Tired of smoke constantly blowing in your face when you’re trying to enjoy a cozy evening by the firepit? Brad Rodriguez from the YouTube channel Fix This Build That has a solution. In his recent video, Brad shares his journey of transforming a traditional fire pit into a smokeless one. Let’s explore his insights and some extra tips to make your backyard experience smokeless and enjoyable.
The Problem with Traditional Fire Pits
Brad starts by highlighting the common issue with traditional fire pits: the smoke. No matter where you sit, it seems like the smoke always finds you. This is not only annoying but also ruins the relaxing ambiance that a fire pit is supposed to provide. The lack of proper airflow is often the culprit behind the persistent smoke.
Testing Airflow with Smoke Bombs
To understand how to reduce smoke, Brad conducts an interesting experiment using smoke bombs. These are typically used to test air leaks in HVAC systems. By placing a smoke bomb in different parts of his fire pit, he observed how air gets pulled into the fire for combustion. This step is crucial to identify the areas where airflow is restricted, which was new to me and will be extremely helpful.
Understanding the Solo Stove Design
Brad then explains the mechanics behind the popular Solo Stove, a commercial smokeless fire pit. The Solo Stove has a double-wall design with an outer and inner layer, allowing air to flow through the space in between. This design helps in secondary combustion, where the heated air burns off the smoke before it escapes, creating a smokeless fire experience.
Adapting the Design to a DIY Fire Pit
Brad aims to replicate the Solo Stove’s smokeless design in his own fire pit. The first modification involves creating air openings around the bottom of the fire pit. This allows cold air to enter from the base, which then heats up and rises to provide additional oxygen to the fire. He also removes some bricks to improve airflow and uses rocks to create channels for the air.
Experimenting with Hole Sizes
The next step in Brad’s process is determining the right size and placement of holes for optimal airflow. He decides to test various sizes, from half-inch to one-and-a-half inches, to see which provides the best secondary combustion. After drilling the holes, he tests the airflow with smoke bombs again to observe the effectiveness of each size. Eventually, Brad concluded that half-inch holes work best, spaced 1 and a half inches apart.
Challenges with Tumbled Stones
During his experiments, Brad encounters an issue with tumbled stones. These stones, while aesthetically pleasing, have uneven surfaces that create gaps. Smoke and air tend to escape through these gaps rather than the intended holes. To fix this, Brad fills the gaps with quick-set mortar, ensuring that the airflow is directed through the drilled holes.
Final Adjustments and Testing
With the mortar set and gaps filled, Brad conducts another test. This time, he uses a fog machine to simulate smoke and observe the airflow. The adjustments significantly improve the airflow, with smoke being drawn in through the bottom and out through the top holes, achieving the desired smokeless effect.
Importance of Dry Wood
Brad notes that the type of wood used also plays a critical role in reducing smoke. In his final test, he uses well-seasoned, dry wood from his dad’s stash, which burns cleaner and produces less smoke. This reinforces the idea that using the right materials is just as important as the fire pit design. I found this to be incredibly helpful as well, and will be testing out this type of wood.
Extra Tips From the Community
People in the comments shared some extra tips: “I’m thinking the only thing you could have done that would improve the performance of your fire pit is more depth. The Solo stoves are much smaller in diameter than your fire pit and they are taller in height. That gives much more space for the air to really heat up as it rises from the bottom to the top of the air channel. Great video! I know I learned a lot by watching it.”
Another commenter added: “Tip for calculating the airflow: Measure your 4 gaps in the bricks. That’s the surface area of the inflow. Ideally the outflow should be similar in size to the inflow, or slightly larger. Number of holes * pi * diameter is the surface area of the exhaust. Compare the two numbers and then adjust the hole size (or number of holes) until the inflow area matches the outflow.”
A More Enjoyable Experience
Brad Rodriguez’s journey in creating a smokeless fire pit demonstrates that with some thoughtful modifications, you can transform your backyard fire pit into a more enjoyable, smoke-free experience. By ensuring proper airflow and using dry wood, you can minimize smoke and enhance your outdoor gatherings. I will definitely be taking a page out of Brad’s book and try these modifications.
Other Possible Modifications
What do you think? What other modifications can be made to traditional fire pits to improve their efficiency and reduce smoke? How might different materials used in constructing a fire pit affect its performance in terms of smoke reduction? What are the environmental impacts of using smokeless fire pits compared to traditional ones?
To dive deeper into this topic, check out the full video on the Fix This Build That YouTube channel here.
