A fire pit adds spice to the otherwise dull backyard of your house. Everyone loves to sit around a fire pit with their friends and family, roast marshmallows, and gossip. There are different categories of fire pits and each comes with its unique design, perks, and drawbacks. We’ll discuss different fire pit types in this article so you get to know which one is the best choice for your backyard.
Different Types of Fire Pits
The different types of fire pits come with their own advantages and disadvantages.
1. Wood-Based Fire Pits
If you’re looking for a large outdoor fire pit, a wood fire pit can be your choice. A wood-based fire pit is the closest you can get to having a campfire experience at your own backyard. Although a little difficult to light up the pit, Wooden fire pits provide the real smoke flavor and great warmth. There are varieties in this type too.
You can get the wood-based fire pits in all kinds of maintenance range: from low to very high. But you need to keep in mind that you’ll need chopped wood on a regular basis for your pit. Things you need to look out for while you’re opting for a wood-burning fire pit:
- The fire pit should be large enough to accommodate the food you want to cook and fit into the available space
- Make sure the pit is portable and not too big
- Look out for the available accessories in the market that you might need for the grill to operate
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Portable Fire Pit Grill
You can get a portable wood fire pit at your local hardware stores, barbecue stores, or outdoor centers. They come with grill grates that you can place on the firewood embers. It’s a great pit for relaxing and cooking easily on the embers. But you have to wait for a long time for the wood to burn so you can start grilling.
You can get the real firewood flavor in your food with this grill. Some of the models come with wheels for more portability. You can swap the grill grate with a rotisserie spit for slow roasting.
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Charcoal Grill
Charcoal grills can’t handle firewood fires since they’re small and can’t hold in the logs. They’re also not suitable for too much firewood blaze. But several heavy-duty charcoal grills are available now for burning wood. Check out the grill specifications before you buy it to know if it supports wood burning or not.
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Fireplace Grill
This doesn’t offer outdoor fire pit facilities. You’re going to cook in your fireplace. You can either customize your own fireplace if you know how to handle metal equipment, or you can buy hearth grills.
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Campfire Grill
With a little imagination, you can turn your campfire grill pit into a wood-burning grill.
- Get a grill grate made of metal
- Build a fire pit. Keep the pit’s diameter the same size as the grill grate
- Dig a pit deep enough for the grid to rest on the ground
- You can alternatively support the grill with stones and put it over the fire
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Brick and Wood Grill
You can either build a cinderblock pit or a permanent brick fire pit. Make sure it supports a grill grate. The grate will overlap the bricks at their edges. If you have a brick fire pit already, you can simply add a grill grate on top of it to make a wood-burning grill.
2. Propane Gas Fire Pits
A gas fire pit can be the most convenient for your backyard fire pit experience. It’s beautiful to look at and provides quality fire without the need for wood or gel. Most of these pits are large and they become your patio’s main attraction. These pits are designed with fire pit rocks, faux wood, or glass. You can get yourself a gas fire pit burner to make it more convenient.
The drawbacks of propane fire pits include the extra expense of propane on a regular basis. You also run the risk of running out of fuel in a party. It also doesn’t give the exquisite wood-burned flavor to the meal. Also, you’ll need a gas fire pit clearance before you actually build one at your backyard. Consider these facts while you’re going for a propane fire pit.
The different categories of propane fire pits are discussed below.
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Portable Propane Pit
A portable gas fire pit is a great investment for your home and outdoor cooking. It offers convenient portability on top of providing warmth, ambiance, and an excellent cooking experience. You can get them with wheels. But most of them are so lightweight that you can easily carry them around without any need for wheels.
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Copper Bowl Pit
The copper bowl propane fire pits are great for outdoor cooking. They’re highly durable due to copper’s high melting point. The only downside to them is that they’re quite expensive but that’s only because of their stellar performance.
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Fire Pit Table
There are endless creative ideas on building fire pits. You can build your fire pit on a round propane fire pit table. There’s a rim around the flames in these table pits. The rim provides safety for the children. You may also keep your food and drink on it and rest beside the pit.
3. Gel Fueled Pits
Gel fueled pits to add a certain ambiance to the backyard of your house. The clean gel used as a fuel for these pits produce no smoke or scent but burns elegantly. With little effort, this is a movable fire pit with extreme versatility.
The gel fueled fire pits are great for convenience and beauty. But they don’t provide the same heat as the other fire pits. Also, it can be difficult to find the gel at the big-box stores. You can find the gel on the internet.
The different kinds of gel-fueled pits are discussed below.
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Gel Fueled Logs
You may buy the gel-fueled logs and use them in any type of fire pit. You’ll get the real log burning experience while there will beholders with gel fuel in the logs.
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Tabletop Fireplace
If you’re going for a small fire in your backyard, you can look out for the gel-fueled tabletop fireplace. This can also be a great indoor fire pit since you can easily move the pit both indoors and outdoors. A tabletop fire pit adds a great value to your patio aesthetics.
4. Natural Gas Firepit
If you have a natural gas line on your backyard, you can connect your fire pit to it. The natural gas fire pit is similar to the propane gas fire pit but the good thing is you’ll never run out of fuel.
Natural gas fire pits are not so expensive as the other fire pits. They also don’t require much maintenance. But installing one can be costly and you might go through some hassles. The cost of making a backyard gas line and installation depends on your location. Think more before finally going for a natural gas pit since you can’t move the pit wherever you want to once you’ve installed it.
You can design your natural gas pit in either two of the following ways.
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Sunken Gas Firepit
You can build a sunken natural gas pit either into the ground or the patio. Be cautious about the designs since the flames on these pits can be dangerous.
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Square or Round Design
You can raise your natural gas pit using bricks, stones or copper designs. Then you can easily give it a square or a round shape. You can also place it on a natural gas fire pit table.
Fire pits are more than just gas, gel, wood, and fire. They can add a unique ambiance to your backyard and patio. A decorative fire pit can enhance the value of your entire household. Since there are plenty of different options for fire pits, we’ve chosen to discuss the 4 major fire pit types in this article. If you’re looking for more unique fire pits and want to have a highly customized pit for yourself, you can look out for the fire pit art done by professional artists. So, don’t wait on your decision to buy a fire pit to add warmth and comfort to the summer evenings.