When sunshine goes to be gentle gradually after summer’s leave, your patio begins to show a different appearance changed by a wave from the magic wand of nature. That is another kind of relaxation you can feel, except the temperature outside, a little chilly. But it’s not a big deal, a fire pit can settle it down, bringing you warmth back home as in summer. With the assist of fire pits, your patio ambience gets even better.
So here comes a problem, how to choose your well-content fire pit?
Step 1: Find an appropriate location
The regular practice is placing the fire pit in the middle of a open ground as a center piece or somewhere to keep your party near your home. Then we put outdoor furniture, such as sofas, chairs or tables around the fire pit. So first of all, you need to make sure that the location is big enough to accommodate the whole set furniture and fire pit, including the pavement space.
Besides, you also need to consider some other factors. Take the safety into consideration is vital. You’d better keep the fire pit edge away from obstacles as far as possible, at least 10 feet. It gives you a scope when you need to find a spot to prevent fire. Likewise, this place should be far away from bushes and branches hanging down. It can be dangerous when they catch sparks from your fire pit, especially in windy days.
The surroundings determine the quality of your outdoor fire pit usage experience.
Step 2: Consider your fire pit type
There are many kinds of fire pits in market. The most common seen are as followed:
Fire Pit
A standard fire pit is a classic addition to any families. It might be a DIY fire pit in your yard built by stone, or a common seen pre-made fire pit sold in the store. They have different shapes and sizes. As well as the fuels, from wood, propane to gas burning, they are quite different. Therefore, the cost of buying a fire pit vary a lot depending on the different features. A traditional fire pit usually costs several hundreds of dollars. But they are energy efficient, saving you money in the long time using.
Fire Pit Table
A table, combine with a fire pit, then you get a fire pit table. It’s a hybrid style between coffee table and fire pit with medium height designed for people gathering. Its dual functions make you can enjoy a romantic dinner and get warmth at the same time. It’s highly recommended to use for outdoor activities, especially in winter. They have a lot of shapes for choosing, from rectangular to round, you always can find a proper one for your patio.
Fire Column
Fire columns are a good alternative for fire pits and also have the advantage of convenience because most of them take fuel propane as power. It can be more mess-free compared with wood burning bonfires outside when using. Generally, they looks slim and tall and this feature keeps them apart from low fire pits and fire bowls. Different from wild and chic style of fire pits, their elegant and restrained profile win a large popularity.
Chiminea
People prefer to make chimineas play a role of a decorative accent that will display an authentic rustic profile, as well as a heater with functional fire features. They usually have an open window in the middle and an opening on the top of slim tube for smoke to escape. The history of chimineas can be traced back in Spain around 400 years ago. Once they were made of clay and used indoors for daily life necessity, like heating or cooking. In modern times, they made of metal an use outside. The main purposes are entertainment and patio setting.
Step 3: Think about fire pit material
There are also multi types of materials of fire pit. A brief introduction to them as below.
Magnesium Oxide
MgO Composite is a common seen material used in fire pit. It’s a kind of mineral cement with a diverse applications because of its beneficial characteristics, such as fire retardation, durability, resistance of mold and mildew. The only thing need to notice is it can not be used in extremely cold weather. Except that, it’s an ideal material used in outdoor space. Though it weighs heavier than other fire pit materials, it also assures to stand at the original place even in strong wind weather.
Wicker
Wicker is one of a popular elements used in outdoor furniture. Why is the wicker a good choice for fire pit? Here are several reasons for those fire pits features wicker base. First of all, wicker is strong. A good handwoven structure matching with metal frame can make fire pit durable. Secondly, wicker is light enough. So it lowers total weight of fire pit not like metal ones. Thirdly, especially for Synthetic PE wicker, they have many advantages like all-weather resistance, UV light resistance and recyclable features, but not limited to durability. From the aspect of art, wicker offers natural sense with pleasing colors, balancing industrial and organic beauty.
Iron
Cast iron is one of best materials for fire pits for it’s durable, reliable and easy to maintain. Even it’s a little heavy, but there are still many people love it due to the feature of holding high temperature. Usually we put material cast iron and steel together for a comparison. According to much referring information, cast iron performs better than steel. Because it owns more benefits than steel made fire pits. Iron made fire pits get hot faster than steel’s. Besides, iron retains heat better that make you feel warmer when sitting around it. But there is one point need to notice. It would be better to cover the fire pit when it rains, which can prolong it usage lifetime.
Step 4: Choose fire pit accessories
A fire pit will give you a good using experience, but little accessories can make it better. Safer, more lovely and more comfortable for every one at the scene. Some fire pit supplementary stuffs are strongly recommended: wind guard, fire glass and tank cover.
Fire glass is an elegant addition to fire pits. It is used for fulfilling with fire bowl. They have more attractive colors than lava rocks. After lighting the fire, the flame is able to reflect glass’s color. Interacting with fire glass, the ambience raises to the best.
Glass wind guard is a safety keeper for fire pits. It decreases the influence of wind to the flame. Besides, it protects you away from heat. At the same time, it doesn’t bother you to admire the fire due to clear glass panel. It’s really a useful opponent for fire pit.
Not all fire pits have internal storage for tank. An exposed tank harms the integration of the whole patio. So it’s necessary for you to add a tank table for it. It’s a precise way to hide a tank away from the view by using a tank table. What’s more, the tank cover also can be a functional side table allowing you to put foods and drinks on. It’s a practicable object for fire pits.
Conclusion
This step-to-step buying guide briefly introduced several kinds of fire pits, different materials of them and pointed out several problems should be given attention. Hope it’s useful to help you figure out how to choose a fire pit in your backyard. Then, just organize a small gathering with families and friends. It’s time to have fun!