Dual Fuel - wood or pellet steel Blue Sky smokeless fire pit!

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Don2222

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Feb 1, 2010
9,186
Salem NH
Hello
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Well-designed secondary-burn firepits work. The Solo is the best known one. It's all stainless and circular. The Blue Sky unit takes larger splits laying down which some may like but it seems to warm up slower. Note the smokey start. One question is how this unit will look after a few years? High heat accelerates oxidation of steel and iron. This is why the Solo is all stainless.

Solo Review (and great camping site)
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I bought the pellet insert for our solo. A bag of pellets cooks a lot of marshmallows. Camp wood price are going up and transportation restrictions on firewood.
 
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I bought the pellet insert for our solo. A bag of pellets cooks a lot of marshmallows. Camp wood price are going up and transportation restrictions on firewood.
Sooo? Overall opinion on the Solo? I like the idea behind the design. Do they put out some heat like a typical fire ring? I see they offer a heat deflector to help direct the heat horizontally instead of going straight up. If you get a moment.
 
Sooo? Overall opinion on the Solo? I like the idea behind the design. Do they put out some heat like a typical fire ring? I see they offer a heat deflector to help direct the heat horizontally instead of going straight up. If you get a moment.
It’s a turbo charged wood burner. With dry firewood it can consume wood fast. It’s a fascinating flame to watch. I don’t have the heat deflector. It’s not warm like a regular fire pit. I think the deflector would help. I got the cooking ring and cast iron grill. It’s really not good for cooking it just burns everything until it’s almost down to no coals left then adding small pieces at a time it’s not enough heat for for seconds combustion. Last negative. I like staring into a the coals as the last flames die away. And that’s not a thing you can do. I thought I’d get more use out if it.

It’s a solid meh. If you don’t like smoke and don’t need the heat it’s great.
 
How are these smokeless firepits when it is windy? Are they still smokeless?

I do not really care for the look of the Solo Stoves. I prefer the look of the Breeo smokeless firepits that look rusty. We currently have an Ohio Flame Patriot fire pit. It is always windy by us and wondered if these smokeless fire pits would still work correctly with wind.
 
Im not a fan of these. I just dont like them, lol.
 
My daughter got us a Solo for Christmas. We did burn this summer. It burned like I expected. The wood and fire is mostlly contained in the barrel. Some flames above the top. There is a secondary air flow to holes around the top edge. That reburns some of the smoke. Not bad. Look at the videos and you will see what I'm describing.

But I prefer a more visible log burn. We got a new fire pit a few years ago. It was one of those free standing barrel type. About 16 inches deep. I added a raised fire grate to the top edge. And made a round screen 16" Much better fire view.
 
How are these smokeless firepits when it is windy? Are they still smokeless?

I do not really care for the look of the Solo Stoves. I prefer the look of the Breeo smokeless firepits that look rusty. We currently have an Ohio Flame Patriot fire pit. It is always windy by us and wondered if these smokeless fire pits would still work correctly with wind.
Pretty good. But I I never burned it in a Kansas wind. Just a nice breeze. The reburn happens where it’s still kinda protected from the wind. The bigger the pit/stove them more issues I could see from wind and it would mix down in the stove more.
 
Washing machine drum firepits are popular. The stainless steel front-loading washer drums are especially good.
 
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Our old washing machine drum became a planter. Seems like in today's world if you don't buy it, it's no good.
 
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I bought a fire ring, but never used it. Now its sitting upright, filled with kindling. Works great......its under a porch too so its dry.