Best Fire Pit Burners
Which are the best fire pit burners currently on the market?
Fire Pit Burners are a very straightforward appliance from a technological standpoint. So it is pretty surprising that there is so much misinformation about them, even from reputable sources.
This article will provide the low down on how a fire pit burner works, the different kinds available, and which are the best fire pit burners for you.
Putting aside the shape of the burners, which we will address a little later, there are two types currently on the market, conventional or standard burners and burners with ‘nozzles’.
It might surprise you to learn that neither option is universally considered the “best fire pit burner.” Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference and which flame pattern appeals most to you.
Nozzle Burners
On our website, the ‘nozzle’ burner options are the Bullet Burners manufactured by The Outdoor Plus, the Torpedo Burners manufactured by HPC Fire, and finally the Crossfire Burners by Warming Trends.
Burners with nozzles or tips, create a bigger flame, and for ‘bigger,’ you should read ‘taller.’ However, it is a very different style or shape of flame when compared to a conventional burner.
The nozzles work similarly to squeezing the end of your garden hose to create a more powerful water jet, the nozzles creating a jet of flame.
What size flame can you expect from a Torpedo, Bullet Burner, or Crossfire Burner?
HPC’s marketing tells us that we can reasonably expect a flame of between 22 and 26 inches. The Outdoor Plus states that you can expect the minimum flame height of a correctly installed Bullet Burner to be 18 to 20 inches.
A key difference between nozzled burners and standard burners lies in their installation. Nozzled burners, with nozzles protruding above the gas ring, must not be covered by lava rock or fire glass.
In contrast, properly installing a standard burner involves burying it beneath the lava rock or fire glass.
The nozzle burner projects individual jets of flame that shoot up from the fire pit surface. With a conventional Burner, the gas filters up and is dispersed through the fire media where it ignites, producing a very different flame style.
We are regularly asked, ‘Should I use a nozzled burner?’ as if there was some technical reason for selecting a nozzle burner over a conventional one. There is none, it is purely a matter of which flame style you prefer.
When informing customers that there is no technical reason for choosing a nozzled burner, customers frequently ask the second question, “Don’t they use less gas?” ‘More flame, less gas’ is a marketing statement attached to nozzle burners, but it must be interpreted correctly.
The key point is that all burners have BTU ratings. If you replace a 100,000 BTU-rated standard burner with a 100,000 BTU-rated nozzle burner, both would use the same amount of gas per hour if the gas valves were fully open. However, the nozzle burner would produce a much taller, more impressive flame.
The gas consumption advantage of the nozzle burner only becomes apparent when the gas flow is reduced, allowing it to achieve a similar flame height to that of a standard burner while using less gas.
Customers often turn to nozzle burners to improve the poor flame size produced by their current standard burner. However, it’s important to note that ninety percent of poor flame performance is due to a mismatch between the available gas flow and the BTU rating of the burner, whether it’s nozzled or conventional. Given this, replacing a burner with another of equal BTU rating—whether nozzled or not—is unlikely to solve the problem.
The burner size that you select, or more precisely, the BTU rating of the Burner you choose, should be dictated by the amount of gas you can provide, not the size of your fire pit.
If you only have 100,000 BTUs available to your burner and install one rated at 200,000 BTU, the result will be disappointing, to say the least!
Please see the following article for a more in-depth look at this concept. How to successfully build a gas fire pit Part 1
Conventional Burners
Conventional Burners operate in a very different manner from nozzle burners.
The burner is designed to be covered with lava rock or fire glass, through which the gas must percolate via the small nooks and crannies to reach the surface. This ensures more even distribution and helps create a consistent, visually appealing flame.
The gas ignites close to or on the surface of the lava rock or fire glass, creating the mesmerizing “fire dancing on glass” effect. The diffused flame footprint provides a realistic alternative to a real campfire.
Fire Media
The drop-in fire pit pans and inserts here at The Magic of Fire are about two inches deep requiring approximately two inches of fire glass or lava rock to cover the Burner and finish flush with the top of the pan.
On larger-sized fire pit inserts, this can require a lot of fire glass and becomes quite expensive.
Using lava rock as a filler to cover the Burner and topping it off with a layer of your favorite fire glass is perfectly acceptable. Lava rock is cheaper and lighter than fire glass, so you get better coverage per pound.
Important Note If Using Propane:
Propane is a heavier gas than air; therefore, it is less eager to rise up through the lava rock or fire glass.
HPC recommends using a minimum size of 3/4 inch lava rock or fire glass which allows for a more efficient flow of propane to the fire media surface, ensuring better combustion and flame performance.
If, when lighting your current propane fire pit, you find it does not ignite immediately, then suddenly ignites with a huge ‘whomp’ of flame, this may be caused by the propane struggling to rise to the surface of the fire media.
Increasing the size of your lava rock or fire glass or reducing its depth may reduce the ignition flash.
Shapes of Fire Pit Burners
Burners are available in an extensive range of standard shapes.
Round or circular-shaped burners are ideal for both circular and square fire pits. They also fit into hexagonal, octagonal, and triangular-shaped fire pits.
Square burners are perfect for square fire pits and reach a little deeper into the corners of the fire pit than a round burner.
Linear Burners produce a single line of fire in narrow fire pits and are often used to delineate areas.
Rectangular-shaped fire pits can utilize either a Rectangular Burner or an ‘H’ burner, depending on your personal preference. Remember that a Rectangular Burner will usually have a higher BTU rating than an equivalent-sized ‘H’ burner and thus will require more gas.
S-shaped Burners are produced as standard by HPC Fire and The Outdoor Plus and must be fitted on a rectangular pan or insert.
If none of the standard sizes and shapes of burners fit your fire pit design, then HPC Fire or The Outdoor Plus company manufactures custom-built fire pit burners. Please send us your requirements via the Contact Us form.
Selecting the Best Fire Pit Burners
Selecting the best fire pit burners is not at all complicated. Burners have a harsh working environment, so first and foremost, we are looking for quality materials and construction.
We recommend using only fire pit burners manufactured from high-quality Stainless Steel or Brass (Bullet or Crossfire). Fire Pit Burners have a very tough life and need to be fit for purpose.
We also recommend that you select a burner with a Lifetime Warranty. All fire pit burners featured here on The Magic Of Fire have the manufacturer’s Lifetime Warranty.
What Size Burner Should I select?
The size of the Burner you select is dictated by how much gas you have available, gas pressure, and the size of the pipe supplying the gas to the fire pit location (hard piping).
You may want to put a 36-inch round burner into your 48-inch round fire pit; that makes sense aesthetically. However, a 36-inch round Burner has a rating of 400,000+ BTUs. If you only have 200,000 BTUs available, you have a big problem. You would be lucky to generate a flame at all.
When planning your fire pit or solving the ‘small flame’ issue of an existing fire pit, the starting point is to find out how much gas you have available to direct to the fire pit.
Once you know how much gas is available, you need to calculate the appropriate gas feed pipe size to move that gas from its source to the fire pit location. The longer the distance the gas has to travel, the larger the diameter of the feed pipe needs to be.
Ninety-nine percent of small flame issues stem from a mismatch between the amount of gas the burner receives and the amount it requires to produce its optimal flame, which is determined by its BTU rating.
Correctly matching the burner’s BTU rating to the available gas supply ensures optimal performance from your chosen burner.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us via our Contact Form or call toll-free at the number at the top of the page.