Sunjoy 47,000 BTU Portable Patio Propane Heater

Awesome patio heater. Great heat dispersion and very easy to set up. I love the color way of this one and was even more suprised at how hot it got when i first turned it on. It came with easy to follow instructions and all the tools you need to assemble it and even showed up the next day. Will definitely buy again if i need another one

Set up was not that bad. Took me about 45-60 minutes. The instructions were good. Works good so far. I didn’t realize it come with wheels so it’s super easy to move around the back. It’s not loud and I don’t notice a smell when it’s in use.

I was with my wife and some friends in the outside garden of a restaurant recently. It was a bit chilly and they lit up one of the heat lamps many restaurants have. I thought to myself “I should get one or two of these for our back patio and deck”. The next day I searched on Amazon but the few they had available were around $300, were delayed or out of stock, and were mostly ugly (shades of brown anybody?). Then… lo and behold… I found this one.

At first I was sure it was either a) super low quality, or b) a mistake. They had a lot of pictures, but only two reviews (both 5-star) and nothing written. For $110, free next-day shipping, AND free returns… what was I really going to get. Well, the “silver” one looked really nice, like it would match our patio, and with free returns… I took a gamble and ordered two units.

These were delivered in one-day as promised. I didn’t really know what to expect… I mean would the boxes be huge? The boxes were medium-large… maybe around 18″x18″x36″ (smaller than I expected) and 35-ish lbs. The boxes were in good shape and carefully taped. I opened them up and was pleasantly surprised; the units were very well and professionally packaged. Each set of parts was carefully separated and protected to avoid damage, and yet they had puzzled them together to fit so nicely. The best part was there was almost no styrofoam (I think there was one small ring of it)… it was almost all cardboard and plastic wrap or bags. While I was happy in the lack of styrofoam I realized as I carefully removed the pieces that I had nothing to lay them on (maybe get a work blanket ready ahead of time).

The screws and nuts were all separated into sections on one of those blister packs, which made it very easy and convenient (maybe only 5 sections of them). There was also a separate bag with those silver tie-down tabs you see at the bottom of the unit in the pictures, but I opted not to install those for now. There was also a basic wrench and a strap for securing the unit. The wrench was all I needed for 95% of putting it together, but I did need a medium phillips head screwdriver at one point so have that ready. I didn’t immediately see what to do with that strap in the directions but I’ll check again later.

The unit is not that heavy. Once put together (without the gas tank in it) I could easily lean it over and pick it up in my arms and carry it across my property, which was a big easier than wheeling it on cobblestones. The directions say it’s around 28 lbs, which feels about right. That said, there are portions of the assembly which are a bit difficult on your own. The outer shell is the heaviest single piece, and lifting that up and sliding it down was a little awkward. The unit is quite tall (7 or so feet maybe?) and some portions near the end where you have to lift up and put the crown on and then hold it while screwing the screws in was really hard by myself. If you’re not so tall/strong/handy, I recommend you have a second person to help you which will make the entire assembly process much easier.

Assembly took me about 30 minutes (maybe a bit longer because my young children were “helping” me). The instructions were actually pretty good… the pictures and directions clear and I didn’t have to think to hard about what they meant or which screws to put where.

The single most time-consuming part is that wide heat-shield at the top. That thing is made up of 4 pieces (3 partial-rings and the center circle) and each piece is covered, both sides, in that blue sealing plastic/tape stuff that you have to peel off that they cover it with to protect it from scratches. It was a bit of a pain to pull all that stuff off and you should consider doing that part up-front. Beware that those 4 pieces are the most delicate pieces of the unit, scratch VERY easily, and feel like they would bend really easily until the whole thing is assembled, so handle them carefully and put them down somewhere safe until you’re ready to put them on. It was also a bit tricky to feed the hose through the pole because of the regulator (make sure you remove all the pre-installed screws from the center-pole first).

Once assembled, I added in the tank and lit the thing up. The directions said to hold down the gas knob in the “High” position for 30 seconds and then press the button. I held it down for 15 seconds… pressed the button… and a fireball shot out of the thing. I tried lighting it a few times, and every time it lit on the first button-push without holding that gas knob down for more than a second.

— First Impressions —

This thing looks GREAT. In the pictures the “silver” unit appeared light gray and happily that’s exactly what it is, matching very well with our gray cobblestone. If you ARE expecting silver, you’ll be disappointed (this is NOT a stainless steel finish, except for the top). The unit, though not overly heavy in weight, looks and feels very high quality. The metal itself is reasonably heavy-duty (except for the top), and the finish is fabulous. As I said earlier it lit up right away, and the burn itself was even and strong.

The listing and questions talk about needing a 20 lbs propane tank. All I had was a 15 lbs one (that is what Blue Rhino offers standard now). It didn’t matter… the flame and heat on high was heavy duty. On high, the entire top of the grating around the flame glowed bright red and we could feel the heat from several feet away. The stainless steel grill will be discolored from the heat after first use, but this is to be expected with any unit like this. The big question is going to be how well it heats up a surrounding area in the cold, and unfortunately we won’t know the answer to that until the winter. I’m hoping the answer is yes because this otherwise looks and feels like a professional-level device.

Now my only issue with it is that the top of it looks slightly tilted (the pole and head). Not a lot mind you, but I could see it and my wife said I needed to straighten it out a bit. I’m not sure if I didn’t install something quite right or maybe the holes were mis-aligned, but I’ll check it out and hopefully it just needs a slight adjustment.

— PROS —
– Looks fabulous… like I paid 3x-4x what I did
– Works great! Lighter and control knob work easily and immediately light/adjust the flame
– Very well packaged (and no styrofoam!)
– Clear assembly directions with only about 10 pretty straight-forward steps
– Light enough to carry (without propane tank) and easy to wheel (with propane tank)

— CONS —
– Initial install resulted in the crown being ever-so-slightly tilted. This could have been my fault and I’ll post an update after I take a look at it and attempt to adjust.

— 1 Week Update —

So I’ve had this for a week now and have played around with it a bit, tried starting it up several times, and took a look at my “tilt” issue. Here is what I’ve found:

– The tilt issue isn’t an issue. The head piece is held on by a few screws which weren’t all that tight, and there was some wiggle room. By putting a little pressure with my hands I was able to straighten it out, and if I tighten those screws, which I haven’t yet, I think I’ll be able to stop it from moving.

– The thing still lights up immediately, which is great. It’s still a very hot August here so I have no idea how much heat this throws. I’ve tried standing a few feet away and, on high, I can definitely feel it (even above the already hot weather air) 4 feet away, which would give it a 16 sqft area. If it were cold I “think” I’d feel it more and likely I can place the two units I purchased 8-10 feet apart and create a nicely sized heat-zone.

– Unfortunately and by accident I found the main flaw in this unit:

I had to take the propane tank out to use in my grill (I had a half-cooked chicken emergency). Unlike the other units that have doors that open, this thing has a single top piece that slides up. It’s VERY awkward to slide it up, unhook the gas, get the 32 lbs propane tank out, and then slide the top back down (it would have been easy with two people, but we all know I didn’t do that!). As I was sliding the top down, I kind of stumbled forward, and the entire tower started toppling over. It took every ounce of my manly-man strength to catch it mid-fall and stop it from crashing to the ground, and I came away with some abrasions. It all happened so fast I am not even clear on exactly how it all happened, but this is how I realized the problem.

The problem is the unit is light. I said earlier I could easily pick it up in both arms and carry it across my yard, but unfortunately, being light isn’t a good think when you’re a 7 foot tall tower. Without a propane tank in it even a slight push could topple the entire unit on its head, and it doesn’t feel like the unit would fare well in that event. I put the propane tank back in it (carefully) and tried pushing on it a bit to get a sense for how it felt. So the tower, with a full tank of propane in it, weighs around 60 lbs (a completely full 15lbs propane tank weighs about 32lbs (15 propane + 17lbs tank) and the unit weighs 28 lbs). At this weight the unit is reasonably sturdy and doesn’t feel like a light knock, or even a medium level wind, will knock it over. BUT, the propane itself is 25% of the weight of the unit and as you begin burning it away pound by pound the risk level is going to increase. The LAST thing you want is a tower blowing fire out the top to topple over.

I looked online and many of the more expensive units have weighted bases… where the bottom of the base is designed so you can add sand to weigh the thing down. Weight = anti-tipping sturdiness. This unit doesn’t have such a feature. I could probably find some extra room under that hood and add a sandbag (under the propane tank maybe?), but it’s not explicitly designed for such. Further, now that I am examining the structure more carefully, it’s not all that sturdy to begin with. The base is sturdy enough to hold the propane, the bars you add on coming off it add some structural support, and the pole in the center holding up the head/crown feels VERY sturdy… but still this thing was not meant to be tested in heavy winds/weather and I’d be a little worried if kids were running around and potentially knocking into it if it wasn’t secured.

Now… this is all my fault. The manufacturers added three clamp-down mechanisms by which I’m supposed to secure the base to a floor or the ground, and I did NOT put those on the unit (even though the instructions told me to). It also came with this strap which you can put around it and attach to something else (a railing?) to give it some stability… and I didn’t use that either. So… I am an idiot, yes. I am telling you I’m an idiot so you’re aware that you’re likely going to want/need to secure this somehow. With clamp downs I think this would be great and don’t think this thing would fall over… even in a medium-strong wind, but I’d still recommend you get a heavy-duty cover for the thing.

After heavy consideration, I am leaving this at 5-stars. Even knowing the above I’d still buy this and it’s still a great value. Had I followed their safety instructions it would have been fine, and I think as long as I’m reasonable in how sturdy it is and take some simple precautions (which I should probably be taking anyways), it will be a winner.

— 1 Month Update —

We had a big wind storm the other day (I’m in New Jersey). The wind took down two large potted palms, a potted tree, and a large metal trellis covered in wisteria that had spike anchors in the ground. Yet I am happy to report this heater remainder standing. We used it that next night and it started up on the first button push, and its appearance (despite being outside and open to the elements without a cover) remains the exact same as on day-1.

Gran producto lo utlice esta navidad y calienta muy bien lo Ocupamos en un espacio no. Muy amplio y funcionó, el tanque aproximadamente nos duró unas 14 hrs en uso continuo