We got a new deck built and work finished Monday. Very exciting. I got one of those neat patio heaters for the new deck and I saw in the manual that I'm supposed to keep anything flammable 2+ feet from the top of the heater and 3+ feet from the sides. The bottom of the rafters for the cover is roughly 1 foot above the heater (see photo). Am I playing with fire using the heater without some sort of metal guard above it?
PS: side clearance is easy to achieve. The garage the deck is attached to has vinyl siding so I'm being VERY careful with heat there. 
"Playing with fire." Punny.
Yeah, that doesn't look like enough clearance, Clarence!
Just cut a circular hole in the deck and drop the cylinder down in there. Voila! Instant clearance!
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
Or shorten the pipe going from canister to head, which will make it much easier to change tanks than recessing it into the deck
mtn
MegaDork
4/5/23 4:34 p.m.
My non-professional opinion says that, even on the coldest of days, those wood beams would get pretty hot. Seems like there is plenty of oxygen around. Fuel + heat + oxygen = fire, if I recall correctly.
TheTallOne17 said:
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
Or shorten the pipe going from canister to head, which will make it much easier to change tanks than recessing it into the deck
That was the first thing that popped into my head, but I felt that the solution I offered in its stead was more humorous. 
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
Thank you for acknowledging my excellent humor.
1988RedT2 said:
TheTallOne17 said:
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
Or shorten the pipe going from canister to head, which will make it much easier to change tanks than recessing it into the deck
That was the first thing that popped into my head, but I felt that the solution I offered in its stead was more humorous.
I'm not sure I could shorten the pipe without a welder. The bottom has a flange and the top has a taper.
In reply to thatsnowinnebago :
How about you put a 90-degree bend in the pipe, and lay the cylinder on its side?
I can tell you this much - I wouldn't run it like that, and I definitely wouldnt run it unattented like that. Its way to close to a wooden structure.
1988RedT2 said:
In reply to thatsnowinnebago :
How about you put a 90-degree bend in the pipe, and lay the cylinder on its side?
Its got wheels to tilt it, I would prop it with something at around 45 degrees ... perfectly safe then.
You will not be able to use the table at the bottom though.
If you were going to position it the same place each time you light it, then I would screw up a sheetmetal panel on the ceiling, like a 4 x 10 sheet of galvalum.
NOHOME
MegaDork
4/5/23 8:06 p.m.
I have a radiant heat tube in my shop. Overkill would be the operative word as it does a nice job of making stuff hot if it is the cone of IR
When the 50 F2 was in the shop, I was worried that the heater would burn the heat off the roof panel. I put a sheet of aluminum with some insulation padding underneath. The aluminum itself reflected a lot of the heat so the aluminum never got that hot ( I was surprised) and the roof panel never got warm at all. Keep in mind that when on axle stands, the truck was even closer.
Sounds like we all agree it's too close. Is purple frog's suggestions of a sheet metal panel my best bet? Would I need to do any kind of fancy air gap situation with it?
When I was researching our first house's too-close wood stove installation plan, I learned that wood exposed to long-term heating can combust at surprisingly low temps--like not much more than 250 degrees in some situations--so shielding won't necessarily solve the problem. Those recommended clearances exist for the reasons.
In reply to Marjorie Suddard :
Wow, that's really good to know. 250 degrees isn't much at all.
SV reX
MegaDork
4/6/23 6:52 a.m.
Right!
Long term exposure to heat will basically cook all the moisture out of the cells of the studs and make them a tinderbox.
It's not a good location for a heater like that.
Put it outside to the patio or yard, and get a different style heater or fire pit to warm your toes on the deck.
This is very disappointing but I'm glad I asked.
Seems like maybe one of those electric infrared heaters is where I'll need to go. Do y'all have any recommendations? Neither Home Depot or Lowes here have a single one in stock for me to go look at.
thatsnowinnebago said:
1988RedT2 said:
TheTallOne17 said:
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
Or shorten the pipe going from canister to head, which will make it much easier to change tanks than recessing it into the deck
That was the first thing that popped into my head, but I felt that the solution I offered in its stead was more humorous.
I'm not sure I could shorten the pipe without a welder. The bottom has a flange and the top has a taper.
Those heaters also sometimes use the tube as carburetion, so shortening it could cause it to not burn right.
I would consider making a non-flammable spot. Take some sheet steel and screw it to the rafters with aluminum or steel standoffs. Like a muffler heat shield. Give it a try and monitor the rafter temps. Anything over 400 degrees I would start to worry. Pine likes to char at 450 IIRC.
There are also fire-retardant products that you could spray on the wood. That wouldn't really do much except make them char instead of igniting kindling which could burn the whole house. I use fire retardant at the theater all the time on curtains. Many curtains are cotton which is inherently fire retardant, but if I use some other fabric, I just load up a pump sprayer with the stuff and fog it down.
