Even hot summer days in the High Desert are often followed by cool evenings. When the sun drops past the horizon, Central Oregonians are throwing on sweaters or heading indoors. One option to lengthen outside hours after dark is to incorporate a fire pit into a yard.

Local residents can choose from wood-burning or gas-fueled fire pit models with design features that provide table space or simpler ones that just offer a warm place to pull up a chair.

“I think that on summer nights when it gets cooler here (fire pits) are great not just because they’re beautiful, they have heat output,” said Lori Ludwig, design consultant and salesperson at Patio World in Bend.

Gas vs. wood

Fireside in Bend sells wood- and gas-burning fire pits, and Patio World sells gas-burning units.

Gas and wood offer different benefits, and choosing a type depends on how you plan to use it and your budget.

In general, gas-burning fire pits tend to be more expensive than wood-burning, with the least expensive fire pit at Patio World running $349 versus wood-burning units offered at Fireside ranging from $159 to $349.

Gas-burning fire pits have a cleaner burning flame without any flying ash and may be popular “because of the convenience and that when you’re gathered around, no one is getting smoked out,” said Jerry Stevens, general manager of Fireside.

Ludwig also noted that some communities do not allow wood-burning fire pits. The city of Bend’s website addresses burning regulations for “commercially manufactured fire appliances,” which they specify as metal or stone chimineas, commercial fire pits or similar products, stating that they may be used as long as the user follows the safety precautions listed on the Bend website.

Wood-burning fire pits are appealing because “often people have wood at their homes to begin with. They’ve already got a supply of wood,” said Stevens. And the simplicity of the wood- burning units is appealing to people, according to Stevens.

“They can pick them up and move them. It’s easy to take a freestanding wood-burning fire pit and plop it down anywhere that’s suitable. Whereas the gas you have to hook it up.”

Cooking

Both Ludwig and Stevens noted that marshmallow roasting with a gas-fueled fire pit, although possible, is not ideal because if the marshmallow were to fall into the media material — which could be imitation logs, cut glass or lava rock — it would not be easy to remove.

“You can do marshmallows on the gas as long as it doesn’t fall off the end of the stick… Once you drop a marshmallow down on something hot you basically are going to remove the media and throw it out,” Stevens said.

Two of the wood-burning fire pits at Fireside include a cooking grid and are ideal for converting into a grill.

Some gas-burning units are constructed as the centerpiece of a table and offer a place to dine or converse at bar or table height. The OW Lee Santorini fire pit at Patio World has the option of a lazy Susan attachment. And the Castelle fire pit has a table top insert to fit over the burner so if the fire is not in use there is more table space.

Placement

Regardless of whether the fire pit is wood- or gas-burning, it should not be lit under any sort of overhang. “We don’t recommend any sort of overhang, including a semi-covered porch or a gazebo,” Ludwig said.

Stevens recommends that the consumer “be aware of the special considerations on any combustible surface. There’s a lot of composite decks, and those are probably a little more sensitive to heat even than wood.”

Before lighting a fire in a wood-burning unit, owners should place a layer of sand in the base “to insulate the bottom so that it doesn’t get quite as hot,” explained Stevens. Then build a fire “just like you would a campfire,” said Stevens.

Wood-burning fire pits can still get hot on the bottom and, for that reason, Stevens said not to place the unit on grass. Instead use it on stone, in dirt or sand. Gas-burning units do not burn hot on the base and can therefore be placed on grass, a wooden surface or patio, according to Ludwig.

Gas options

At Patio World, Ludwig explained the two gas-burning options as “natural gas that you’d have to hook up like you would a gas barbecue … the other option is a propane tank, which is self-contained.”

Propane tanks are available in 2 1/2- or 5-gallon sizes. “You can get six to 12 hours (burn time) out of a 5-gallon tank,” said Ludwig. The time depends on how hot the flame is set.

Fireside carries gas-fueled fire pits and demonstrated a linear model with glass media material and an automatic shut-off.

“If the wind were to blow the flame out, it shuts the gas off,” Stevens said.

Stevens recommended the linear style for a more contemporary home. Fireside also sells the stainless steel burner and internal components that can be fitted for custom-built fire pits. The burners are 6 to 48 inches in diameter and are available in a variety of shapes, including circular, square, rectangular and linear.