Flamin' great? They're popular for al fresco restaurant dining, but will an outdoor gas heater work in your backyard?(Test: outdoor gas heaters)(Product/Service Evaluation)

Publication: Choice (Chippendale, Australia)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Australian Consumers' Association

No winter's trip to Melbourne would be complete without dinner or coffee on Lygon or Ackland Street, probably nestled under an outdoor gas heater. But have you ever wondered how one would go in your backyard? That's what they're being sold for now, so--figuring you probably don't want to pay restaurant-model prices--we tested all the heaters we could find for less than $800.

We bought the heaters just coming out of winter, but they're useful for cool evenings in spring and autumn too, so you should be able to buy one most of the year.

HEATING YOU UP

These heaters work by the heat transfer process of radiation--they transfer heat directly to you without heating the air between, just like the sun on a cold day. Our test rig measured temperature rises generated by the radiant energy at approximately head, waist and foot height, at various distances away from the heater.

Stand too close to these heaters and you'll cook--temperatures rose by over 70[degrees]C at head height for most models at half a metre. But temperatures fall dramatically as you move away from the heater, so the effective range is fairly limited. There's not a great difference between models in this respect--all are best between one and 1.5 metres away. Just how many guests this could keep warm depends on where you place it, but about eight guests could sit around one at this distance.

And, at this distance, the difference in temperature between head and foot height is acceptable, so you shouldn't suffer from 'hot head, cold feet' syndrome.

Warmth can still be felt further away, but at about three metres all the heaters raise temperatures by only a few degrees--still welcome on a cold night, but probably not enough to make you feel entirely comfortable.

HOTTER IS BETTER

The COLEMAN and MASPORT models achieved the largest overall temperature increases at the various measured distances. The weakest heating performance (the COMPANION's) wasn't bad and...

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