When we’ve visited with friends in 2020, it’s generally been socially distanced, out in the yard. That’s been fine in the warm weather, but what will we do now that there’s a chill in the air?

There’s no need to rush indoors just yet. With patio heaters and fire tables, you can continue to entertain, keeping you and your guests feeling toasty despite the falling temperatures. Don’t let friendships and gatherings languish because the weather’s turned cool. Avoid the isolation blues and set up an outdoor heater to keep the socially distanced party going.

Patio Heaters

You may have been to restaurants that used heaters to make outdoor dining an option on chilly evenings. Well, you can do the same thing on your own patio.

These useful appliances stand around seven feet high with a sturdy base, a pole and a heating element toward the top. Many crank out more than 40,000 BTU of heating power. They may come with wheels so you can easily move them around.

There’s often a circular table atop the base or partway up the pole. Pull up a chair and set your drink and a plate on it. Even when it’s not providing heat, it serves you as a side table.

Patio heaters run on propane, using the same tank as your propane grill. While the element at the top unleashes generous amounts of warmth, the base remains cool.

How Many Patio Heaters Do I Need?

If yours is a small patio, one will probably be enough. To heat a larger area, there’s a formula to calculate how much warming power the job will take. You need one BTU to raise one cubic foot of air one Fahrenheit degree. (On a windy evening, you might need a little extra.) Here’s an example.

Let’s say the temperature is 40 degrees, and you want to bring it up 30 degrees to 70. Let’s suppose the area is 20 x 15 feet, or 300 square feet. You decide to heat to a height of 7 feet, or 7 x 300 = 2100 cubic feet. You want to raise the temperature of each cubic foot 30 degrees. 2100 x 30 = 63,000 BTU required. In this instance, two heaters each generating 40,000 BTU will do a more than adequate job of keeping everyone comfy.

What about a Covered Porch or Patio?

Patio heaters fueled with propane aren’t safe for use under a roof. But that doesn’t mean you have to abandon those areas and go indoors. The electric wall-mounted heater is an option. These were originally designed for restaurants, but now you can use one for that special dinner at your home.

A typical wall mount unit works on infrared technology and heats a couple hundred square feet. It’s more than just a generic space heater. Today’s units use specially designed reflectors, and short-wave quartz emitters provide instant heating. Just hang it on the wall with its bracket and plug it in, and your roofed open porch becomes a place you’ll still want to be as the evenings grow cooler.

Fire Tables

It’s great to enjoy an outdoor evening with a heater or two in the background or backyard, but there’s a way to go a step further. Imagine sitting around an outdoor table, talking to friends, enjoying drinks and playing cards, while comforting heat flows from the center of your table. Imagine letting the children have their turn roasting marshmallows for s’mores. It’s like sitting around the campfire, but without the smoke, the high flame or the dangerous sparks.

This is one fire that won’t send Smokey the Bear running for his shovel. Unlike an actual fire pit, a fire pit table doesn’t need to be restricted to the middle of the back yard. It’s safe close to the house, next to the pool or on a wooden deck. It gets hot in seconds and, better yet, cools almost instantly when you shut it off.

Fire tables range in height from 19” for coffee table height, 25” for standard chat or fire table height, or 29/30” to 42” for a dining or bar height table. Most are round, but now the outdoor industry had square and rectangular versions. There’s plenty of space for plates and drinks. The fire bowl is in the center of the table and can be filled with lava rocks, décor ceramics for fire tables, or attractive fire glass or glass fire beads. A typical propane fire table runs on a standard 20-pound tank, and many come with kits to convert them to your home’s natural gas system.

Some include protective lids and protective furniture covers (highly recommended), and there’s an optional extra for those that don’t. There are also tempered glass fire bowl guards available to protect the fire from wind and to keep kids from reaching for the bowl.

This season, don’t give up socially distanced gatherings because there’s a nip in the air. Keep the good times going with a patio heater or fire table, and make your home’s deck or patio the place everyone wants to responsibly gather.