to think that a fire pit would be lovely in our garden?

[KingscoteStaff]

Me: Imagining lovely spring/summer/autumn evenings with the family sitting round glowing flames, toasting marshmallows. It would encourage us to use the garden more after 5pm. The teenagers and their friends would love it.

DH: Everyone's clothes would smell of smoke. Your front would be scalding and your back freezing (like at Guy Fawkes bonfires). All the teenagers in the world would collect around it, particularly the smokers. Those teenagers would clomp mud on their enormous feet through our kitchen as they went in and out from the loo. It's probably bad for the environment in some way.

Me: But I want one!!! Look how lovely!!

I’m sorely tempted. I holiday in South Africa a lot (or I did 😰) and have fond memories of sitting round the boma of an evening.

Not sure it will be the same in the Pennines.

We've got one, we love it but we don't use it nearly as much as we thought we'd do!

The heat goes straight up and dissipates immediately leaving behind the smoke to ruin your clothes, your DH is 50% right. Chimineas channel the heat a bit better although you need to be sitting next to it.

Get a patio heater

We have one. Its been awesome during the pandemic.

However it stinks out everything. And its a pain in the arse.

I want a patio heater. As does DH who loves fires. You can't get them for love nor money atm though.

How bigs your garden? How close are your neighbours? I think they can be really antisocial if nobody can have their windows open in the summer because of the stink

Your neighbours will quietly seethe every time you light it. I have wonderful neighbours who have logburner thing indoors. It stinks smoke out and I hate it.

Please don’t get a patio heater. Terrible for the environment. Either it is warm enough to sit outside, with a jumper on if necessary, or it isn’t.

It depends on your house and garden. We live in a terraced house and I hate it when our neighbours light theirs as we have to close the windows due to the smell coming into the house.

They do look lovely though and I’d like one if I lived in a suitable place for it.

I’d go for a patio heater.

Terraced house.

I hadn't thought about what a pain it would be for the neighbours.

Are they really smelly, though?

Do you remember going clubbing in the 90s when everyone smoked and next morning your clothes and hair stunk and you had the lungs of a 90 year old? Well that's the morning after a fire pit

@KingscoteStaff

Terraced house.

I hadn't thought about what a pain it would be for the neighbours.

Are they really smelly, though?

Yes.

We have one. We camp a lot though so we use it then too. We have it the other side of the house on the side with no neighbours. I wouldn't in a terrace house as that would be too close to open windows in the summer

We have a chimenea, used it about 6 times in as many years. With kiln dried wood, lots of kindling, it only s makes for the first few minutes, it takes some practice though.

But still end up well kippered and having to wash clothes the next day.

Friend has fire pit and that seems less Smokey but did get a lot of smoke 8n eyes of wind got up.

I, even though I know it was daft, bought an esse outdoor stove. We haven’t used it yet....but 8n think the neighbours are going to hate us.

My friends have one and last time I visited I had to wash everything afterwards including my coat. And only my knees were warm.

My neighbours light theirs regularly and i can smell it through our trickle vents.

I love ours - it's beautiful and offers much-needed festivity. But yes, our clothes do smell of smoke and if the wood is at all damp, there's a massive miasma of smoke, though our neighbours don't claim to mind.

@MissMarpletheMurderer

Do you remember going clubbing in the 90s when everyone smoked and next morning your clothes and hair stunk and you had the lungs of a 90 year old? Well that's the morning after a fire pit

Oh dear. I do remember.

Maybe we'll just buy jumpers...

Everything stinks afterwards, yes. It is exactly like the old days where you'd come out of somewhere and everything smells of smoke, even the layers underneath!

@KingscoteStaff

Terraced house.

I hadn't thought about what a pain it would be for the neighbours.

Are they really smelly, though?

Yes, they really stink. And the smell travels. Anyone with breathing problems will struggle to enjoy their own garden or open their windows.

May as well have a bonfire if you want to make the neighbourhood reek of burning and have people slamming their windows around you.

Bought one of these last year thinking it would be lovely.
Never got round to lightning it.

Large garden but never imagined it might affect the neighbours.

Will have to re think.

You can toast marshmallows over candles indoors, we do that a lot.

We live reasonably isolated (only one neighbour whose more likely to pop around for a natter then complain). It smells. In summer we need to close the windows on that side of the house. The kids have special coats for wearing by it. We only use it every couple of weeks when BBQing. Someone always gets a face full of smoke.

They aren't worth it, really. They are up there in the antisocial stakes with flashing lights, garden cinemas, loud parties etc. Only ok if no pne else is around.

The trick too is to have really dry wood. It's not too smelly then. And you can't toast marshmallows on a patio heater 😉
Go for it! We're going to use ours tonight as the children have challenged themselves to stay up all night!

As I said before we don't use it nearly enough - more in the summer when there is light in the sky.

Isn’t the smell caused by damp wood through? People don’t shelter the logs so wood isn’t dry enough for burning, or wood is sold too fresh. Of course any fire will have a very mild smell but it’s much worse if wood is wet.

I’d use the patio heater for warmth and a bbq for the marshmallows...