You will find a lot of information in the web from different authors on issues related to whether it is safe to use a fire under pit under a covered patio. Some of the information you find will tell you to keep your fire pit far away from your covered patio and even the house, while others will tell its okay to do so. Well our take? It is completely okay and safe to use a fire pit under a covered patio. It happens all the time really! But mostly for gas fire pits.
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Many home owners are incorporating gas fire pits under covered patios and other outdoor structures such as pergolas and gazebos, and doing so for years without any issues or accidents. Perhaps, your main concern is causing fires and the effect of the radiant heat generated by your fire pit on the ceiling and walls. You may be concerned that over time, the heat generated by your natural gas or propane gas fire pit will over time crack, bake or discolor the ceiling even on relatively low fire pit setting. Or that you may end up burning down property. Am I right?
Well your worries might be justified and you will only have to worry about that in a combination of some of these factors. However note it may depend with the type of material used in construction.
- If your patio is completely covered thus no proper ventilation. The ceiling and all the sides of the walls are closed. What may happen is that heat is trapped and the only way to go is up. With time you may get charring of the paint up there.
- If the ceiling is too low so most of the heat does not get to disperse before reaching the ceiling.
- Using a wood burning fire pit. There is that risk that comes with using wood burning fire pits as a result of flying embers that could start fires and damaging . Again, with a wood burning fire pit, smoke produced may lead to discoloration depending on the ceiling type as well as soot accumulation.
So to safely use a fire pit under a covered patio here are some precautions you can take;
- For maximum ventilation, your patio should have open sides or open ceiling. This is very important!
- Opt for a propane or natural gas fire pit. They burn clean and smokeless, so no soot problems to worry about.
- The ceiling should be high enough so that most of the heat will disperse before reaching it up there.
As long as you observe all the other fire and fire pit safety precautions, then there is little to worry about concerning using a fire pit under a covered patio.