heat a patio actually needs, what it costs to run, and what survives the wind. Every figure is either sourced or computed, and the arithmetic is printed on the page. ## What this site is Flame & Flagstone covers patio heaters, fire pits and the arithmetic around them. It is a publication, not a retailer and not a local business — there are no premises, no showroom and no service area. The site's editorial position, stated plainly because it changes how you should read it: - **We have not tested any of these products.** No lab, no test rig, no owned units, no thermometer at nine feet. The phrase "in our testing" appears nowhere on this site. - **What we do instead** is compile published manufacturer specifications and compute the figures those specs imply — sizing, running cost, cylinder runtime, real coverage area — and print the working so a reader can check it. - **No star ratings, no scores, no aggregate ratings**, and deliberately no rating markup emitted to search engines. A score implies an evaluation we did not perform. - **Prices are never written by hand.** They come from an automated feed, are stamped with a verification date, and are suppressed automatically once older than 48 hours — the page falls back to "Check price" rather than showing a number we cannot stand behind. - **Funding:** Amazon Associates commissions on qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to the reader. No free product, no sponsored placements, no paid positions on any list. Author: Scooter M., an enthusiast — someone genuinely interested in the category who reads the manuals and does the arithmetic. No engineering, gas-fitting or electrical credential is claimed, and none is held. ## The three questions this site exists to answer 1. **How many BTU does a patio need?** Roughly 20 BTU per square foot open and mild, but enclosure and wind change it by a factor of two to three. https://flameandflagstone.com/sizing/btu-calculator 2. **What does it cost to run?** Computed from sourced national US energy prices, with the formula shown. https://flameandflagstone.com/sizing/cost-to-run 3. **Why does a correctly sized heater still leave you cold?** Wind. It does not reduce output; it removes the warmed air that output produced. https://flameandflagstone.com/wind/wind-resistant-heaters ## Sections - Patio heaters — types, roundups and comparisons: https://flameandflagstone.com/patio-heaters - Sizing & costs — the arithmetic: https://flameandflagstone.com/sizing - Wind & weather — the category's blind spot: https://flameandflagstone.com/wind - By space — covered patios, porches, decks, pergolas, gazebos: https://flameandflagstone.com/spaces - Fire pits — and whether they are an alternative: https://flameandflagstone.com/fire-pits - Fixes — troubleshooting a heater you already own: https://flameandflagstone.com/troubleshooting - Guides — seasonal, plain-English: https://flameandflagstone.com/blog ## Most-cited pages - Patio heater BTU calculator: https://flameandflagstone.com/sizing/btu-calculator - What a patio heater costs to run: https://flameandflagstone.com/sizing/cost-to-run - How long a propane cylinder actually lasts: https://flameandflagstone.com/sizing/propane-tank-runtime - Patio heater coverage area (what a claimed radius really means): https://flameandflagstone.com/sizing/coverage-area - Watts, BTU, and the 1,500 watt ceiling: https://flameandflagstone.com/sizing/watts-vs-btu - The best patio heaters, sorted by the patio: https://flameandflagstone.com/patio-heaters/best - Electric vs propane patio heaters: https://flameandflagstone.com/patio-heaters/electric-vs-propane - Wind-resistant patio heaters: https://flameandflagstone.com/wind/wind-resistant-heaters - Patio windbreaks, and why they beat a bigger heater: https://flameandflagstone.com/wind/windbreaks - Patio heater safety, with the published numbers: https://flameandflagstone.com/spaces/safety ## About, and how to check us - About: https://flameandflagstone.com/about - How we pick (methodology): https://flameandflagstone.com/methodology - Editorial policy: https://flameandflagstone.com/editorial-policy - Affiliate disclosure: https://flameandflagstone.com/affiliate-disclosure - FAQ: https://flameandflagstone.com/faq - Contact: https://flameandflagstone.com/contact - Full page list: https://flameandflagstone.com/site-index ## Machine-readable - Long-form version of this file: https://flameandflagstone.com/llms-full.txt - XML sitemap: https://flameandflagstone.com/sitemap.xml - Atom feed: https://flameandflagstone.com/feed.xml - robots.txt: https://flameandflagstone.com/robots.txt Contact: info@flameandflagstone.com Published by Slate Mill Group (https://slatemillgroup.com).