How it works
Parts of a patio heater, on a free-standing propane model. The first drawing is the whole heater with the door of its cylinder cover open. The second enlarges the head, with a window cut in the emitter screen.
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From the bottom up
The heater stands on a wide base with wheels on one side. On the base sits the cylinder cover, a drum with a door. Inside it is the propane cylinder, with the regulator on its valve. A hose runs from the regulator up through the post to the head.
The head
The burner sits at the top of the post, inside the emitter screen. It heats the screen, and the screen radiates the heat outward. The reflector above turns back heat that would be lost upward. Beside the burner are the pilot and the thermocouple; below are the control knob and the igniter button.
- The quiz takes tank housing for cylinder cover, dome for reflector and pole for post.
Questions and answers
What are the parts of a patio heater called?
From the top: the reflector, the emitter screen with the burner inside it, the pilot and thermocouple, the control knob and igniter button, the post, the cylinder cover with its door, the propane cylinder, regulator and hose, and the base with its wheels.
What is the top of a patio heater called?
The reflector, also called the dome or hood. It is the wide shallow cap above the burner, and it turns back heat that would otherwise be lost upward.
What is the emitter screen on a patio heater?
The perforated metal drum round the burner, just under the reflector. The burner's flames heat the screen, and the heat is radiated from its surface in a circle round the heater.
What does the thermocouple do on a patio heater?
It is a short probe that sits in the pilot flame. The flame heats it, and while it is hot it keeps the gas valve open.