Martello Infrared Table Top Patio Heater by Hornfel, Oscillating, 700W, IPX4 with Storage Cover (Black)

Love the fact it is light enough but sturdy an stable. Heat is great. Sat out till gone midnight with just the heater on no change of clothes or blankets required. Has its own little bag to keep it in. VERY HAPPY

This is a good patio heater. It’s light, it looks really smart and modern in a black finish, also comes in white, it’s compact in other words it’s not huge, it’s water resistant to IPX4 which means it’s resistant to water splashes from all directions which is great for us as I’m always splashing the dogs with my feet from the small pool. Now I won’t test it for that and will take the manufacturer’s word for it, it looks water resistant anyway with the enclosed heating bars. This patio heater is basically a cylindrical unit that stands about two foot high, is about a foot across. I’m not being exact here, and the unit stands on it’s self direct to the patio. By the way, there are three versions available, SMALL, MEDIUM and LARGE. This is the HF55 model which is the medium size and doesn’t have an attachable base, the next one up which is the largest version does. It comes with a fairly generous thick power lead with a standard three pin plug. You will probably need a power lead extension to attach to the accompanying lead if using outside, which after all is what it is designed for. The unit doesn’t direct heat downwards or by conduction so the heat will not travel through the unit and hit the patio itself, so no cracked tiles. There is a grill at the front that does heat up but obviously you are not going to deliberately touch it. Turning the controls off quickly dissipates the heat anyway. The controls on the top of this unit are clear and easy to read. There are two large flattish knobs on the top. One operates the heat output, 600W or 1200W. I find this knob quite difficult to turn despite the helpful nodule on the knob. Why this is I’m not sure, I’m probably having an off day from my usual Mr Universe self. The other knob is much more pliable and has four settings, well five if you include the OFF resting position. Two settings to the left and two settings to the right. The settings on the right are for OSCILLATING mode either to LOW – 120 degrees or HIGH – 360 degrees, and the settings on the left are for non oscillating mode LOW or HIGH. There is no actual separate ON/OFF power button. That’s obviously taken care of with the controls that are there. The slim manual is quite comprehensive and explains everything, oh and you don’t need a microscope to read it. Switching the controls to the required settings you can see the bars light up, and the elements move around if oscillating setting is on. The likelihood of knocking this unit over is very slim but if you do then it checks itself and turns itself off. This heater comes with a fairly robust and waterproof drawstring bag. So you can either slip the bag over the heater and just leave it, or place the heater in the bag, after cooling down of course, and stow away somewhere. So in summary, a good all round patio heater that gives out a great heatlooks great, is light but sturdily built, and to me looks quite safe in all respects. At 100 it’s a bit pricey but you do get what you pay for. 5 stars.

Nice; works very well and has a good feature set.

Standing roughly knee high, it’s made of fairly solid plastic, and is lightweight. The parabolic mirrors behind each of the two heating elements do a good job of focussing the heat in the direction it’s facing.

In a similar manner to a cooling fan, the heater can be set to rotate, either 120′, or 360′ all the way around. The controls are slightly unintuitive. The power (600W or 1200W) is set by a rotary selector ‘low’ or ‘high’; the same selector is used to select the power required but this time with rotation. The other rotary selector simply controls whether the oscillation is 120′ or 360′. It works, but seems an odd way to do it.

The overall build and finish is pretty good. The IPX4 rating is a nice to have, though I can’t say I’ve wanted to test it(!). IPX4 means protection from splashing water from any direction.

The grille over the heating elements is covered in what the description describes as ‘floss’. Perhaps that was a typo; it’s a flock like coating, and it does indeed prevent the grille from becoming super hot, though they do get uncomfortably hot – you (probably) wouldn’t burn yourself, but you wouldn’t leave your hand there either.

The tip protection switch works, and one of the things I notice with this is that it cools down remarkably quickly after it turns off.

Included is a oxford fabric cover. Presumably the intent is therefore that one could leave it outside – perhaps in a less exposed area, though it’s so light and easy to set up that I’m keeping mine away from the elements indoors.