Ron Kirk 
If you are shopping for the best electric snow blowers for decks, the short answer is a compact single-stage machine with a 12 to 16 inch clearing path, a real intake depth of 6 to 8 inches, and a throw short enough that you control where the snow lands. A full-size gas or two-stage machine … Read more
If you have a one- or two-car paved driveway, the honest answer is simple: a single stage snow blower with an 18 to 22 inch clearing path will handle nearly every storm you get. That is the short version of our guide to the best single stage snow blowers for small driveways, and it is … Read more
If you live somewhere that gets dumped with snow, the difference between a decent blower and a two stage snow blower is the difference between clearing the driveway and giving up on it. I have spent the last few seasons working through this class of machine, comparing clearing capacity, intake height, throw distance and drive … Read more
Most garage heating advice is written for people trying to make a whole room comfortable. That is the wrong goal. Nobody in a garage needs 70F air; they need their hands, their bench, and their back to be warm while they work. That is exactly what radiant infrared heat delivers, which is why the best … Read more
The best chimineas for patios are the ones that send smoke straight up instead of across your seating area. A chiminea is a front-loading outdoor fireplace: a rounded firebox with an open mouth, a chimney stack rising above it, and a mesh door that keeps sparks in. That stack matters more than any other feature, … Read more
The best wood burning fire pits for large yards run 40 to 47 inches across, hold 25 to 40 pounds of split wood, and seat 8 to 15 people around the rim. We spent season burning through a lineup of twelve of them on the same 1.2-acre property, watching heat output, smoke, ash handling and … Read more
The moment a patio gets dark, the seating circle stops being usable. Guests drift indoors, drinks go cold, and the space you paid for becomes a porch with chairs in it. That is the exact problem the best gas fire pit tables for patios solve: a burner under a tabletop that throws radiant heat at … Read more
A backyard fire pit is a steel, cast iron, aluminum, or concrete fire bowl that burns firewood or propane to add heat, light, and a focal gathering point to a yard, patio, or deck. The single decision that matters most is fuel: wood pits deliver real flame, smoke, and ash, while propane pits deliver instant … Read more
Yes, you can run a patio heater on a covered porch, as long as the unit carries an outdoor weather rating and sits under a roof with a proper mounting surface. An electric patio heater warms people and surfaces with infrared radiation instead of heating the air, which is exactly why it outperforms a fan-forced … Read more
Outdoors, a heater does not warm the air, it warms you. That single fact decides which propane patio heater belongs at your dining table, and it is why the 87-inch mushroom towers that dominate product listings are not automatically the right answer. Our team spent weeks with ten propane patio heaters on a residential deck, … Read more
