AZ Patio Pyramid Glass Tube Propane Gas Patio Heater, Stainless Steel, CSA certified

Why it's worth it

A 90-inch stainless pyramid with a quartz glass tube that shows the flame from bottom to top. At 40,000 BTU it's a step down in raw heat from a mushroom-top tower, but it's the heater people actually gather around.

Set this one at the corner of a patio at dusk and it reads as a fire feature, not an appliance. The flame runs the full height of the glass tube, so you get the pull of a fire pit without smoke, sparks, or hauling wood. Review panels that ask people to rank heaters on ambiance put pyramid designs at the top over and over. For fall entertaining, that counts.

The heat is real, but it's aimed high. At 40,000 BTU it's rated for roughly 200 to 250 square feet, and owners describe it as pleasant from three or four feet away rather than blazing. The tube concentrates warmth up the column, so you feel it most standing up. Seated guests get less than they would from a tower with a wide overhead reflector.

From our review of 7 patio heaters, by Laura Cole, Lifestyle Editor

What we like

• +Set this one at the corner of a patio at dusk and it reads as a fire feature, not an appliance
• +The heat is real, but it's aimed high
• +It's built better than a budget heater has to be
• +Assembly is the tax you pay for the look

What to know

• –If you want to be warm rather than cozy, this isn't your heater
• –It's also 90 inches tall and narrow, which makes it more sensitive to a breeze than the BTU number suggests