Customer Reviews

Garden Sun GS4150NGSS 41,000 BTU Floor Standing Natural Gas Powered Outdoor Patio Heater With Push Button Ignition - Stainless Steel

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After three propane patio heaters purchased from warehouse retailers at great prices, but extremely poor quality with valve failures, and lack of heat unless you get a little too close and personal with it for my taste...I bought this natural gas unit. Outdoor propane heaters require tank changes that are beyond my patience and all of the ones I have purchased experienced various problems. Some research yielded this unit and I am extremely pleased with it...easy to assemble and to hook into my outdoor gas connector that is shared with a natural gas grill. The unit has a heat dispursing bonnet that throws heat a reasonable distance and it's easy to regulate. I can now sit outside smoke a cigar, have a cocktail with my friends and be comfortable. Even better, everyone asks...where did you get this heater? They all comment how well it works and it's the nicest one they have seen. It's worth the $$$...

Purchased this patio heater from Amazon.com. Shipping was as promised. Was delivered by UPS with no damage. All parts were present and accounted for. The assembly is a little tricky, especially for one person. Some mechanical ability is useful. The igniter is a twist type not push button but works OK. You will want an extension hose in addition to the hose that ships with the unit because after you route the hose up to the burner, you will only have five or six feet left to hook to the gas supply. I took the advice of another reviewer and mounted it to a 24" sq. cement stepping stone that I found at a "Big Box" store. The amount of heat that it generates is OK if its not too cold or if the wind isn't blowing too hard. Since I already had a gas outlet for my grill, no other work was needed and the quick connect was exactly the same.

The heater is well built and easy to assemble. It is easy to operate and functions very well. The ability to use natural gas is a nice feature as you do not have to worry about running out during the middle of use. I was a little bit disappointed in the diameter of heat the unit produced. If the unit was operated in close proximity to where you were sitting (3-5 feet), you would definitely feel the impact. Any distance over five feet, and the impact of heat was minimal if anything. Overall, satisfied with the unit.

Purchased the stainless steel model in June of 2010.
This is not at all effective unless you are sitting or standing directly under it.
this does not even keep folks who are sitting one chair away warm.

R

We bought this around Xmas time and it works great! It was so nice to have a heater on days we normally wouldn't sit outside. We bought a cover to avoid the rusting issue. The only issue is that it is difficult to light it. I struggle with it, however my husband has seemed to get the hang of it. I am so happy that we can plug it into our gas outlet on our patio and do not have to worry about our tank running out-thats the best feature!

First of all, the unit does work and puts out what feels like the advertised 41,000 BTUs of heat. But what you don't get is a free standing unit. There is no weight in the base so you MUST use the very ugly straps and physically tie this unit to the ground. If you are on a slab patio you must drill holes in the concrete for anchors. What you also don't get is any type of warranty beyond Amazon's 30 day return. Mine was missing a screw and when I went to look in the assembly instructions there is zero information on contacting the manufacturer or distributer or any type of warranty statement. When I contacted Amazon, they offered to ship me a complete new unit (which they did even though I said no thanks). Now granted this did not cost the $1,000 that a Sunglo model does, but rest assured you are trading things like a warranty and a free standing unit for that price.

Update- Although Amazon could never provide me with warranty information, I did manage to find the warranty information on my own, it has a 1 year warranty and you must contact Leo at Arizona Heater 623.875.1330.

The unit works good and I mounted it to a 3 foot diameter decorative exposed aggregate concrete paver which keeps it somewhat portable without having to mount it to the patio. One item worth noting is there is a fine mesh screen that goes on the inside of the burner screen. This screen was burning up and coming off after about 10 hours of use. I ended up taking out the four screws and removing the screen from the inside. When I contacted Arizona heater they said it is a wind screen that was required for CSA approval and they always burn up/off.

The patio heater arrived disassembled, as expected, packaged rather loosely in its original 'cardboard' box. The box had sustained minor tears. All parts were intact except for a few bolts and nuts which were missing from a plastic bag. One of the four top reflector sections was bent slightly. Not serious issues, but product packaging deserves improvement.
A bigger issue concerns the three stainless steel tubes, each about two feet long, that slip together to form the height of the heater. The tubes are connected to each other with two screws on opposite sides of the tube. Unfortunately, only two screws per connection allow for a bit of 'wobble' so that, when fully assembled, the heater sways an inch or so. To eliminate the wobble, I drilled a third hole and inserted a screw to connect the tubes. However, the tube steel is extremely hard and requires a titanium or similar bit together with 10-15 minutes of drilling per hole. Garden Sun could greatly improve an already good product by merely drilling an extra hole and including one more screw for connecting the tubes.

I just got this and assembled it. I'll try to write a more complete review after a few months use.

First of all assembly is easy enough even with less than great instructions. The number one issue with me is it requires you to attach it to your patio. If you have a wood patio, no problem, other than it is NOT mobile even with a flex cord. If you have a cement patio like me, I think that's a big issue. I didn't want to hammerdrill into the cement and start cracks so I took a very unconventional approach. I made it into a table heater.

I correctly assumed the center pole was three sections. I eliminated the center section, and shortened the top section 6 inches which made the final height setting on the table the same as the original height. The only issue doing this is you have to drill two new screw holes in the top section to replace the ones you cut off. I didn't have a problem with this, but I have a lot of tools. Its hard to drill as someone else mentioned, but its really just slow, not hard. Very perculiar metal. Just drill a small pilot hole, it will take 10 times as long as normal, don't worry about the bit burning, and then drill the 1/4 inch hole and that's easy. The biggest issue is finding the correct spot to drill which I did with a micrometer and it worked, I also have a drill press which was helpful; I couldn't get a hand drill to work.

We have a large 55" in diameter cast aluminum patio table and I attached it to the table which I think is heavy enough to handle it. We'll see when I report back. This set up makes the location as ideal for heating as possible as everyone at the table is within a 3' radius or less. The cosmetics are not bad, and if you're a little bit red neck they're absoutely gorgous. It's not a bad looking unit for $200. I only gave it three stars because it's made in China, and I haven't ran it enough to know how well it works. We already have gas on our patio for the grill so this was why we could avoid tanks. I had the top section professionally trimmed off ($22) because it has to be a perfectly perpendicular flush cut to remain straight. Add another 12' of gas hose and fittings to tap into the existing line ($40 + $30) and the total conversion cost plus installation is about another $100 bucks.

The little heaters made for tables are nice if you're in realatively warm climates, but we live in Colorado, and this is what we need, if it works. Will report more later.