Propane vs Natural Gas
One is a permanent installation you never refill. The other goes anywhere and needs a new cylinder every third evening. Converting between them is a manufacturer job, not a fitting swap.
DisclosureWe earn a commission when you buy through the links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Prices come from Amazon and change without notice. How this site is funded.
Natural gas never runs out and costs less per hour, but it requires a plumbed line and the pit never moves. Propane goes anywhere and needs a fresh 20 lb cylinder roughly every third evening. Converting an appliance between them requires a manufacturer conversion kit, because the burner orifice is sized for one fuel.
Why the orifice makes conversion a real job
Propane and natural gas are not interchangeable fuels delivered at different pressures — they carry different energy per unit volume and are delivered at different supply pressures. Propane is denser and carries considerably more energy per cubic foot, so a burner designed for it uses a smaller orifice at higher pressure. Natural gas needs a larger orifice at lower pressure to deliver the same heat.
Run natural gas through a propane orifice and you get a small, weak flame. Run propane through a natural-gas orifice and you get far more fuel than the burner was designed to handle — an over-rich, sooty and genuinely unsafe flame. This is why a conversion kit is a matched set of orifices and usually a different regulator, supplied by the manufacturer for that specific model, and why an appliance with no conversion kit available simply cannot be converted.
The comparison
| Propane (LP) | Natural gas | |
|---|---|---|
| Supply | 20 lb portable cylinder | Plumbed line from the house meter |
| Runs out | Yes — about every 7.4 hours at 58,000 BTU | No |
| Cost per hour | Higher | Lower, in most US markets |
| Installation | None | Trenching, a gas line, usually a permit and a licensed fitter |
| Pit moves | Yes | No, ever |
| Energy per unit volume | Higher | Lower |
| Orifice | Smaller, higher pressure | Larger, lower pressure |
| Suits | Renting, camping, changing your mind | A permanent outdoor living space |
Cost per hour depends entirely on local utility and cylinder prices. We are not publishing a national figure because the regional spread exceeds the difference.
The case for natural gas
If the pit is part of a built patio you are not going to change, natural gas is clearly better. It never interrupts an evening, it costs less to run, there is no cylinder to store or exchange, and there is nothing to hide. The installation cost is real and one-time, and it is generally the deciding factor: trenching a line and having it connected is not a small job, and in most jurisdictions it is permitted work.
The case against is entirely about permanence. A natural-gas pit is a fixture. You cannot move it to a better spot, take it camping, or take it with you when you move house. If there is any chance you will want to reposition it — and people frequently do, once they learn where the wind takes the smoke and where the sun sets — a cylinder is worth the inconvenience.
What a conversion kit does and does not solve
- It replaces the orifice, sized for the new fuel's energy density and pressure.
- It usually replaces the regulator, because supply pressures differ.
- It does not exist for every model. Check before you buy if conversion is part of your plan.
- It may void the warranty if fitted by anyone other than an approved installer. Read the terms before, not after.
- It does not make a portable pit into a fixed one — a converted appliance still needs the plumbed supply.
Two propane pits worth starting with
| # | Product | Best for | Key spec | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outland LivingPhoto via Amazon Outland Living Firebowl 893 Deluxe58,000 BTU, CSA-certified, and the pit most often accepted where wood fires are not. The cover and carry kit are in the box, which is why this is the one to buy over the bare 823. | Burn bans and travel | 58,000 BTU/hr | Check price on Amazon |
| 2 | Endless SummerPhoto via Amazon Endless Summer 30 in Gas Fire Pit TableA 30 in table whose base swallows the 20 lb cylinder. That is the entire point of a fire table, and it is the reason to pay the premium over a bowl. | Hiding the tank | 30,000 BTU/hr | Check price on Amazon |
Prices are pulled live from Amazon. Where no live price is showing, the button reads “check price” rather than a number we cannot stand behind.
Outland Living Firebowl 893 Deluxe
Outland Living58,000 BTU, CSA-certified, and the pit most often accepted where wood fires are not. The cover and carry kit are in the box, which is why this is the one to buy over the bare 823.
58,000 BTU, CSA-certified, and the pit most often accepted where wood fires are not. The cover and carry kit are in the box, which is why this is the one to buy over the bare 823.
- CSA certification is the thing an HOA or a campground manager actually asks to see
- No embers, so it is the defensible choice under a covered patio and during most burn bans
- Shuts off instantly, which removes the entire put-it-out problem
- A 1-year warranty is the shortest in this whole registry
- A 20 lb tank has to live somewhere, and the hose length dictates where the pit can sit
- 58,000 BTU is a burner rating, not a measure of how warm you will feel
Anyone in a burn-ban county, on a covered patio, in an HOA, or towing it to a campsite.
You want the smell and the sound of a wood fire. A gas flame is not a substitute, and pretending otherwise wastes your money.
We have not burned this unit. These are the things a specification sheet cannot answer, listed rather than glossed over.
- Real-world runtime, which depends on how low you run the burner. Our figure is arithmetic at full output
- Long-run corrosion on the powder-coated bowl in coastal air
#ad how we are funded · no live price right now
Endless Summer 30 in Gas Fire Pit Table
Endless SummerA 30 in table whose base swallows the 20 lb cylinder. That is the entire point of a fire table, and it is the reason to pay the premium over a bowl.
A 30 in table whose base swallows the 20 lb cylinder. That is the entire point of a fire table, and it is the reason to pay the premium over a bowl.
- The cylinder and the control panel disappear, which is the whole design brief
- 30,000 BTU nearly doubles runtime per tank against a 58,000 BTU bowl
- The ledge around the burner is usable surface, unlike a bowl
- 30,000 BTU is genuinely less heat, not just a slower burn
- 24 in tall and heavy, so this does not travel
- Fire glass and lava rock are consumables that discolor
A patio where the pit doubles as the table and the propane tank must not be visible.
Heat is the priority. Buy BTU in a bowl instead.
We have not burned this unit. These are the things a specification sheet cannot answer, listed rather than glossed over.
- Resin mantel durability under direct sun over several seasons
- Whether the enclosed base affects tank temperature in hot weather. The listing does not say
#ad how we are funded · no live price right now
- Compared on installation, running characteristics and portability.
- Both picks are propane, because a plumbed natural-gas pit is an installation rather than a product you buy and place.
- What we did not do: install or run either fuel.
We have not burned any of these units, and we do not claim to have. The full method, including what it cannot tell you.
One thing propane has that natural gas does not: it goes where the rules allow it. If the reason you are shopping for gas at all is a burn ban or an HOA covenant, portability may matter more than the running cost — you can take a cylinder pit to a campsite and you cannot take a plumbed one anywhere. What burn bans exempt.