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.
Every plug-in electric patio heater sold in the U.S. is 1,500 W, which is 5,118 BTU/h. The cap is the circuit, not the brand: a 15-amp 120-volt circuit derated to 80 percent for continuous load allows 1,440 W. So choose on mounting, weather rating and controls, because output is fixed.
Why they are all the same wattage
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.
What infrared actually does differently
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 HeaterNo photo 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 | Check price on Amazon |
| 2 | Heat StormNo photo 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 | Check price on Amazon |
| 3 | Star PatioNo photo Star Patio ZHQ1530IP55 is the highest published ingress rating in this roundup, which makes it the one to mount where rain actually blows in sideways. Everything else about it is a standard 1,500 W infrared unit. | The wettest exposed spot | 1,500 W | 256 sq ft | Check price on Amazon |
| 4 | BrizaNo photo 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 | Check price 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.
Top pick · Wind, and anywhere with a roof
Dr Infrared Heater Carbon Infrared Patio Heater, 120 V / 1500 W
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
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 |
| 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.
2 · Leaving outside all year
Heat Storm Tradesman HS-1500-OTR Outdoor Infrared Quartz 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
What works
- A published IP35 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
- IP35 is splash-and-dust protection, not immersion — it survives weather, not a hose or standing water
- 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 | Infrared quartz |
| Weather rating | IP35 |
| Mounting | Wall or ceiling; a tripod variant exists separately |
| Maker’s coverage claim | None published — the reach figure above is ours |
| Safety listing | IP35 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.
3 · The wettest exposed spot
Star Patio ZHQ1530 Wall-Mounted Electric Infrared Patio Heater
IP55 is the highest published ingress rating in this roundup, which makes it the one to mount where rain actually blows in sideways. Everything else about it is a standard 1,500 W infrared unit.
- Fuel
- Electric
- Output
- 1,500 W = 5,118 BTU/h
- Reach (computed)
- 256 sq ft · 9.0 ft radius
- Cost per hour
- $0.28
What works
- IP55 means dust-protected and rated against low-pressure water jets from any direction — a genuine step above the IP35 units
- The maker explicitly positions it for gazebo use, which is the enclosure where electric is the only correct answer
- Remote control on a wall-mounted heater is not a luxury; the unit is above head height and out of reach by design
What does not
- The listing publishes no coverage figure, so every reach number we show for it is our own arithmetic
- Wall mount only — there is no floor-standing option in this model
- 1,500 W, like everything else that plugs into a wall
| Published specification | |
|---|---|
| Rated power | 1,500 W at 120 V |
| Weather rating | IP55 |
| Mounting | Wall mounted |
| Control | Remote |
| Maker's positioning | Suitable as a gazebo heater per the listing |
| Maker’s coverage claim | None published — the reach figure above is ours |
| Safety listing | IP55 waterproof rating published by the maker |
Who it is for
An exposed wall on a gazebo, porch or balcony where weather gets at the unit and you still want electric heat.
What it is not for
Anywhere you need to move it, and any space large enough to need several thousand BTU rather than five thousand.
Sources for this entry
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
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.
Sources for this entry
What we would skip
A list with no losers is a list nobody edited. These are the choices we would actively steer you away from, and why.
Any listing claiming a large heated area
1,500 W is 5,118 BTU/h. On the standard 20 BTU per square foot rule that is about 256 sq ft on an open patio, and outdoors on a breezy evening it is much less in practice. A listing implying a big open patio is describing where you can feel something, not where it is warm.
Buying two 1,500 W heaters for one outlet
Two of these on a single 15-amp circuit is 3,000 W against a 1,440 W continuous limit. The breaker will trip, and repeatedly resetting it is exactly the wrong response. Two units need two circuits. The arithmetic is here.
Mounting an unrated unit somewhere it gets rained on
The Briza is on our list on merit and publishes neither an IP rating nor a named safety listing. That is fine on a sheltered porch ceiling and a genuine unknown on an exposed wall. Where weather reaches it, buy the IP55 unit instead.
What they cost to run
The prices every cost figure on this site uses
- Electricity: 18.34 cents per kWh. U.S. average residential retail price, June 2026. EIA, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A (residential, U.S. total).
- Propane: $2.674 per gallon. U.S. average residential price, week ending March 30, 2026. EIA, Weekly Heating Oil and Propane Prices (residential, U.S. average). That series only runs through the heating season, which is why the latest reading is a March one.
- Propane energy content: 91,420 BTU per gallon (higher heating value, the same basis appliance BTU ratings use). U.S. DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center, Fuel Properties Comparison.
- Conversion: 1 kWh = 3,412 BTU. Which is why a 1,500 W electric heater is a 5,118 BTU/h appliance, and why comparing it to a 48,000 BTU propane tower is not the comparison it looks like.
Electric, per hour
| Rated power | Per hour | 4-hour evening | Per month, 4 h a night |
|---|---|---|---|
| 750 W | $0.14 | $0.55 | $16.51 |
| 900 W | $0.17 | $0.66 | $19.81 |
| 1,200 W | $0.22 | $0.88 | $26.41 |
| 1,500 W | $0.28 | $1.10 | $33.01 |
| 2,000 W | $0.37 | $1.47 | $44.02 |
| 3,000 W | $0.55 | $2.20 | $66.02 |
At 18.34 cents per kWh (June 2026 U.S. residential average). Substitute your own rate: it is on your bill, and the arithmetic is watts ÷ 1000 x hours x rate.
Propane, per hour
| Rated input | Per hour | 4-hour evening | Per month, 4 h a night |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11,000 BTU/h | $0.32 | $1.29 | $38.61 |
| 40,000 BTU/h | $1.17 | $4.68 | $140.40 |
| 46,000 BTU/h | $1.35 | $5.38 | $161.46 |
| 48,000 BTU/h | $1.40 | $5.62 | $168.48 |
| 50,000 BTU/h | $1.46 | $5.85 | $175.50 |
At $2.674 per gallon (week ending March 30, 2026 U.S. residential average) and 91,420 BTU per gallon. Exchange-cage cylinders cost materially more per gallon than a bulk refill, so treat this as the floor.
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.
How we picked
- Every pick is 1,500 W, because they all are. The circuit sets the ceiling, so we ranked on build, mounting, weather rating and control instead — the things that actually differ.
- Published IP rating treated as a first-class specification. These are appliances that live outdoors. Two picks publish a rating, two do not, and we say which on every card rather than glossing over it.
- Mounting options weighed against real spaces. A ceiling bracket matters on a pergola; a tripod matters when you have not decided yet. Neither is universally better.
- Cost per hour computed from wattage at the published U.S. average residential rate, not quoted from any listing.
What we did not do
Everyone in this category says they tested twenty heaters. We have not tested any, and we say so. What we do instead: compile the published specs, compute the electrical and gas load from them, cite the maker’s own manual, and show the arithmetic so you can check it. The full method, including how to challenge a figure.
One thing worth checking before you buy
An outdoor-mounted electric heater needs an outdoor-rated, GFCI-protected circuit, and a 1,500 W continuous load has that circuit largely to itself. If the only outlet near your pergola is a spur shared with the garage freezer, that is the thing to sort out first. What to check when an electric heater seems dead covers the GFCI side.
Common questions
Are electric patio heaters expensive to run?
No. A 1,500 W unit costs about 28 cents an hour at the June 2026 U.S. average residential rate of 18.34 cents per kWh, or roughly $33 a month at four hours a night. That is cheap because the output is small — 1,500 W is only about 5,100 BTU/h.
Which electric patio heaters are the best?
They all produce 1,500 W, so the differences are build and fit. The Heat Storm Tradesman publishes an IP35 rating and the Star Patio unit publishes IP55, which matters for anything mounted where weather reaches it. The Dr Infrared unit has the best combination of settings and mounting hardware for a covered patio.
Do infrared heaters work outside?
Yes, and better than convection heaters do. Infrared warms objects rather than air, so wind cannot carry the heat away. The constraint is line of sight: you feel it only where the beam reaches, which is why these units are designed to mount overhead and aim down.
Can I run two electric patio heaters on one circuit?
No. Two 1,500 W units is 3,000 W against a 1,440 W continuous limit for a 15-amp circuit. You need two separate circuits, and resetting a tripping breaker instead is exactly the wrong response.
Sources
Read next
Watts, BTU, and the 1,500 watt ceiling
The watts-to-BTU conversion, and why a household circuit caps every plug-in heater at 1,500 W.
What a patio heater costs to run
Cost per hour, evening and month for electric and propane, at named prices with the formulas shown.
Infrared patio heaters, and why wind does not touch them
Four infrared heaters and heat lamps, with what radiant heat does that a flame cannot.
Electric vs propane patio heaters
Output, cost, coverage, wind and installation compared, with the arithmetic and picks for both answers.
Heating a screened porch
Why a screened porch is electric-only, and the mounted units that suit it.