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Simple Tips to Get Bigger Flames in a Gas Fire Pit

Simple Tips to Get Bigger Flames in a Gas Fire Pit

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Is your gas fire pit giving off a puny flame? If it is, you may wonder how to get bigger flames in a gas fire pit.

There are several ways to do so. They include shoring up any gas leaks, having the right amount of fire media, and optimizing your fire pit’s regulator and fuel line hose.

Read on to learn more about why your gas fire pit’s flame is so low and how to fix it.

Why Does Your Gas Fire Pit Have a Small Flame?

The flame your gas fire pit produces can be underwhelming for several reasons.

The culprit could be a malfunction in your fire pit or an internal component that you need to optimize or upgrade.

Some common causes of small gas fire pit flames include:

  • Gas leaks
  • Too much fire media on top of the burner
  • Insufficient pressure from the regulator
  • Insufficient diameter of the fuel line hose

How to Make Your Gas Fire Pit’s Flame Bigger

You didn’t think we were going to state the problem and not give you the solution, did you?

Here are some tips and potential fixes for the issues potentially causing your gas fire pit’s flame to be too small:

Make Sure There’s no Gas Leakage

If your gas fire pit’s flame isn’t as large as you’d like, the first thing to check for is if you have a gas leak.

This is more likely to be the reason for your problem if you always smell gas when you turn on your fire pit.

In that case, inspect all your fire pit’s screws and fittings and make sure they’re all secured properly.

If you still get a whiff of gas when you fire up the pit and don’t notice any improvement in the flame, you should schedule a technician to come and have a look.

Make Sure There’s Not Too Much Fire Media

No matter the type or brand of your gas fire pit, it’ll have holes at the top that release the gas to be burned. There’ll also be a material on top of these holes, such as lava rock or fire glass, that acts as a fire medium.

When there’s too much of this material covering the fire pit’s holes, it limits the size of the flame the fire pit can produce.

This is even more of an issue if your fire pit works with propane instead of natural gas because propane is heavier.

To solve this issue, brush off some of the fire media to let your fire pit’s holes breathe. Before you take this step, make sure the fire pit is turned off for safety.

You should also ensure that the fire media is sitting right on top of the fire pit, with nothing in between.

Adjust Your Fire Pit’s Regulator Pressure

The size of the flame your gas fire pit gives off depends heavily on the pressure it can produce. The component responsible for this is the regulator, which creates the pressure needed to allow the gas to reach the burner.

You can find your fire pit’s regulator at the base of your fuel source or as part of the flex line setup.

Regulators that can maintain a higher pressure give you better gas flow, more efficient burning, and result in a more robust flame.

There are two fixes for this issue.

If your regulator can produce higher pressure, you can simply calibrate it to do so.

In other cases, the regulator isn’t strong enough to create the pressure needed to produce your desired flame size. So, you’ll need to upgrade to one with a higher BTU output.

Make Sure Your Fuel Line Hose Is Big Enough

The size of your fuel line hose is another key factor that determines how big a flame your fire pit will produce.

The fuel line hose is the outlet that feeds fuel gas into your fire pit’s burner. When this hose is too narrow, it inhibits the fire pit’s potential flame size. In many cases, upgrading to a ½-inch hose instead of a standard ⅜-inch one does the trick.

We recommend consulting a professional to find out the ideal hose diameter you should have to provide the flame size you want, though. This is because upgrading to a higher-diameter hose without considering its PSI output won’t do any good.

What Is the Ideal Size for a Gas Fire Pit Flame?

For a standard gas fire pit, you should expect the flame to be 6 inches high at the minimum.

Some gas fire pits can do a lot better than that, though.

If you have the correct pressure level combined with a high BTU rating and sufficient gas supply, you can end up with a magnificent 12-inch flame.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some questions people commonly have about gas fire pits:

Do gas fire pits smell?

Anyone who complains about their fire pit making their clothes and skin smell funky probably has a wood fire pit.

Gas fire pits are odorless because propane burns cleanly without producing waste.

The only time your gas fire pit will smell is if you have a gas leak. This is because propane gas has an odor that many describe as similar to rotten eggs.

Do gas fire pits repel mosquitos?

If you’re looking for a fire pit that keeps mosquitos and other insects at bay, go for a wood fire pit.

Gas fire pits don’t do much to repel bugs because they don’t produce any smoke. In some cases, the heat and carbon dioxide that gas fire pits give off can even attract these annoying critters.

Final Thoughts

What good is having a fire pit if it’s going to give off a tiny little flame?

This is why knowing how to get bigger flames in a gas fire pit is important.

Don’t forget to use the tips and tricks we described in this guide to get that huge flame you’re looking for!

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