Fault tree
Electric patio heater not working
Before you conclude the heater is dead, check three things that are not the heater. Two of them are free and one takes a minute.
Check the GFCI outlet first — outdoor circuits trip on moisture and the reset button is often on a different outlet or in the panel. Then check whether the circuit is overloaded: a 1,500 W heater is 12.5 amps and needs a circuit largely to itself. The heater itself is the third suspect, not the first.
Check these three before blaming the heater
1. The GFCI has tripped
Every outdoor circuit is required to be GFCI protected, and GFCIs trip on moisture. Rain in an outlet, condensation inside a cover, damp in a plug — any of it opens the circuit, and it is easily the most common reason an outdoor electric heater does nothing.
The complication is that the reset button is frequently not on the outlet you plugged into. GFCI protection is often provided by an upstream outlet — commonly in a garage or a bathroom — or by a breaker in the panel. Plug a lamp into the outlet to confirm it is dead, then hunt for the reset.
If it trips again immediately after resetting, stop. A GFCI that will not hold is telling you there is a genuine leakage path, most often water in the outlet or in the heater. Let everything dry completely before trying again, and if it still trips, get it looked at.
2. The circuit is overloaded
A 1,500 W heater at 120 V draws 12.5 amps. Electrical code caps a continuous load at 80 percent of the circuit rating, which is 12 amps on a 15-amp circuit — so a single patio heater is already at or slightly over that limit on its own.
Add anything else to the same circuit and the breaker will trip. Two heaters, certainly. A heater and a garage freezer, quite possibly. This is not a fault and repeatedly resetting the breaker is exactly the wrong response — the protective device is doing its job. The arithmetic is here.
3. The thermal cutout has operated
Most electric heaters have an internal overheat cutout that opens if the unit gets too hot — usually because airflow is blocked, or because it is mounted somewhere with insufficient clearance above.
Many reset themselves once cool. Unplug the unit, leave it for half an hour, check nothing is obstructing it, and try again. If it cuts out repeatedly, the mounting position is the problem: check the published clearance, which Fire Sense gives as 12 to 24 inches above for electric units.
Then, and only then, the heater
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing at all, outlet confirmed live | Internal fuse, thermal cutout latched, or a failed element | Check the cord and plug for damage. Beyond that it is a warranty or a service question. |
| Works then cuts out after a while | Thermal cutout operating repeatedly | Check the clearance above and around it, and that nothing is obstructing the housing. |
| Only some settings work | Failed element in a multi-element unit, or a switch | Common on quartz heaters with several tubes. Often a warranty item. |
| Element glows but no warmth reaches you | Aim, not a fault | Infrared heats what it points at. Sizing and aim. |
| Remote does nothing, unit works on the switch | Remote battery, or a blocked receiver | The dullest possible fix and it is right more often than not. |
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 |
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.
Weather is the usual underlying cause
Electric patio heaters mostly fail because water gets somewhere it should not, and the specification that predicts whether that happens is the published IP rating.
IP35 handles rain and splashes and is fine under an eave or a porch ceiling. IP55 handles water directed from any angle and is what an exposed wall needs. A unit with no published rating should be treated as suitable for sheltered mounting only — which is a real limitation and one worth knowing before, rather than after.
If your heater lives somewhere exposed and keeps tripping the GFCI, the rating is probably the reason, and the wall-mounted picks sort by exactly that.
One thing not to do
Do not run an outdoor heater on a household extension cord. A 12.5-amp continuous load on a light-gauge cord is a heat source in its own right, and a coiled one is worse. If the outlet is in the wrong place, the answer is an outlet in the right place.
Common questions
Why is my electric patio heater not working?
Check the GFCI first — outdoor circuits trip on moisture and the reset is often on a different outlet or in the panel. Then check the circuit is not overloaded: a 1,500 W heater draws 12.5 amps and needs a circuit largely to itself. The heater itself is the third suspect.
Why does my patio heater keep tripping the breaker?
The circuit is overloaded. A 1,500 W heater is 12.5 amps against a 12-amp continuous limit on a 15-amp circuit, so it needs that circuit to itself. If it also trips a GFCI rather than the breaker, that is moisture rather than load.
Can rain damage an electric patio heater?
It can, and the published IP rating is what predicts it. IP35 is fine under an eave; IP55 handles water from any direction. A unit with no published rating should be treated as suitable only for sheltered positions.
Why does my electric patio heater keep shutting off?
Most likely the internal thermal cutout, which opens when the unit overheats — usually because clearance above it is insufficient or something is obstructing the housing. Check the published clearance of 12 to 24 inches above and give it room.
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.
Wall mounted patio heaters, and the rating that decides
Wall and ceiling mounted electric heaters, ranked on published weather rating and mounting.
The heater works and the patio is still cold
Sizing, exposure, placement and shape — the four reasons a working heater disappoints.
Electric patio heaters, and the ceiling nobody mentions
Four electric patio heaters compared on wattage, published IP rating and cost per hour.