A Barbecue in the evening is one of the summer pleasures of life. So many summer evenings turn cold though that you do not do this as often as you would like to. Imagine being able to eat outside for 52 weeks of the year if you choose. A patio heater will not do anything to protect you from wind and rain though, so to be realistic you could eat outside through many spring and fall evenings, rather than just the few weeks in summer.
I can still remember turning the spit on the barbecue by hand as a child, with a couple of chickens cooking slowly. There is nothing like eating outdoors to whet the appetite. The food and beer tastes so much better.
You may prefer to use your new heater just to admire the stars, of course, or for romantic evenings with your partner.
Once you have a heated outside area there are all kinds of uses that it can be put to. It really does extend your living space for a very small cost.
You could make a heated smoking area outside and ban tobacco smoking in the home. Many bars, hotels and theaters do this where there is a ban on smoking inside in public places.
You could use your barbecue outside, then eat inside. You could go out there and sulk in comfort. You could have a popcorn maker out there, in a covered area and have popcorn much more often.
You can choose between electric and propane gas fuelled patio heaters. Electric ones are suitable where they can be wired into a covered area, otherwise the propane fuelled heaters are more suitable for most people.