Costco - FlamePro pellet patio heater

[Charny]

I saw these at my local Costco a couple days ago. It is a gravity fed patio heater. It takes 18 lbs of pellets, burns 4 hours. It has glass doors, for a fireplace experience. The demo unit seemed nice. $50 off, so I think it was only $230.

It seemed pretty cool. If only it was also a smoker! Surely someone will do a conversion? I'm thinking PID with a chimney diverter to a cook chamber. I think it may be gravity fed, with no auger.

I did some searches on forum posts and found some positive comments, no negative. Apparently they've been selling a lot of them.

https://www.costco.com/flamepro-81”h-steel-patio-pellet-heater.product.4000197531.html

 

[Big George's BBQ]

Looks nice. Dont have a patio. Have a very small deck but its too small especially with the Blackstone Griddle

 

[pmad]

That's $15-20 per night to run it?

 

[Smoked&Baked]

While your concept of a romantic wood stove connected to a smoker is interesting that patio heater is a big no go imho. Propane is much cheaper, efficient, and easier.

 

[Charny]

That's $15-20 per night to run it?

Heating pellets are cheap in some areas.

 

[Callahan-que]

75,000 btu should keep you toasty. It does say that it is gravity fed but surely it has to have some sort of blower fan.

 

[1MoreFord]

That's $15-20 per night to run it?

You burn pellets like these.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/wise-wood-wood-pellet-fuel-40-lb-bag

 

[Charny]

The comment about cost to operate had me wondering. It says 75,000 BTU and:

"18 lb. Pellet Hopper Provides up to 4 hrs of Burn Time"

A pound of pellets gives approximately 8500 BTU. So it would require 8.8 lbs of each hour for 75,000 BTU. The 18 lbs hopper capacity would be good for 2 hours.

 

[1MoreFord]

75,000 btu should keep you toasty. It does say that it is gravity fed but surely it has to have some sort of blower fan.

Down in the features section it says it has a

"Fire poker to stir piled-up pellets in the fire pot"

Doesn't mention any blower.

 

[Callahan-que]

Down in the features section it says it has a

"Fire poker to stir piled-up pellets in the fire pot"

Doesn't mention any blower.

So it doesn't require any electricity, cool!

 

[Mark]

google "rocket stove"

way cheaper to buy & run (twigs) + more versatile (e.g., wok/discada/griddle)