How Do I Get More Heat From My Fire Pit?

  • By: Mike Hale
  • Date: July 17, 2022
  • Time to read: 5 min.

Fire pits have become popular for a lot of people. They serve several purposes such as aesthetics, providing a socializing space, lighting, heating, and more. Perhaps the most important is heating. We all desire a fire pit that can give off sufficient heat but this is not always the case. So how do you get more heat from your fire pit?

You can get more heat from your fire pit by increasing the flame height, adding a lot of lava rocks to your fire pit, and enclosing the area surrounded by your fire pit.

In this article, we are going to discuss in detail how to get more heat from your fire pit, what fire pit gives of the most heat, and whether a fire pit can keep you warm. So read on to find out more.

How Do I Get More Heat From My Fire Pit?

How Do I Get More Heat From My Fire Pit?

Quite possibly, you may have found that the performance of your fire pit, either gas or propane fire pit, is not satisfactory, and adjustments need to be made for you to get more heat out of it. Unfortunately, many people get caught up in a rush trying to correct this, that they get it all wrong.

How To Get More Heat From a Propane Fire Pit

The major question for most people is usually how they can get more heat from a propane fire pit. More often than not, it’s a confusing topic since there really isn’t that much you can do to make your propane fire pit give more heat.

You can get more heat from a propane fire pit by increasing the flame height. This will make your propane fire pit give off more heat. Here’s how you can go about this:

  • Disconnect the propane tank.
  • Remove the assembly with the control knob of your fire pit. You will see 4 screws holding it that you need to remove. Proceed to remove the nuts and washers on the screws.
  • Pull the control knob assembly away from the unit. You will see a gas outlet that goes into the burners in the fire pit. The goal is to increase the size of the aperture in that gas bib.
  • Using a crescent wrench or a socket, remove the gas bib (never use pliers for this). Don’t clean the threads. The sealant on them will come in handy during reinstallation.
  • Drill out the gas bib to increase its aperture. A 1/8” drill bit will do. Drill from the inside out so that the shavings come out the other side. Use a crescent wrench to hold the bib in place while drilling.
  • If the thread sealant looks too scraped away, then reapply the sealant that is rated for gas.
  • Reassemble everything and take care not to overtighten the gas bib when screwing it back in. A smidge past finger tight should be okay.

After this, your propane fire pit will have a larger flame and will also give off more heat.

How To Make a Gas Fire Pit Hotter

One thing that we can all agree on is that nothing gives off as much heat as wood-burning fire. But one cannot always have this. Gas fire pits have become much more popular as a heat source with the only issue being that in some cases, they do not give off a lot of heat.

So if you are the owner of a gas fire pit you are probably wondering what you can do to make it burn hotter. Well, there are several ways you can do this!

Add a lot of lava rocks to your fire pit

When heated, rocks radiate heat on their own. So when you fill your gas fire pit with a bunch of them, they will radiate heat along with the one given out by the burning fire. Note that it should be large rocks and not small ones. The more lava rocks in your gas fire pit, the hotter it will get.

Enclose the area

Another way to make your gas fire pit hotter is to enclose the area. This isn’t rocket science; the smaller the enclosure, the hotter the air will be. If you don’t want to cover your patio completely, you can enclose it partially. This will make it hotter.

Increase the flame height

The higher the flame of your gas fire pit, the hotter it will be. Follow these steps to increase the flame height:

  • Remove the rocks in the fire pit to access the gas pipes.
  • Clean the pipes of dust and ash. Blow them with a compressor for this. Check if the holes are clogged by dirt or rust and clean this with a wire brush or needle.
  • Check if the flame adjustment valve is turned on fully. If not, adjust the valve.
  • Open the valve wider to increase the gas tank pressure. This will allow more gas to flow to the fire pit and will increase the flame height thus making your fire pit hotter.

What Fire Pit Gives Off the Most Heat?

Fire pits serve several purposes, but the most important consideration is heat output and efficiency. At the end of the day, we all want a fire pit that gives off enough heat and without much fuss. By now, you are probably wondering which type of fire pit gives off the most heat. Well, the answer is wood-burning fire pits.

Wood burns hotter than gas making it the best choice when searching for a heat source. Wood-fire pits can produce a fire larger than a gas burner and they will therefore typically give off more heat.

Our pick for the best wood fire pit is the FIRESIDE OUTDOOR Pop-Up Fire Pit. This is the first truly portable wood burning fire pit. Its design allows for easy and quick assembly. It has clean burn technology. This allows it to produce captivating flames and substantial heat output with 80% less smoke. 

Its design allows for perfect airflow and you can therefore enjoy brighter and hotter fires with almost no smoke. It is spacious for high heat output and high efficiency. What’s even better is that it’s affordable. Just $85 and you can have this bad boy!

You can find the FIRESIDE OUTDOOR Pop-Up Fire Pit on Amazon.

Can a Fire Pit Keep You Warm?

For a lot of people, the most important consideration when getting a fire pit is the heat it gives out. So it’s only natural to wonder whether a fire pit can keep you sufficiently warm.

The fact is that fire puts can keep you warm. Even a candle flame can give you some degree of warmth- not enough, but still. The heat generated by your fire pit will depend largely on the fuel source you use, be it propane, natural gas, or wood. 

So no matter what type of fuel you choose for your fire pit, you are guaranteed to obtain some form of warmth from it.

If you want to keep warm, then a wood-burning fire pit is your best choice.

In conclusion, fire pits come in different variations. So pick one that best suits your needs and should you want to get more heat from it, follow the tips in this guide.