Comments on: Anyone Have An Outdoor Fire Place?

By: vonstallin

vonstallin — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:30:48 +0000

no,
dont have one..But I do have a old kerosine heater on my wooden deck

By: Nichole

Nichole — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 02:00:19 +0000

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.

By: ColHeightsChic

ColHeightsChic — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 01:21:33 +0000

Most of the outdoor restaurants in East Africa use these big, clay fire-things (not sure how to really describe them). I’ve seen everything from coal to wood chips in them. Somehow, they really managed to heat up entire outdoor areas. (And yes people, it does get cold at night in some parts of Africa!)

By: Lau

Lau — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:45:02 +0000

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.

By: OB

OB — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:35:41 +0000

We bought a chimenea for a late fall party and it worked great. Like a camping fire people gathered around it for warmth and for the astetic of dancing fire. I doubt we’ll use it until next spring as it only provides enough heat in close proximity.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:11:06 +0000

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.

By: GuinnessPhish

GuinnessPhish — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:07:35 +0000

if you have a charcoal BBQ like this: http://trustypony.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/green-weber.jpg

you can simply remove the bottom grate and use that as your fire circle.