If you are thinking of having a fire pit in your garden, but not sure what to do next, this guide will help you through the process. There will be many decisions to make along the way, some dictated by practicality, and some cost. So let’s get started!
Wood Burner or Gas Fire Pit?
Wood burning fire pit or gas fire pit? If you’re undecided, let’s compare:
Wood: Have you ever been near a bonfire, with all that dirty smelly smoke, that seems to permeate every scrap of clothing you are wearing! Then sat close enough for the sparks to spit out and land on your new shirt! Wood burners take ages to get going, then just when it’s burning nicely, everyone leaves and you can’t leave it burning so you now have to put it out. Then in the morning you wake to find all that black ash has been blown all over your nice new patio. No thanks!
Gas: Instant heat at the press of a button. Controllable, and clean. No smell, no mess to clear up afterwards.
DIY Gas Fire Pit, or Readymade?
So, having made the sensible decision, you now have two choices. Build your own gas fire pit, or buy something ready made:
Build: This may sound daunting at first, but it’s not too difficult! If you are having a builder or landscaper in to redesign your garden, then they can usually build the fire pit surround quite easily. If you prefer a spot of DIY, then our guides and instruction manual will help you with your project. You’ll find our built-in gas fire pit burner kits here.
Buy: If you’d rather not build your own gas fire pit surround, we also offer a range of ready-made gas fire pits and tables. They still need to be connected to a gas supply. You’ll find our ready-made firepits and tables here.
Natural Mains Gas vs Bottled LPG (Propane)
Whether it’s build in, or ready made, you still need to connect it to a gas supply. LPG and Natural Gas provide the same flame size & warmth, so it’s really about installation preference:
Natural Gas: If possible this is the best choice. No bottles to run out half way through your party. No bottles to have to change. Mains gas is cheaper to run than LPG. The gas pipe would normally have to be run back to the meter.
LPG: This is slightly more popular as it can be easier to install. However you have to find somewhere outside to store the bottle.
LPG burners only work with LPG bottles. Mains gas burners only work with mains gas.
The burner is built to work with only one gas type and is not compatible with the other. While it is possible to convert our burners to switch the gas type, additional parts are required and you will need a gas engineer to re-rate the valve. Call us for advice.
Gas Fire Pit Design
Now the fun part. Most people tend to build their own firepit, so they end up with something unique, that fits their own personal taste and budget.
For inspiration, please visit our gallery. These images have been sent in by our happy customers, and show what can be achieved using our burners. You can view all images, or filter on a particular shape. Clicking on an image will bring up further images of than installation, or in some cases images showing how the fire pit was built. (Build Projects)
This is not just a gallery of images, as it also offers useful technical information on gas fire pit design and installation. Take your time in the gallery, as this will help you design something for your own garden.
Finally, download the installation manual. This has lots of information on gas fire pit design and installation.
Talk to a Gas Engineer
So far, you have chosen the type of fire pit, which gas, and roughly what it’s going to look like. Now it’s worth looking at some of the technical details, like laying gas pipes and building fire pit structures. You may not be doing the work yourself, but it’s useful to know a few details when talking to your builder or gas engineer.
We recommend you use a registered gas engineer to connect up the burner. There are regulations that govern the installation of all gas appliances, even those outside. So, before you finalize the design and start building anything, call in a local gas engineer, to check your proposal. He may find a problem that you might not be aware of. Such as installing LPG appliances in sunken patio areas (not a good idea!). We have know situations where customers have built expensive patio’s and firepits, then the gas engineer turns up last minute and refuses to install the burner as the installation or pipework does not conform to building regs.
Further Support
By now you’ve already made a lot of decisions, talked to gas engineers and builders, checked out this website, read the installation manual, and you now have a pretty good idea what you want to achieve. But there’s still a few technical questions you can’t find the answer to.
This is where we can help. Please contact us via the contact page on the website, by email, or by phone. (There’s a useful FAQ on the contact page, with answers to many common questions.) We are here to help with questions about our products, gas fire pit design, or gas installation.
When to Buy?
We recommend you order and take delivery of your burner prior to starting building work or laying gas pipes. Having the burner in your hand, makes it a lot simpler to see what you need to build. This makes it a lot clearer how you need to allow for connecting pipework, or where the gas entry point is, among other things.
Ordering on the website is the quickest method, as this is processed more easily than emails or phone orders. However if you prefer to talk to someone, then we are here and happy to help.