How Does Smokeless Fire Pit Work? Here's What You Need to Know

A smokeless fire pit may seem like an oxymoron. While it’s true you can’t have fire without smoke, you can significantly reduce the amount of smoke your fire pit produces by using a smokeless fire pit.

What exactly are smokeless fire pits, and how do they work?

Here’s everything you need to know about smokeless fire pits!

What is a Smokeless Fire Pit?

If you’ve ever found yourself gathered around a traditional fire pit only to be chased by the smoke no matter where you move to, you’re not alone. That’s why smokeless fire pits were designed.

A smokeless fire pit is a wood-burning fire pit that burns firewood so efficiently that it causes very little smoke. Smoke appears when firewood doesn't burn hot enough, as in a conventional fire pit, and the wood doesn’t ignite and combust. Instead, it smokes. The best smokeless fire pit encourages complete combustion in the burn chamber, producing little smoke.

How Does a Smokeless Fire Pit Work?

A smokeless backyard fire pit combines the three elements that a fire needs to burn hot: oxygen, heat, and fuel. A smokeless fire pit works by keeping the fire hot so that the fuel (firewood) within the fire pit can burn as hot as possible to create as little smoke as possible.

The success of a smokeless fire pit comes from its design. What makes a smokeless fire pit smokeless is the design, which keeps the fire hot.

A smokeless fire pit uses two walls to create heat and oxygen, which, as we mentioned, are two of the main components that a fire needs to burn hot.

Both the inner and the outer walls of the fire pit will have vent holes within it. These vent holes will draw in oxygen and let hot air escape between the two walls of the smokeless pit, keeping the fire as hot as possible. This airflow keeps the fire hot and creates as little smoke as possible, making the fire pit smokeless.

Does a Smokeless Fire Pit Produce No Smoke?

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, so where there’s fire, there’s smoke. It’s not that a smokeless fire pit produces zero smoke; it’s that a smokeless fire pit produces very minimal smoke.

There will be very little smoke; so little you won’t even notice it, which is why it's called smokeless.

Why You Should Choose a Smokeless Fire Pit

A smokeless fire pit is great for entertaining because it keeps your guests from having to outrun the smoke produced from a standard fire pit. Your guests will be happier and enjoy gathering around the fire pit for longer when using a smokeless fire pit.

You can also cook on a smokeless fire pit. Some smokeless fire pits include a grill grate for this reason. However, if your smokeless fire pit doesn't come with a grill, you can use any standard cooking grate on top of the fire pit. Just make sure to adjust your cooking time because of the high heat. It won’t take long for your food to cook because of how hot the fire is.

For more traditional cooking, you can use cooking skewers to roast hot dogs and marshmallows over the open fire of the smokeless fire pit. They cook faster because of the high heat, so just check on them as you’re cooking.

Do Smokeless Fire Pits Provide More Heat than Standard Fire Pits?

While it’s true that smokeless fire pits burn firewood hotter than traditional fire pits, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will provide more heat or keep you warmer. The smokeless fire pit design brings oxygen through the bottom and out the top, keeping the fire hot and refueling it as needed. A lot of the heat from the fire pit goes up instead of out. 

If you’re thinking of buying a smokeless fire pit because you want more heat, you’ll likely be disappointed with the output from a smokeless fire pit. Instead, you should purchase a smokeless fire pit with the primary goal of reducing the firewood smoke to a minimal amount that is barely noticeable. This is why people choose smokeless fire pits over traditional fire pits.

Are Smokeless Fire Pits Safe?

As we mentioned in our guide to safely setting up a fire pit on your deck, you must keep objects and overhangs away from a fire pit, but this is especially important when using a smokeless fire pit.

Because of how hot the fire burns, the flames stretch up much higher on a smokeless fire pit than a standard fire pit. Plus, the fire heats items that are directly over the fire.

Smokeless fire pits are safe, but make sure there is nothing above the smokeless fire pit that can catch fire from the fire below, including trees, overhangs, and any ceiling or roof structure.

Conclusion

We hope this has helped you understand more about smokeless fire pits and how they work! Take a look at the fire pits we have to offer on our website before you go. We have many wood-burning fire pits and gas-burning fire pits for you to choose from!