Size to the coverage figure and treat BTU as a filter
The five heaters here are rated between 38,500 and 50,000 BTU, a spread of about 30 percent from lowest to highest. Their published coverage figures do not sit in anything like that narrow a band. Bromic’s spec sheet gives the Tungsten Smart-Heat Portable roughly 215 sq ft. Amazon’s own listing gives the Amazon Basics heater a 9 ft radius. Capital Grills lists the AZ Patio Heaters HLDS01-GTSS at an approximate 10 to 12 ft radius. The Dyna-Glo DGPH202SS carries two conflicting figures across listings, covered below. The East Oak round-table heater publishes no coverage figure on the listing covered here at all.
Put those side by side and the BTU order and the coverage order do not line up. The lowest-rated heater, Bromic at 38,500 BTU, is the only one whose coverage comes from a manufacturer spec sheet. The highest-rated, East Oak at 50,000 BTU, publishes nothing to size against. The 48,000 BTU Dyna-Glo claims a far larger radius than the Amazon Basics on a 2,000 BTU difference. BTU tells you how much fuel the burner is rated to burn. It does not tell you how far from the post the manufacturer claims that heat reaches, and these five show the two numbers moving independently.
So the working method is this: use BTU to rule out nothing more than obvious mismatches, then size against the coverage figure that model itself publishes, and weigh how trustworthy that figure’s source is.
Convert every figure to square feet before comparing
Manufacturers publish coverage three ways in this set: a radius, a diameter and a width-by-depth field. They are not interchangeable at a glance, and a diameter reads twice as large as the equivalent radius.
Measure your seating area as a rectangle, length by width, and work in square feet. Then convert each heater’s claim the same way:
- A radius becomes an area by squaring it and multiplying by pi.
- A diameter is halved first. Overstock’s listings for other finishes of the East Oak design cite 18 or 20 ft diameters, which are 9 and 10 ft radii. An 18 ft diameter is the same circle as the Amazon Basics radius, not twice it.
- A width-by-depth field multiplies directly. Bromic’s 13 ft by 16.5 ft heat field is the 215 sq ft on its spec sheet, and it is the most specific of the three forms because it also tells you the shape.
Why one model can carry two different numbers
Three of the five heaters here publish figures that conflict with themselves across listings.
Dyna-Glo is the clearest case. The DGPH202SS Amazon description states a 24 ft radius. Home Depot’s listing for the DGPH202SS-TAB, the same heater with a side table added, states coverage of up to 315 sq ft, which is a circle of about 10 ft radius. The two claims differ by nearly six times in area. Dyna-Glo’s own site returned an access error during this research, so neither figure could be checked against a manufacturer spec sheet. Faced with that, the smaller number is the one to plan around.
AZ Patio Heaters’ HLDS01-GTSS carries two BTU figures on a single Home Depot page, 40,000 in one place and 41,000 in another, and its 10 to 12 ft radius comes from Capital Grills, a retailer, prefixed with “approx.” The same model is also sold under the Hiland name with the same model number, so you may see it listed twice under different brands.
East Oak’s round-table heater is sold in several finishes under separate ASINs. The listing covered here publishes no heating figure. Other finishes cite 18 ft or 20 ft diameters. Nothing from East Oak reconciles them, and no manufacturer model code appears on the listing.
Amazon Basics and Bromic are the two whose figures come from the brand itself. Amazon’s listing states the Amazon Basics radius, BTU and dimensions without a second conflicting figure. Bromic publishes a multi-page spec sheet with labeled dimension and clearance diagrams, the only such document in the set.
The pattern holds beyond these five products. A coverage number on a retailer page with no manufacturer document behind it is marketing copy until a spec sheet confirms it. When two listings for one design disagree, there is no published way to say which is right, and sizing to the larger one risks buying for a patio the heater was never actually claimed to cover.
Clearance is the figure that rules heaters out, and only one publishes it
Assembled heights here run from 85 in for the Bromic to 91.3 in for the Amazon Basics, with the AZ at 91 in, the Dyna-Glo at 87.5 in and the East Oak at 86.6 in. The AZ and Amazon Basics are within a third of an inch of each other, so neither is meaningfully the taller. Every one of the five stands over 7 ft.
What a covered patio, pergola or low eave needs is the published minimum clearance from combustibles, and only Bromic’s spec sheet provides one: 36 in, shown in its clearance diagram, and the evidence retrieved for this guide does not state whether that distance is overhead, to the side or behind the tilting head. For the other four, no clearance figure appears in any document retrieved for this guide. A product page that says the heater is for outdoor use has not published a clearance distance.
If your seating area has anything overhead, the height plus a published overhead clearance is the number to compare against your roof or beam, and for four of these five heaters no clearance figure of any kind appears on the product page in any source retrieved. That gap is not a judgment about how those heaters perform. It means you cannot settle the question from the listing.
Bromic’s spec sheet also shows the BH0510001 as freestanding only, with no ceiling, wall, recessed or ceiling-pole mounting option checked, so the 36 in figure applies to the portable configuration you would actually be buying. The natural-gas version of the same design is a separate model, BH0510005, and is not what the Amazon listing sells.
Footprint, weight and what the base does
Three of the pole heaters publish nearly identical square bases: Amazon Basics at 32.1 in, Dyna-Glo at 32 in and East Oak at 31.9 in per side, the last from the bronze-finish listing. Bromic’s base is a 27 in by 19 in rectangle, the narrowest published footprint in the set. AZ publishes a height but no base dimensions, so a walkway between it and a table cannot be checked from the listing.
Weight varies far more than footprint. Bromic is listed at about 124 lb by Brama. AZ is 65 lb per Home Depot. Dyna-Glo lists 35.2 lb and East Oak about 33.5 lb. Amazon Basics publishes no weight in the sources retrieved. The lighter heaters rely on the base for stability: Dyna-Glo’s is sand-fillable and houses the tank, and the Amazon Basics base is water-fillable with the tank chained inside. AZ includes wheels, a regulator and a burner cover in the box, and Amazon Basics also ships with wheels.
For a walkway between a table and the heater, the three 32 in squares take the same floor space, so the choice between them comes down to the coverage and ignition specs rather than footprint. Bromic’s narrower rectangle fits a tighter spot, but at 124 lb it is a different proposition to reposition between seasons.
Runtime: one heater out of five publishes it
Capital Grills lists the AZ HLDS01-GTSS at approximately 8 to 10 hours on high from a 20 lb tank. None of the other four publish a runtime in any document retrieved. Three state the tank: AZ, Dyna-Glo and Amazon Basics each require a 20 lb propane tank sold separately. Bromic’s spec sheet identifies the fuel as LPG without a tank size, and East Oak’s listings do not state one.
For a season of cold evenings, that means the AZ is the only one of the five where you can estimate tank swaps before buying. With the others, the first fill will tell you, and a higher BTU rating gives no published basis for predicting the interval.
Tip-over shutoff: all five name a mechanism, one names an angle
Each heater here names a specific tilt shutoff rather than a vague safety bullet. Home Depot lists the AZ with a thermocouple safety valve and an anti-tilt safety device. Dyna-Glo’s listing via Rona describes an anti-tilt shut-off that automatically cuts gas if the heater is knocked over. Bromic’s spec sheet lists an anti-tilt shut-off. Slickdeals describes the Amazon Basics tilt safety auto-shut-off valve as turning off the gas supply if the unit is tipped over. Overstock’s East Oak listing names a Triple Protection System including a 45-degree tip-over and flame-out shutoff.
East Oak is the only one to publish a trigger angle. The source quality differs too: Bromic’s mechanism comes from its own spec sheet, AZ’s and Dyna-Glo’s from retailer listings, and East Oak’s and Amazon Basics’ from a third-party listing for a different finish and a deals page respectively.
Wind: nobody publishes a figure
None of the five manufacturers publish a wind rating, a tested wind speed or any performance qualifier. Every coverage figure above comes with no stated wind condition. The published numbers give you no way to estimate what an open, exposed patio does to reach, and the absence is the normal case in this category rather than an oversight on one brand’s part.
Circle or rectangle: match the shape to the seating
The radius and diameter figures describe a circle around the post. Bromic’s 13 ft wide by 16.5 ft deep field is a rectangle with no stated orientation on its spec sheet, so measure your seating area as a rectangle and compare it to that figure directly.
Bromic’s Amazon listing specifies 110V, and the spec sheet retrieved does not address electrical supply. If your patio has no outlet, that is worth settling with Bromic before ordering.
When the simpler heater is enough
If the chairs ring the heater and the Amazon Basics radius covers your measured seating area on paper, its BTU, radius and dimensions come from one consistent source. The AZ’s 10 to 12 ft radius covers more and is the only one with a published runtime, but its coverage comes from a retailer and is approximate, and its base dimensions are not published. Dyna-Glo’s 48,000 BTU and East Oak’s 50,000 BTU look stronger on the box, yet neither gives you a coverage figure for the exact configuration you are buying that can be sized against with confidence; the 315 sq ft and 18 ft diameter figures from their related listings are the conservative numbers to use. Bromic is the one to choose when you need a published clearance figure, and the one to skip if the heater must move often.
