Some area discussion recently indicated these are illegal, and any open fire outside of an indoor fireplace was illegal. And yes, these things were considered open fires.

Anyone know if they are indeed legal? Not that we enforce laws of course, but it’d be nice to know.

With that said I’ve always loved the chiminea, cuz when you make the fire big enough it shoots out the top. Way cool after some booze and such.

My mom (not in DC) has one – sort of a large, shallow saucer on a stand with a screen-dome you can put on top. I wouldn’t say it’s as warm as one of those restaurant lamps, since you have to be pretty close, but it’s a lot of fun to sit around on a summer evening.

When I lived in CA, this was the closest bar to my house: http://hmbbrewingco.com/index.php They had both the heatlamps and big firepits on the patio outside. When I was new in town, it was nice to go out there and hang around the firepits and meet my neighbors (weekdays only – weekends were filled with tourists). They kept us warm on cold Northern Californian nights by the ocean, but they were a bit bigger than you’d probably have at your house.

I’ve been trying to figure out how illegal it is to put a firepit on my patio here (I want to dig one into the corner), but since I would have to wait until spring now anyway, I’ve been a little lazy in doing my research. I had a party last winter that was sure to overflow outside, so I borrowed one from a friend, and it was definitely a hit. Even if I don’t end up digging one into the ground, I think I’ll end up buying a fireplace or a chiminea in the spring.