What each cover publishes
| | Shape | Published dimensions | Water wording | Other claims |
|---|
| QH.HOME | Round stand-up | 89"H, 33" dome, 19" base | Waterproof | Tear-resistant |
| Stanbroil | Pyramid | 90"H (width not published) | Waterproof | Not published |
| Easy-Going | Pyramid / flame tower | 90"H x 23"L x 23"W | Not published | Black |
| Amazon Basics | Round stand-up | Not published | Water-resistant | Wind- and snow-resistant |
Not one of the four publishes a fabric weight, which is the figure that would actually predict how many winters a cover survives. Treat that silence as the category norm rather than as a mark against any one seller, and treat a cover as a consumable that you replace every few years.
How to measure, in three numbers
- Total height, floor to the very top of the reflector or flame tower. A cover an inch short will not seat over the top, and one that is a foot long drags on the ground and wicks water upward.
- The widest point. On a round heater that is the reflector dome; on a pyramid it is the body width. This is the dimension that decides whether the cover goes on at all.
- The base.A cover that is loose at the bottom is a sail. The QH.HOME’s published 19-inch base is useful precisely because it tells you whether the cover will close around your heater’s foot rather than flapping around it.
Measure your own heater rather than trusting a brand name. Our propane patio heaters page lists what each unit publishes, but a cover sized to a 46,000 BTU mushroom from one maker will not necessarily fit a 50,000 BTU one from another.
Why a cover is part of the heater purchase
A patio heater is a thin-walled steel or stainless column with a burner assembly, an igniter and a gas valve at the top of it, standing outdoors. Three things kill them, and a cover addresses all three.
Water in the burner assembly. This is the real one. Rain and snow entering the burner and the pilot area corrodes the electrode and fouls the ports, which shows up as a heater that will not light next October and gets replaced rather than repaired. The repair is a cover.
Rust at the base and the joints. A heater standing in a puddle rusts from the bottom, and a tall unit whose base has thinned is a stability problem rather than a cosmetic one.
UV and wind. Sun degrades plastic trim and the control knob; wind works on anything loose. A fitted cover with a drawcord is both protection and ballast.
Using one properly
Let the heater cool completely first. This is the most common complaint in cover reviews across the whole fire category: fabric put over a warm reflector melts onto it, and the mark does not come off. A patio heater reflector stays hot well after the flame is out.
Disconnect and remove the cylinder before a long cover-up. Store the propane cylinder outdoors, upright, away from the heater, rather than sealing it inside a cover for the winter. Our propane safety guide covers cylinder storage properly — the rules are the same for a heater as for a fire pit.
Dry the heater before covering it, not after. A cover over a wet unit traps the moisture against the steel, which is worse than no cover at all. If you are covering it after rain, wait for a dry day.
Cinch the drawcord and check it after a storm.A cover that has worked loose is a cover that is doing nothing, and most of the reviews complaining that a cover “blew away” describe one that was never tightened.
If the heater can come indoors instead
A cover is a compromise with the weather. A garage, shed or basement corner beats any cover, and for a heater you only use a few weekends a year that is the better answer — with the cylinder still stored outdoors, never in the garage with it.
And if storing it is the problem rather than covering it, the honest alternative is to stop having a floor-standing unit at all. A wall or ceiling-mounted electric heater has nothing to store, nothing to cover and no burner for water to get into, which is why it tends to win on a covered space — see patio heaters for covered porches and best electric patio heaters. For the fire pit equivalent of this page, including what a waterproof rating means on a bowl rather than a column, see best fire pit covers.
