Bioethanol and gas fire pits give you a real flame with no smoke, no ash and no sparks, which is what makes them workable on a small terrace, a balcony or anywhere close to a neighbour's fence. Neither needs a flue. Fireside Boutique stocks 70 of them across fire bowls and fire tables, from £129 to £12,500. Free UK mainland delivery.
Read the full smoke-free fire pit buying guide
Gas or bioethanol?
Gas lights on a button, runs from a 13kg propane cylinder that usually lives in the base of the table, and gives you a controllable flame height and instant shut-off. It is the higher heat output of the two and the cheaper of the two to run. Bioethanol needs no cylinder and no plumbing at all: you fill the burner from a bottle, light it, and it burns until the fuel runs out. That makes bioethanol the more portable option and the more expensive one per evening.
What you give up against wood
Neither fuel gives you the crackle, the woodsmoke scent or the sheer radiant output of a wood fire. What you get back is a fire you can start five minutes before guests arrive and stop the moment they leave, with nothing to clear out the next morning and nothing blowing across the garden at your neighbours.
Fire bowl or fire table
A bowl keeps the flame low and central, and suits an informal circle of seating. A fire table lifts the burner into a solid top at coffee, dining or bar height, so it works as furniture between fires. Almost every gas model in this range is a table, because the cylinder has to live somewhere and the base is the obvious place.
Running costs, honestly
A 13kg propane cylinder gives you a long run of evenings and costs a fraction of what the same hours would cost in bioethanol. Bioethanol is bought by the litre and burns through it. If the fire will be lit most weekends through the season, gas is the cheaper decision over a couple of years even where the unit costs more up front.
Also worth seeing
For the full range including wood burning models, see fire pits and tables. For a model rated to come inside the house, see indoor fire pits and tables.
