What to know before buying a smokeless fire pit
SEATTLE — Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Or is there?
Popular backyard fire pits like the Solo Stove, often called smokeless fire pits, conjure up a roaring outdoor fire, but without the smoke.
Consumer Reports tested seven of these types of fire pits. While the pits are less smoky, they aren’t 100% smokeless.
“It’s a misnomer to call them smokeless,” explained Bernie Deitrick with Consumer Reports. “They are less smoky, but they’re not smokeless you will always have some smoke.”
That’s the nature of burning wood, but the way these fire pits are designed there is less smoke once the fire really gets going - especially when compared to a traditional campfire.
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Deitrick started several fires during Consumer Reports’ tests, noting how fast each fire lit and how effectively the fires burned.
“The ones that did well in our ratings, you can have a small fire in them or a large fire in them. [The fires] start quickly, so that they are out of the smoky phase sooner and they burn the wood completely so that there’s not a lot of clean up afterwards,” said Deitrick.
Consumer Reports found the Solo Stove left behind lots of wood and cleaning it up wasn’t as easy as some of the other fire pits.
The top performer in Consumer Reports’ tests was from Cuisinart. It’s fast to light and it burns the wood more thoroughly than any other model, so there’s less waste and less mess.
If you want to skip chopping and lugging around firewood, the INNO Stage fire pit burns wood pellets instead of logs. And while it’s not as easy to clean as the other two fire pits, the Blue Sky fire pit can burn pellets or logs.
And remember, no matter what type of fire you’re enjoying, keep it safe! Place your pit on an uncovered, hard flat surface at least 20 feet away from anything flammable.