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Sitting around a campfire with your family and roasting stick bread – Fireplaces evoke childhood memories. Also, evenings with friends are likely to be accompanied by the crackling of blazing flames.
A fireplace offers many possibilities. Naturally, fireplaces are often used for barbecuing and cooking. Here you will find an overview of the different types of fireplaces, what you need to consider when it comes to buying one and how you can easily build your own perfect fireplace.
What is a fireplace?
A fireplace refers to a permanent place for an open fire. This usually involves removing soil from the ground. The resulting hole is demarcated with fireproof materials to contain the fire and prevent root fires. That way your campfire pit, which is also popular as a cooking area, becomes a gathering point and keeps the fire in place. For those who like matters a little more flexible, a portable Fire Bowl is a good alternative.
How do I build a fireplace?
A fireplace is the main attraction of any adventure and a real asset, especially on cooler autumn or spring evenings. You can build a proper fireplace yourself with just a few materials. Here are some short instructions on how to build a fireplace and what you should consider.
1. The plan:
Decide how wide you want your fireplace to be. Consider the diameter if you want to place a Cooking Tripod or Fire Bridge over it.
Collect stones for the inner border of your fireplace. Make sure that the stones are suitable for direct contact with fire. Bricks, fireclay bricks and Dutch clinker bricks are examples of suitable stones.
Check whether you have enough stones to surround the fireplace without gaps. Adjust the size of your fireplace if necessary.
2. Enough with planning:
For a classic fireplace, remove the turf in the desired radius. The depth will depend on the size of your stones. They should be flush with the ground. Also remove some soil around your hole.
3. Stone against stone:
Place your fireproof stones next to each other, preferably on their sides, and align them around the edge of the hole using a rubber mallet or piece of wood.
4. Finish:
For the area around the fireplace you can also use stones that have a lower heat resistance, such as basalt or porphyry, as these stones are not directly exposed to the fire. And that's how you complete your fireplace.
What types of fireplaces are there?
The purpose determines the flame: A crackling fire can warm, serve as a cooking area or be used as a signal. What really matters for the intended purpose is how the fireplace is built. Whether for the small bushcraft cooking place or the large campfire gathering, these four ways of building a wood fire are efficient and easy to replicate and remember.
Type of Fireplace | Purpose of Fireplace | How it´s done |
Tepee | Warming campfire | Prepare a tinder nest in the middle, arrange thin branches in a pyramid shape over it and pile firewood around it (leaving an opening for a kindling hole). |
Log cabin fire | Long-lasting fire for cooking or grilling | Stack straight logs in a square tapering towards the top. Proceed by staggering two logs at a time. Prepare the kindling with twigs and branches in the uppermost layers. This way the fire will burn from top to bottom. Especially suitable for a fire in the Atago or in the Griddle and Fire Bowl. |
Star fire | An efficient and easy to control fireplace | Arrange medium-size branches and logs in a star shape. The ends of the large pieces of wood should be pushed further into the centre as needed. This is how you build an optimal cooking fire for the Fire Bridge, Fire Anchor or Cooking Tripod. |
Parallel fire | Simple cooking place with little material | Place two large branches parallel in the direction of the wind. The branches will serve as support for your cooking utensils. The fire is then built between the branches using twigs and small branches as fuel. Two additional branches can be used along the other sides to enclose the fire. This cooking area is ideal for bushcraft and survival situations or when you want to use a Dutch Oven directly over an open fire. |
Of course, there are many more types of fireplaces, however, many of them require a lot more time to set up. Fire Bowls are often suitable for travel adventures, as they can be positioned flexibly.
Find out more about Fire Bowls here.
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What do I have to consider with a fireplace?
If you want to add a fireplace to your garden or property, remember that in addition to forest fire warning levels there are legal requirements that govern fire-making.
Therefore, be sure to find out beforehand what kind of fire you are permitted to make in your region. In most regions it is allowed to light a small fire with a diameter of less than one metre.
To be on the safe side, check with the relevant authorities, such as the public order office, forestry office or environmental office.
Regardless of this, it is important to ensure at all times that there the open fire does not present a risk.
- Keep sufficient distance from buildings, combustible materials and neighbours.
- Enclose the fireplace so that the fire cannot spread unrestricted.
- Do not light a fire in strong winds or in very dry conditions.
- Do not use fire accelerant on the fireplace.
- Do not leave the fire unattended.
- Have extinguishing materials such as sand or water ready.
- Keep smoke formation as low as possible.
Is a Fire Bowl allowed in the garden?
A Fire Bowl is a good alternative to an open fireplace.
1. The Fire Bowl keeps the fire in a small and controllable area.
2. There is no contact with the ground, so nature remains untouched by the fireplace.
However, this does not automatically mean that lighting a Fire Bowl is allowed in every garden. Often, forest fire levels or smoke that might disturb neighbours play an important role in whether it is permitted.
The region in which you live also matters, because although there are nationwide forest fire levels, it is up to the respective region to establish the rules that apply at the different levels. It is, therefore, advisable to check with local authorities what rules apply to the use of Fire Bowls gardens.
Learn more about how large your Fire Bowl should be here.
Where can I use a Fire Bowl?
Fire fascinates and wherever there is a Fire Bowl with blazing flames, people gather around it. Whether on campsites, in the garden or public barbecue areas, the design of a Fire Bowl is ideal for these environments.
However, there are official regulations that govern where you can use a Fire Bowl. So be sure to check with local authorities and follow the guidelines at barbecue and camping sites to ensure your Fire Bowl can be used legally.
Find out here which Fire Bowl is the right one for you.
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