Alternatives to outside fire pits .

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
  • Hope everyone has a wonderful and warm Thanksgiving!
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here

Dmitry

Minister of Fire
Oct 4, 2014
1,200
CT
My fire pit is small and flimsy thing from Lowes. I was thinking of getting something else. Looked at the fire pits and HD, Lowes and wondering if getting old, prehabs non-epa era wood stove and painting it can be more useful alternative. Got lot of uglies to burn and swimming pool. So extra body to hold heat would be useful. Can you share your experience if you had any. Thanks.
 
What kind of surface will be under it? For my burn pile out back I just have a couple layers of landscaping pavers in a circle.
 
I was planning to put it on stone patio. I don’t want “ burn pile”, I want some kind of aestheticly pleasing appliance with some usable heat
 
[Hearth.com] Alternatives to outside fire pits .
 
I'm sure you will here some opinions on this. I got this cheep coleman fire pit many years ago. It's a round with a screen, lid on a base with wheels. Even had a propane starter. A bit ugly, but take the lid off and I get 10' fires going in it. Great for spring yard cleanup burns. Drop the lid on to contain sparks, or shut it down. Clean up is just dumping the ash. Not pretty but very functional.
 
You might want to consider getting a used Weber kettle, take off the 3 legs and the metal leg holders are a solid foundation. It has worked very well as a backyard fire pit. Placed some decorative rock around the base to finish it off. The lid is placed on when the kid needs to go to bed and extinguishes the fire.
 
This is expensive but it's made of stainless steel and reduces smoke to almost nothing by utilizing secondary combustion. They have a coupon deal to reduce price.
https://www.solostove.com/solo-stove-bonfire/

They also make smaller stove versions.

[Hearth.com] Alternatives to outside fire pits .
 
  • Like
Reactions: Seasoned Oak
Last edited:
I dig that solo stove thing. Looks neat.
This costly one from crate & barrel is interesting:

[Hearth.com] Alternatives to outside fire pits .

Kinda looks like a drunk dude might knock it over, though.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I dig that solo stove thing. Looks neat.
This costly one from crate & barrel is interesting:

View attachment 224519

Kinda looks like a drunk dude might knock it over, though.
WOW, This drunk dude would be me . It's on " clearance" now for $500 with regular price of $ 1300. That's the kind of design a had in mind . But instead of fancy drum I want to buy freestanding stove for around $300, Put a Pipe on it and be done
 
(broken link removed to https://newhaven.craigslist.org/for/d/antique-wood-stove/6497385775.html)
I wish this one would be bigger
 
Couple hour drive up toward Albany will yield you a ton of woodstove in your price range. Might want to check out some stove shops. There's a good chance they have some in the scrap pile out back that would work for you.
 
Looks and sounds cool . Do you know anyone who used it? The rating on Amazon is almost 100 % positive
I've considered getting one for making biochar. We couldn't use it in the summer due to fire restrictions, but on a spring night like today it would be nice.
 
No idea. With that door, I'd guess it wasn't that old though. Barring any cracks, I'm sure it'd do a great job on the patio.
 
  • Like
Reactions: saewoody
How about a pizza oven? Make pizza, burn wood, warm, whatever....... I'm pretty sure one of these is in my future, a scrap-together project.
[Hearth.com] Alternatives to outside fire pits .
 
Us poor folks in this neck of the woods just use old tractor, combine or semi truck rims.