Electric

Electric patio heaters, and the ceiling nobody mentions

Every plug-in electric patio heater in the United States is 1,500 watts, and no brand can sell past it. Once you know why, choosing between them gets much easier.

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There is exactly one exception to that uniformity, and it is a wiring decision rather than a product one: the Dr Infrared DR-239 draws 3,000 W on a 220-240 V circuit, which is double what any plug-in heater can reach.

This is the most useful fact in the category and almost nobody states it plainly. Electrical code treats any load running three hours or more as continuous and limits it to 80 percent of the branch-circuit rating. A standard 15-amp, 120-volt circuit is 1,800 watts; 80 percent of that is 1,440 watts. Manufacturers build to 1,500 W as the conventional maximum and no further.

Which means the honest comparison between electric patio heaters is not about power. It is about where the heat is aimed, whether the housing survives weather, whether you can mount it where it needs to be, and whether the controls make the lower settings usable. Those are the columns on the cards below.

A convection heater warms air, and outdoors that air leaves. An infrared heater emits radiation that passes through air almost unaffected and warms whatever it lands on — you, the chair, the table. That is why an electric heater rated at a tenth of a propane tower's output can feel comparable when you are sitting in its beam, and why it is the only class that keeps working in wind.

It also explains the limitation. Step out of the beam and the warmth stops immediately. Radiant heat needs line of sight, which is why every unit here is designed to mount overhead and point down at where people sit. An infrared heater on the floor behind a chair is doing nothing.

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	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
2	Heat Storm TradesmanThe one electric unit here with a published IP rating, which is the difference between a heater that survives a wet winter mounted outdoors and one that is a warranty claim waiting to happen.	Leaving outside all year	1,500 W	256 sq ft	$99.99 · Check on Amazon-8%
3	Star Patio STP2020-AOne of the very few electric units whose maker publishes a coverage area at all — 110 sq ft — and it mounts to a wall or hangs from a ceiling on chains. No ingress rating is published, so keep it somewhere sheltered.	A published coverage figure	1,500 W	110 sq ft claimed	$199.99 · Check on Amazon
4	Briza 1500 WThe same 1,500 W infrared element as everything else, sold with a tripod as well as the brackets. That flexibility is the entire argument for it, and it is a decent one.	Not committing to a mounting point	1,500 W	256 sq ft	$199.90 · 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.

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Top pick · 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

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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

2 · Leaving outside all year

Heat Storm Tradesman HS-1500-OTR-R 1500 W Weatherproof Infrared Heater

The one electric unit here with a published IP rating, which is the difference between a heater that survives a wet winter mounted outdoors and one that is a warranty claim waiting to happen.

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

• A published IPX4 rating. Almost nobody in this category publishes an ingress rating at all, and mounting an unrated electric heater outdoors is a gamble you cannot price
• The maker publishes its own BTU figure (5,200), which is within a rounding error of the 5,118 our watts-to-BTU conversion gives — a company doing its own arithmetic honestly
• Wall or ceiling mount puts the heat above head height where a radiant beam belongs

What does not

• IPX4 rates water only — the solids digit is X, meaning none is published. It is splashing-water protection, not immersion, and it tells you nothing about dust ingress
• Fixed mounting means fixed aim. Get the position wrong and there is no adjusting it from the chair
• Same 1,500 W ceiling as every other plug-in electric heater

Published specification
Rated power	1,500 W at 120 V
Published output	5,200 BTU/h per the maker
Element	Carbon fiber infrared, per the maker
Weather rating	IPX4
Dimensions	27 x 8 x 6 in
Control	Remote included
Mounting	Wall or ceiling; tripod and tri-mount combos are separate SKUs
Maker’s coverage claim	None published — the reach figure above is ours
Safety listing	IPX4 weatherproof rating published by the maker

Who it is for

A permanently mounted heater on a pergola, porch ceiling or exterior wall that you never want to take down and store.

What it is not for

Portability, and any open patio with no structure to mount to.

$99.99 · Check on Amazon-8%

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Sources for this entry

• Amazon listing — Heat Storm Tradesman 1500 W weatherproof infrared heater, remote
• Heat Storm — Tradesman HS-1500-OTR-R published specification (1,500 W, 110 V, 5,200 BTU, IPX4, carbon fiber infrared element, 27 x 8 x 6 in)

3 · A published coverage figure

Star Patio STP2020-A-RMN2025 Wall and Ceiling Electric Infrared Patio Heater

One of the very few electric units whose maker publishes a coverage area at all — 110 sq ft — and it mounts to a wall or hangs from a ceiling on chains. No ingress rating is published, so keep it somewhere sheltered.

Fuel

Electric

Output

1,500 W = 5,118 BTU/h

Reach (claimed)

110 sq ft · 5.9 ft radius

Cost per hour

$0.28

Reach is the maker's own published claim, quoted rather than endorsed. Cost at 18.34 cents per kWh. We have not measured any of this in person.

What works

• It publishes a coverage figure. 110 sq ft is a real, checkable claim, and almost nobody in this category states one at all — which is the whole subject of our coverage page
• Wall bracket and ceiling chains both in the box, with 60 degrees of tilt, so the beam can actually be aimed at the chairs rather than at whatever the bracket decided
• 5,100 BTU/h published output is within a rounding error of the 5,118 our watts-to-BTU conversion gives, which is a maker doing its own arithmetic honestly
• Remote control on a unit mounted above head height is functional rather than a luxury

What does not

• No ingress rating is published for this model. Other units in this roundup publish one, and on a permanently mounted outdoor appliance that silence means you cannot price the weather risk. Treat it as a sheltered-position heater
• 110 sq ft is a small area — roughly a 10 by 11 ft patch, which is a seating group and not a patio
• 1,500 W, like everything else that plugs into a standard socket. The ceiling applies here as everywhere
• A 6 ft cord means the outlet has to be close, or an outdoor-rated extension has to be part of the plan

Published specification
Rated power	1,500 W at 110 V, 60 Hz
Published output	5,100 BTU/h per the maker
Published coverage	Up to 110 sq ft per the maker
Element	Golden tube
Mounting	Wall bracket or ceiling chains, up to 60 degrees of tilt
Size and weight	27.5 x 7 x 5.7 in, 7.7 lb
Element life	5,000 hours per the maker
Maker’s coverage claim	110 sq ft
Safety listing	No ingress rating published for this model

Who it is for

A sheltered wall or porch ceiling over a seating group, where you want a heater whose maker will tell you what area it actually covers.

What it is not for

An exposed wall where driving rain reaches it, since nothing is published about ingress protection, or any space much larger than a seating group.

$199.99 · Check on Amazon

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Sources for this entry

• Amazon listing — Star Patio STP2020-A-RMN2025 wall mounted and ceiling heater with remote

4 · Not committing to a mounting point

Briza Infrared Electric Patio Heater, 1500 W, with Stand

The same 1,500 W infrared element as everything else, sold with a tripod as well as the brackets. That flexibility is the entire argument for it, and it is a decent one.

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

• The tripod means you can find the right position over a season before drilling anything, then mount it properly
• A 1-to-9-hour timer on the remote is the feature that stops a mounted heater running all night by accident
• Three power settings, same as the Dr Infrared unit, and the 900 W setting is the one you will actually use

What does not

• No published IP rating and no named safety listing. For a unit sold to live outdoors that is a real omission, and we would rather tell you than skip past it
• A tripod-mounted heater is a tip-over object around children and dogs in a way a wall-mounted one is not
• No published coverage figure, so the reach column is ours

Published specification
Rated power	1,500 W at 120 V
Settings	900 W / 1,200 W / 1,500 W
Timer	1 to 9 hours, on the remote
Mounting	Wall and ceiling hardware plus an adjustable tripod stand
Maker’s coverage claim	None published — the reach figure above is ours
Safety listing	The listing does not publish a safety listing body or an IP rating

Who it is for

Someone who wants electric radiant heat but does not yet know where it should live permanently.

What it is not for

A fully exposed position in wet weather — without a published ingress rating we cannot tell you it will survive one.

$199.90 · Check on Amazon

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Sources for this entry

• Amazon listing — Briza 1500 W infrared, settings, timer, mounting options

If you want one unit examined rather than a field compared, our full review of the Dr Infrared DR-238 takes the most-recommended heater on this site apart - what its three power settings are actually worth, and the ingress rating its maker does not publish.

If a published weather rating matters because the heater will live outside all year, the Heat Storm Tradesman review reads what an IPX4 rating actually covers — and what the X in front of it leaves out.

The headline number is that a 1,500 W unit costs about 28 cents an hour at the June 2026 U.S. average residential rate, and about $33 a month if you run it four hours every night. The 900 W setting most of these offer costs about 17 cents an hour, and on a covered patio it is usually enough. That setting is the most under-used feature in the category.