A patio can be the premier place of a household and the reason for that is because they’re absolutely beautiful additions to your home. The patio is an area where your house and the outside world basically blend together and that makes for a great experience, whether it’s cold or warm outside. If there’s one thing that’s not constant, it would be the weather. Sure, it gets chilly during Autumn and Winters are skin cracking cold. That’s when a Patio heater is your best bet to still experience your patio and not let the weather take control of where you get to spend your time.
Another thing is that even during the warm seasons in Spring and Summer, those nights can get a little cool and sometimes you just want a cozy/warm place to chill outside. There are quite a lot of Patio heaters out on the market and that’s we’ve decided to do complete reviews on many of them out there.
Here, we’re reviewing Fire Sense’s Hammer Tone Bronze patio heater. Fire Sense is a brand that specializes making a ton outdoor household products. One of their main focus products is patio heaters, fireplaces, fire pits, BBQ grills and a bunch of other products that scream home decor. So let’s see what their patio heater has to offer.
Function
One of the most important parts of basically any heater is just how powerful it is, as the heat is basically the part of this product that you’re going to be experiencing the most of. This Fire Sense Hammer Tone patio heater has a BTU of 46,000. Also, if you don’t know BTU means British Thermal Unit, which is basically the amount of heat that’s produced. In this case, the BTU matters because it’s measurement of just how much heat this Fire Sense Patio heater generates and also it basically gives you an idea of how far the heat will radiate from the heater too.
Feeling the Heat:
Of course, this is an outside heater we’re talking about and therefore, 46,000 BTU is enough to heat a 9-foot diameter. It’s pretty good and in your case, or basically for anyone that purchases this Fire sense heater you’re most definitely only going to need one to use on your patio. That said, if you’ve got a relatively large patio and have a frequent or infrequent amount guest come over and want to make sure that everything is perfect, purchasing more than one isn’t a bad idea.
Fuel Usage:
This Fire Sense patio heater uses Propane as fuel and therefore you’re going to need a 20LB propane tank to use with it. If you’re worried about the fuel consumption with this patio heater, then you really shouldn’t be. Of course, running it on a higher heat level will make it burn more fuel at a faster rate, but overall, it manages to sip fuel.
Running it for 4 hours on a Medium setting can still leave you with a many of hours of use, and if you have it on low settings then you’re likely going to be able to use it many more times before having to replace your Propane tank. Another cool thing is that since this Fire Sense patio heater practically sips fuel it means that you can just take any propane tank at your disposal and use it with the patio heater.
As you don’t have to worry about starting out with a half empty or even with a near empty tank.
Design
Assembly:
The assembly of this Fire Sense propane tank may be quite frightening at first, but we think that it’s actually very easy if you’re willing to read the instructions. All you really need is a screwdriver and luckily it actually comes with one and all the screws too. Your only worry should be whether or not the patio heater will come with all of the itis pieces, but that’s not exactly product related.
You’re of course going to have to start with the base and it’s just a matter about putting a few pieces together separately and working your way from the bottom up. However, it can actually be quite a big help if you have someone to assist when building it as having someone to hold the base, while you put the top on could have been easier in our experience.
Also, when it comes to putting the top covering on, it would have been easier to have another person hold the pieces together while you screw on all the connecting parts. Totally possible to do it alone, but it makes it easier to have someone at the same time.
Size and Weight:
Once the patio heater is fully built, it has a height of about 7 and a half feet.
Functional Components:
The functional parts side, this patio heater is easy to use. At the bottom is where you’re going to have to place the propane tank, and you lift the propane covering, place your propane tank on top of the base. Then you take the gas hose from the Fire Sense patio heater and connect it to the valve on your propane tank. Then just turn the valve fully on your propane tank and then your patio heater will start to be fueled.
To actually start using the Fire Sense patio heater, there are two main components. There’s the gas dial and there’s the Red ignition switch. You have to turn the dial to the “ignite” setting and have it held there for about a minute so that the gas can travel up patio heater. Once that’s done, you can press the red “Ignite” button and that will turn on pilot light. Wait about 15 seconds and then set the dial to high and that will turn on the patio heater.
Once the patio heater is on, you can turn the dial from High all the way to low and basically any setting in between. To turn it off you simply have to turn the dial to off and it’s off.
Moving this patio heater is actually quite easy, even though it does have a weighted base that’s meant for stabilizing it on the surface you put it; thankfully it has wheels. You simply locate the wheels and slowly tilt the patio heater to your direction and you roll the patio heater from wherever direction that you desire.
Build
Structure and Material:
This a very structured patio heater and it’s entirely made of stainless steel and in this case, we’re reviewing the bronze finish. However, just because it’s stainless steel doesn’t mean that you can just leave this out in the rain or basically just any weather you like. It will get damaged and lead to rust. The whole “stainless steel” part is really only meant for ideal conditions and means that it’ll look like new as long as you take care of it.
Taking care of it means that you purchase a cover that goes over this Fire Sense patio heater so it’s protected from the elements. Our recommendation is that when you do cover it with a covering, that you place it against your house as it’ll get as less as rain on it and it’ll have a lesser chance of tipping over on those windy days.
Tech:
The number one thing that matters most when you’re dealing with fire is that you have to make sure that it’s safe. Even though most of the heat with this Fire Sense patio heater is emitted from the bottom, and the covering plate at the top stops quite a lot of heat from seeping from the top of the patio heater, you still have to be careful.
Don’t place this inside of anything and attempt to use it, or at least make sure that the ceiling of where you’re placing it is at least 5-feet away. Or else it could be a fire hazard or it can damage something such as an awning.
Also, this Fire Sense patio heater does have a tip-over safety, and that means if it does tip over while it’s on, it’ll automatically turn off the gas. Therefore eliminating anyone from getting hurt.
Summary:
Function:
The 46,000 BTU that this Fire Sense patio heater output is enough to warm up a 5-foot diameter and that’s really all you’re going to need unless you have lots of guests to accommodate for warming up. The fuel usage on this patio heater is also great as you don’t have to worry about depleting a propane tank even after few a hours of use.
Design:
It’s quite easy to assemble, with that said, if you have someone else to help you it can make a whole lot easier. Using this patio heater is also quite easy, as you’ll just need to connect your propane tank and ignite the flame via the dial at the top.
Build:
It’s a sturdy patio heater, and even though it’s advertised to be stainless steel, that simply doesn’t matter if you have the elements beating down on it 24/7. So getting a cover is absolutely necessary if you plan to keep this patio outside. Also, it has tipped over protection meaning that it actually shuts off automatically if it were to tip over.
Specs of this Fire Sense 46,000 BTU Hammer Tone Bronze Patio Heater:
- Heat Output: 46,000 BTU
- Ignition System: Piezo ignition.
- Safety: Tip over protection system
- Build: Durable stainless steel burners and double mantle heating grid
- Size: 18 x 33 x 89 inches
- Weight: 42 Pounds
- Safety auto shut off tilt valve
- Wheel assembly included
Conclusion:
This Fire Senese patio heater is one of the best patio heaters that you can purchase if you’re searching for something that holds a lot of quality and at the time, has an affordable price tag.