Dr Infrared DR-238 1,500 W Carbon Infrared Patio Heater
Best electric plug-in — The plug-in electric every roundup lands on — 1,500 W of carbon-tube infrared on a standard 120 V outlet, wall or ceiling mounted with a remote, at 4.3★ across 6,091 owners pooled across the whole DR-238 size family and a lot of garages; it warms a three-foot circle in the cold, and its elements burn out
Specs
| Fuel | Electric, 120 V plug-in (12.5 A — a full 15 A circuit) |
| Rated output | 1,500 W (about 5,100 BTU/hr) — 900 / 1,200 / 1,500 W settings |
| Reach (claimed) | Not stated on the listing; Bob Vila lists it at 5,200 BTU |
| Reach (measured) | 3 ft at 24°F (TechGearLab: 'a close proximity heat machine'); Infratech rates 1,500 W at 5 × 5 ft average, 3 × 3 ft in the cold |
| Run cost per hour | $0.28 at the EIA's 18.34¢/kWh |
| Warranty | Not published on the maker's product page |
| Clearance above | 15.8 in to the ceiling, 94.5 in to the floor, 39 in in front (manual) |
| Owner rating | 4.3★ / 6,091 |
| Form | Wall or ceiling mount, remote, three power levels; IPX4 per the listing's A+ module (the bullets say IP55) |
Pros
- The most-recurring electric pick in our sweep — BHG's best for garages, Bob Vila's best wall-mounted, The Spruce's best wall-mounted
- Plugs into a standard outlet; wall and ceiling brackets and a remote in the box
- No flame, no cylinder, no carbon monoxide — the one class of heater the fire codes put no enclosure rule on
- About a quarter an hour to run, a fifth of a propane heater's exchange-cylinder cost
Cons
- Elements burn out — 'Broke after 15 minutes', 'Burnt out the bulb after 2 light months of use', 'Lasted 3 min, glowed like the sun, and died'; warranty repair makes you pay shipping, per one owner
- You feel it only in the beam: 'won't heat the area only if you are in direct line' — a three-foot circle in the cold
- The buy box at our read was Amazon Resale, not new stock, and the star average pools five sizes and Mexican and Canadian cards
- IP55 on the bullets, IPX4 on the same listing's A+ module — treat it as splash-protected, not weatherproof
The element burns out — 'Broke after 15 minutes… the wire inside had become broken' (Jun 2026), 'Burnt out the bulb after 2 light months of use' (Feb 2026), 'Lasted 3 min, glowed like the sun, and died' (Feb 2026), 'stopped working after a few weeks' on a second unit whose first 'stopped working right before the manufacturer warranty ended' (Mar 2026) — and the warranty repair 'is a joke because they make you pay for shipping'. Second theme: it only warms what is in the beam.
10 most recent critical cards read 2026-09-05 (Feb → Jun 2026): 5 of 10 element or unit failure inside a season, 1 remote, 1 mounting not as advertised, 1 'does not heat small greenhouse', 1 'only if you are in direct line', 1 a returned unit resold; 10/10 Verified Purchase, 0 Vine · critical reviews read September 2026
Pro review “We tested the Dr. Infrared wall-mounted heater at home for three months and were impressed with the amount of heat it emitted within seconds.”— BHG testing team, Better Homes & Gardens
FAQ
Who is the Dr Infrared DR-238 1,500 W Carbon Infrared Patio Heater for?
You have a covered patio, a screened lanai or a garage, an outlet within reach, and one or two chairs to warm — no flame, no cylinder, no carbon monoxide, and about a quarter an hour to run.
What do owners say about the Dr Infrared DR-238 1,500 W Carbon Infrared Patio Heater?
4.3★ across 6,091 owner ratings (Amazon, read September 2026 · listing-wide base · global base). What owners complain about: The element burns out — 'Broke after 15 minutes… the wire inside had become broken' (Jun 2026), 'Burnt out the bulb after 2 light months of use' (Feb 2026), 'Lasted 3 min, glowed like the sun, and died' (Feb 2026), 'stopped working after a few weeks' on a second unit whose first 'stopped working right before the manufacturer warranty ended' (Mar 2026) — and the warranty repair 'is a joke because they make you pay for shipping'. Second theme: it only warms what is in the beam.
What is the warranty on the Dr Infrared DR-238 1,500 W Carbon Infrared Patio Heater?
Dr Infrared Heater publishes no warranty term for the Dr Infrared DR-238 1,500 W Carbon Infrared Patio Heater — we looked for one from the maker and record the absence rather than guess. Buy it somewhere with a return window you trust.
Record
- — Carded as the best electric plug-in and the covered-patio answer: the most-recurring electric pick in the sweep, 4.3 stars across 6,091 pooled across the whole DR-238 size family, a measured three-foot reach in the cold, and a critical tail of element burnout; the buy box at the read was Amazon Resale.
✓ Safety: no active recall — CPSC SaferProducts API queried 2026-09-05 by ProductName= (the substring-matching endpoint): "patio heater" returns two records, both old (2018 Hampton Bay fire-pit table heat shield; 2005 Coleman regulator); "outdoor heater", "infrared heater" and "pyramid heater" return zero; the brand name returns zero patio-heater records. No residential standing, pyramid or electric patio heater has been recalled 2023–2026. The only class-adjacent recall is Harbor Freight's One Stop Gardens tank-top heaters (21-168, 2021), a different product. Electric: NFPA's outdoor-heater fact sheet puts no enclosure restriction on electric heaters — only that they be listed and placed where they cannot be overturned, with no extension cord doing permanent duty. The manual: 15.8 in to the ceiling, 94.5 in to the floor, 39 in to anything in front. Within 20 ft of a pool, NEC 680.27(C) governs a permanently wired radiant heater (12 ft above the deck, never over the water) — a cord-and-plug unit is not on that list.
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Data last verified: September 2026. Ratings are real, dated reads — never scraped or invented. Full methodology and monetization disclosure: how we test.