Chiminea or Fire Pit, which one is better?
I am thinking of purchasing a Fire Pit or Chiminea.
(1.) Which one is better?
(2.) What are the pro’s & con’s of each one?
I am thinking of purchasing a Fire Pit or Chiminea.
(1.) Which one is better?
(2.) What are the pro’s & con’s of each one?
A chiminea is always a better choice. Firepits are nice for a campground but chimineas are the best for regular use. A high quality Cast Aluminum or Cast Iron chiminea will burn cleaner and more efficiently because of the drafting action when the neck is heated. That means that there is little or no smoke during a fire so you won’t bother your neighbors. Clean up is easier too because it burns most of the wood leaving a fine ash behind. A chiminea will be used much more then a fire pit because the fire is protected from the wind. We have both, a chiminea on our deck and a fire pit (old tractor rim) in the yard. We used our chiminea 2-3 times a week last summer and the fire pit twice the entire summer. We also use the chiminea occasionally in the winter but never the fire pit because its full of snow (Northern Minnesota). I would not consider having a fire pit on a deck because wind gusts can send ashes and sparks everywhere. The chiminea works great on the deck and it radiates heat better then firepit. The downside to a chiminea is that you can only see it from one side, but 99% of the time there is some breeze so you can only sit on one side of a fire anyways. I also like the fact that a good chiminea will burn out quickly when you stop adding wood. Thirty minutes to an hour after a chiminea fire the ashes are cold and I can sleep without worrying about a breeze at night starting up the fire. The fire pit is sometimes still smoking in the morning if we don’t pour enough water on it at the end of the night. Of course you could fill your fire pit with water when your done. Makes an ash soup and/or wrecks the fire pit. The chiminea is the winner hands down.
It really depends on what kind of fire experience you want. I’ve had both a portable chiminea and fire pit and they each offer different fire experiences. If you are looking for the open flame, a fire pit provides that. But, with the chiminea you are usually looking at the fire through a little grate. The open fire pit gives you little or no control over smoke other than moving your body away from the direction the wind is blowing. My chiminea has a little topper which can be opened to varying degrees to direct the smoke away from where you are sitting without affecting the fire. For some reason, wood tends to burn longer in the the chiminea than in the open fire pit, but you get a larger fire with the pit. Also, depening on whether you purchase a metal or terra cotta chiminea you get more heat (with the metal) than with the fire pit maybe because the entire metal surround heats up and radiates that heat. Whereas with the pit, you have a certain diameter within which you can feel the heat and outside of that you don’t. One other thing, with the chiminea, you are limited more as to the size of wood you can use by the door and mine is pretty small. The fire pit enables you to use larger pieces and the size of the fire bowl is your only limiting factor and that is always larger than what will fit in the chimina or through the door. Finally, some of the new fire pits also can be hooked up to either propane tanks or a natural gas spigot which gives easy start up, I haven’t seen a chiminea yet that has that option.
Depends on your decor and location you’re going to put it. A chiminea only has an opening for the fire in one direction. So, you would most likely put it against a wall or fence with the opening pointing away from the wall/fence. A fire pit has fire all around it. So, it would be more like the centerpiece of a patio area.
Also, a chiminea is more of a southwestern decor item. A fire pit would be something more contemporary.
A fire pit can also be a gas log fire. But, a chiminea is wood-burning. So, you have to clean it out all the time. Also, a chiminea can crack and break over time, or if it somehow falls over.
Of course, a chiminea is a lot less expensive than a fire pit.
chiminea is wonderful IF it’s in cast iron… a clay one will shatter if it’s hot and it starts raining!!!….. but i love fire pits if they’re really pits in the ground … not the free-standing metal thingie with a mesh grate over it…. can’t even do marshmallers on that thing!!!….
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chiminea is wonderful IF it’s in cast iron… a clay one will shatter if it’s hot and it starts raining!!!….. but i love fire pits if they’re really pits in the ground … not the free-standing metal thingie with a mesh grate over it…. can’t even do marshmallers on that thing!!!….
A chiminea is always a better choice. Firepits are nice for a campground but chimineas are the best for regular use. A high quality Cast Aluminum or Cast Iron chiminea will burn cleaner and more efficiently because of the drafting action when the neck is heated. That means that there is little or no smoke during a fire so you won’t bother your neighbors. Clean up is easier too because it burns most of the wood leaving a fine ash behind. A chiminea will be used much more then a fire pit because the fire is protected from the wind. We have both, a chiminea on our deck and a fire pit (old tractor rim) in the yard. We used our chiminea 2-3 times a week last summer and the fire pit twice the entire summer. We also use the chiminea occasionally in the winter but never the fire pit because its full of snow (Northern Minnesota). I would not consider having a fire pit on a deck because wind gusts can send ashes and sparks everywhere. The chiminea works great on the deck and it radiates heat better then firepit. The downside to a chiminea is that you can only see it from one side, but 99% of the time there is some breeze so you can only sit on one side of a fire anyways. I also like the fact that a good chiminea will burn out quickly when you stop adding wood. Thirty minutes to an hour after a chiminea fire the ashes are cold and I can sleep without worrying about a breeze at night starting up the fire. The fire pit is sometimes still smoking in the morning if we don’t pour enough water on it at the end of the night. Of course you could fill your fire pit with water when your done. Makes an ash soup and/or wrecks the fire pit. The chiminea is the winner hands down.