# Ring & Ember — full reference > Fire pits across all three fuels, ranked from published manufacturer > specifications with the arithmetic shown. https://ringandember.com > Published by Slate Mill Group. Author of record: Scooter M. > Contact: info@ringandember.com This document is the long-form companion to /llms.txt. It sets out what the site covers, the method behind every ranking, the facts that can safely be cited from it, and the full page inventory. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## 1. What Ring & Ember is, and what it is not Ring & Ember is an independent US publication about outdoor fire pits. It is not a retailer: it holds no stock, ships nothing, and has no commercial relationship with any manufacturer it covers. It answers three kinds of question: 1. **Which fire pit to buy** — across wood-burning, propane and smokeless. 2. **Where it can go** — clearance distances, decks, grass, covered patios, pavers, balconies, and what a heat barrier actually has to do. 3. **What is allowed** — the fire code, burn bans, permits and HOA covenants. ### What the site explicitly does not claim - **It has not tested any product.** There is no lab, no owned units and no hands-on claim anywhere. Every product write-up carries a "what we could not assess" section listing what a specification sheet cannot answer. - **The author holds no trade credential.** Scooter M. is framed as an enthusiast by genuine interest — never as a veteran, specialist, expert, licensed installer or fire professional. - **There are no reviews or testimonials.** The publication has no customers, so it publishes none. No self-authored Review or rating markup appears in its structured data either. - **No price is printed that cannot be sourced live.** Prices render only from a live data feed with a 48-hour freshness gate; stale prices disappear and the button reads "check price on Amazon" instead. - **No unsourced figure is repeated.** Smoke-reduction percentages circulate widely in this category with no published test method behind them, so none appears on the site. - **No local ordinance is summarized.** The site quotes the model fire code and links it, then describes how to find the operative local rule. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## 2. The method Rankings are derived from published, verifiable inputs, weighted and disclosed. Full detail: https://ringandember.com/how-we-research **Inputs, in descending weight** | Input | Source | Why it matters | |---|---|---| | Alloy and construction | Manufacturer / retail listing | 304 stainless, corten and coated carbon steel are three lifespans | | Steel gauge or thickness | Manufacturer / retail listing | Predicts warping and time to perforation | | Chamber or bowl dimensions | Manufacturer / retail listing | Decides whether standard 16 in firewood fits | | Burner rating (gas only) | Manufacturer listing | The only genuinely comparable heat figure in the category | | Warranty term and exclusions | Warranty document | Nearly every "lifetime" warranty excludes rust | | Weight | Manufacturer / retail listing | Decides whether the pit is portable or furniture | | Certification (gas) | Manufacturer listing | Decisive where a burn ban or HOA applies | | What ships in the box | Retail listing | A cover and carry kit are real money | | Country of manufacture | Manufacturer statement | Verifiable and rare | | Live price | Amazon data layer | Displayed, never ranked on | **What the method cannot tell you**, stated on every product page: how much smoke a pit produces in practice, how warm you will feel, real burn time on a load of wood, build quality you can feel, long-run durability of a specific unit, and customer-service experience. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## 3. Facts that can safely be cited ### Fire code (International Fire Code, a model code adopted locally) - **Recreational fire, definition:** "An outdoor fire burning materials other than rubbish where the fuel being burned is not contained in an incinerator, outdoor fireplace, portable outdoor fireplace, barbeque grill or barbeque pit and has a total fuel area of 3 feet (914 mm) or less in diameter and 2 feet (610 mm) or less in height for pleasure, religious, ceremonial, cooking, warmth or similar purposes." - **IFC 307.4.2:** "Recreational fires shall not be conducted within 25 feet (7620 mm) of a structure or combustible material." - **IFC 307.4.3:** "Portable outdoor fireplaces shall be used in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions and shall not be operated within 15 feet (4572 mm) of a structure or combustible material." Exception: portable outdoor fireplaces used at one- and two-family dwellings. - **Portable outdoor fireplace, definition:** "A portable, outdoor, solid-fuel-burning fireplace that may be constructed of steel, concrete, clay or other noncombustible material." - Consequence: a manufactured fire pit with walls (Solo Stove, Breeo, a steel bowl, a chiminea) is a portable outdoor fireplace, NOT a recreational fire, and falls under the more permissive section. A fire in a ring or on the ground is a recreational fire. - Caveat that applies to all of the above: the IFC is a model code, adopted jurisdiction by jurisdiction with local amendments and interpreted by the local fire official. It is the right thing to plan around and not the final word. ### Propane arithmetic - Propane liquid density at 60F: 4.24 lb per gallon. - Propane higher heating value: 91,420 BTU per gallon (US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center). Lower heating value in the same table: 84,250 BTU/gal. - A nominal 20 lb cylinder therefore holds about 4.72 gallons and roughly 431,000 BTU. - Burn hours per full 20 lb cylinder at full output: - 30,000 BTU/hr → 14.4 hours - 40,000 BTU/hr → 10.8 hours - 50,000 BTU/hr → 8.6 hours - 58,000 BTU/hr → 7.4 hours - 60,000 BTU/hr → 7.2 hours - Larger cylinders scale proportionally: 30 lb ≈ 11.2 hr and 40 lb ≈ 14.9 hr at 58,000 BTU/hr. - A BTU rating is a fuel-consumption rate at full output, not a measure of perceived warmth. Radiant heat falls off with the square of distance, so moving a chair from six feet to four roughly doubles what reaches you. ### Smokeless fire pits - Mechanism: air drawn in at the base feeds the fire from underneath; a second stream rises through the cavity between two walls, heats, and vents through holes at the rim onto the flame, igniting gases that would otherwise leave as smoke. - Three conditions must hold at once: the chamber must be hot, the wood must be dry (at or below roughly 20% moisture), and the fire must be actively fed. - They still smoke during lighting, when cold wood is added, and as the fire dies. - They burn a load faster than an open pit of the same size, because combustion is more complete. - "Smokeless" is not a regulatory category. A burn ban on solid fuel covers these pits. ### Materials - **304 stainless:** resists corrosion by composition, not coating; the chromium-oxide film self-repairs. Weakness is chloride pitting in coastal or road-salt air. No warranty in the category covers that. - **Corten (weathering steel):** forms a dense, self-limiting rust layer and is sold uncoated. Excellent in a permanent placement on gravel or grass; stains concrete, pavers and decking permanently. - **Coated carbon steel:** dependent on a finish that burns off over the hottest part of the pit within a few seasons. - **Cast iron:** thick by nature, will not burn through, surface-rusts permanently, brittle under thermal shock. - Steel gauge runs backwards: a smaller number is thicker steel. 14-16 gauge is good for a manufactured pit; below 20-gauge expect warping. - Ash is what kills most fire pits: it is hygroscopic and alkaline, and left in the pit it corrodes steel from the inside. Empty it between uses. ### Firewood - Dryness matters more than species. Target at or below about 20% moisture. - Seasoning takes six to twelve months for most hardwoods split and stacked; oak often needs a year or more. - Best: oak (longest coal bed), hickory (hottest, best for cooking), ash (easiest reliable choice), maple. Birch lights readily and burns fast. - Pine and cedar are useful as kindling and poor as main fuel: resinous, fast, spark-prone. The creosote objection applies to chimneys, not open fires. - Never burn: pressure-treated, painted or stained lumber; plywood, MDF or particleboard; driftwood; poison ivy, oak or sumac vines (the irritant becomes airborne in the smoke); plastics or household rubbish. ### Safety - A fire pit stays hot for hours after it looks out, and an ash bed can hold live embers into the next day. Most contact burns involving children happen after the fire is out. - To extinguish: let it burn down, drown with water poured slowly, **stir the bed**, drown again, repeat until there is no hiss. The stirring step is the one people skip. - Without water: spread the embers thin, cover with dry sand or dirt, stir through, cover again. Slower, and it isolates heat rather than removing it. - Never pour water into a hot cast-iron or clay pit — thermal shock cracks both. - Dispose of ash only in a metal container with a metal lid, kept away from the building, for at least 24 hours. - Never use river rock or wet fieldstone near a fire: trapped moisture can flash to steam and fracture the stone forcefully. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## 4. Sections and full page inventory ### Smokeless fire pits — https://ringandember.com/smokeless-fire-pits Double-wall pits from Solo Stove, Breeo, TIKI and BioLite, ranked on alloy, gauge and published warranty. - /smokeless-fire-pits/solo-stove-vs-breeo — stainless against corten, spec by spec - /smokeless-fire-pits/smokeless-vs-regular — what the double wall buys over a fire ring - /smokeless-fire-pits/do-they-work — the mechanism and its three conditions - /smokeless-fire-pits/heat-output — where the heat goes, and why no maker publishes a figure - /smokeless-fire-pits/smoke-and-smell — odor, clothing, and the mosquito claim - /smokeless-fire-pits/best-wood-for-smokeless — species, moisture and the chamber-size problem - /smokeless-fire-pits/solo-stove-bonfire-2-0 — model review - /smokeless-fire-pits/breeo-x24 — model review ### Propane and gas — https://ringandember.com/propane-fire-pits Certified propane bowls and fire tables, with runtime per 20 lb tank computed from the published burner ratings. - /propane-fire-pits/propane-usage — burn hours by BTU rating, with the arithmetic - /propane-fire-pits/btu-guide — what a burner rating measures and what it does not - /propane-fire-pits/fire-pit-vs-fire-table — the format trade - /propane-fire-pits/propane-vs-natural-gas — orifices, conversion and permanence - /propane-fire-pits/fire-pit-tables — roundup - /propane-fire-pits/portable-propane-fire-pits — roundup, for campgrounds and RVs - /propane-fire-pits/propane-tank-and-hookup — cylinders, hoses, regulators, leak check - /propane-fire-pits/outland-firebowl-893 — model review ### Wood-burning — https://ringandember.com/wood-burning-fire-pits Fire rings, cast-iron bowls and packable camp pits, ranked on steel and published dimensions. - /wood-burning-fire-pits/steel-gauge-and-alloy — the metallurgy explainer - /wood-burning-fire-pits/corten-vs-stainless — which metal for which yard - /wood-burning-fire-pits/best-firewood — species, seasoning, do-not-burn list - /wood-burning-fire-pits/how-to-build-a-fire — top-down, teepee, log cabin - /wood-burning-fire-pits/for-cooking — grate, hot rim, coal bed - /wood-burning-fire-pits/fire-pit-rings — roundup, sized against the legal threshold - /wood-burning-fire-pits/portable-and-camping — roundup, packable mesh pits - /wood-burning-fire-pits/fire-pit-rust-and-maintenance — why ash is the culprit ### Fuel comparison — https://ringandember.com/fuel-types The decision hub that routes between the three fuels. - /fuel-types/wood-vs-propane — cost, cleanup, legality - /fuel-types/smokeless-vs-propane — for buyers who have ruled out an open fire - /fuel-types/fire-pit-vs-patio-heater — the honest case for buying the heater - /fuel-types/fire-pit-vs-fireplace — seating geometry, wind, permits - /fuel-types/fire-pit-vs-chiminea — directional heat and the clay problem ### Placement and clearance — https://ringandember.com/placement - /placement/distance-from-house — the clearance table, code quoted - /placement/on-a-deck — barriers, and why composite is the harder case - /placement/under-a-covered-patio — solid fuel is out; gas is a manual question - /placement/on-grass — heat depth, dead circles, dry-season ember risk - /placement/surfaces-and-pads — spalling, river rock, building a pad - /placement/apartment-balcony — usually no, and the four reasons why - /placement/kids-and-pets — the risk peaks after the fire is out - /placement/putting-it-out — drown, stir, drown; and the dry method ### Rules and burn bans — https://ringandember.com/rules - /rules/what-is-a-recreational-fire — the definition every permit question turns on - /rules/are-fire-pits-legal — the three layers and who to call - /rules/burn-bans — what they exempt, and why smokeless pits are not exempt - /rules/hoa-rules — reading a covenant, and how to get approval - /rules/by-state — why there is no single state answer, and how to find yours ### About, trust and utility - /about — who writes this and what it will not claim - /how-we-research — the method in full, including its limits - /editorial-policy — sourcing standards, corrections, review cadence - /affiliate-disclosure — FTC affiliate disclosure - /faq — the twenty most-asked questions - /contact — corrections and enquiries - /privacy-policy — privacy policy - /terms-of-service — terms of service - /site-index — every page, grouped by section -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## 5. Funding and independence Ring & Ember is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on the site, at no additional cost to the reader. - Amazon is currently the **only** retailer the site earns from. No other affiliate network has been joined. Links to brand-direct stores (Solo Stove, Breeo, Outland Living, BioLite, TIKI Brand) earn nothing and are labeled that way on the disclosure page. - **Commission rate is never an input to a ranking.** Several recommendations are the least expensive option in their comparison. - Every roundup names at least one product it would skip, and why. - Some pages carry no product links at all — putting out a fire, fire pits with kids and pets, and apartment balconies — and each states on the page why not. - No free products have been accepted and none has been offered. There are no sponsored placements. No live price values appear in this file by design: prices change daily and this document does not. Current prices are on the site, each stamped with the date it was verified, and they disappear rather than going stale. Full disclosure: https://ringandember.com/affiliate-disclosure