Helpful Q & A from EasyFirePits

The Propane reaction from Liquid to Gas at the regulator is a very cold one; much like Freon. As the reaction occurs in “portable <100 lb tanks”, a tank gets very cold and begins to sweat. Soon “sweat” turns to ice, and as more ice gathers on your tank, it can no longer keep the reaction occurring and flames will go very low and you’ll loose ability to change the flame size altogether (other than hose down the tank/ which warms it). 

SOLUTIONS: 

Water Bath

If the tank ices up, or you want to prevent it from icing up, you will need to find a way to keep you tank warm; best/ easiest… find a $5-7 party tub from walmart or local hardware store (like the kind you put keg or drinks in), put the tank inside it, submerge 1/3 of the tank in water; it will insulate it and eliminate the icing up; even in cold weather. The water will get very cold but will not allow the tank to ice up for several hours and then a change of the water will allow it to last for hours again. Amazingly enough when you take the tank out of the water you see how cold the reaction was as there will many times be a 2" think ice cube around the bottom of the tank!! 

Electric Blanket

An electric blanket is an easy way to keep tanks warm. They are UL rated, washable and produce an even amount of heat. Wrapping blankets allows you to skip the water bath altogether, so there is less hassle. Another plus is that they fold up and store easily and can be used for multiple tasks, for instance warming up people.

From an article we found online, every blanket found was made out of acrylic. They recommended a cotton sheet or a towel to wrap around the tank so that if any ice formed, it didn't make contact with the blanket. 

(search Sunbeam Electric Blanket)

OTHER THOUGHT… 

Larger tanks are thick-walled and don’t have this problem as they are designed to contain the cold reaction w/in their very thick walls.  Should you start with a small portable tank for your fire feature and eventually wish to move up to a leased larger tank, they start at 40-50 gallons and move up from there. It's cheaper overall (I pay $65/ year or so to lease 2 hotdog 100 gallon side by side ground tanks). They can be usually situated up to 100' from the street and easily filled by the truck when you wish and can last an entire season easily.  

BTU's are determined by not just the burner, but by the gas pressure, the line size as well as its length. We dont measure our burners in BTU's, and usually if someone is calling us it's because their gas installer is running a pre-plumbed gas line to a pit from a buried tank or street gas connection. 

Again, if you are asking because someone is going to run gas line to your pit or table, than this is all you need to know: 

For Fire Table get at or over 150k btu

For Fire Pit get at or over 250k btu

And, if running nat gas than make sure the line is at or over 1" from house to fire pit or table for max efficiency despite what gas guys say.. for propane it can be 1/2 and it's still fine as it's high pressure gas. For nat gas the line size and length is the "gas tank" as otherwise you burn gas quicker than you can supply it = low flames. 

Simply tell them you need the BTUs above at the fire features and you will be happy! Our LP kits all come with a 20 PSI / 500K BTU regulator and it's far more than most need; but again the purpose of a fire feature is a ball of fire for ambiance and warmth; too much is never a bad thing; the key valve goes from zero to ... "holy s_it!"

EasyFirePits.com International Shipping Policy:  Yes, we ship all over the world, and daily, but we do not have any control over import duties and fees from any of these countries.  The buyer is responsible for any fees generated by your country from importing from the United States.. We ship most normally UPS Expedited International from Tampa, FL 33605.  Should a buyer refuse a package be aware it may cost 3x or more the shipping costs to send it back plus any and all fees generated by your country to exit and bring it back; sometimes this is more costly than the package itself.  Any refunds will be for the cost of the merchandise and shipping and less any and ALL costs to retrieve our package back to Tampa, FL (unless the costs are more than the contents themselves) at which point there will be no refund.  

Are they necessary/ mandatory? NO. While we sell extremely high quality thick stainless pans, they are merely to make it easy, and provide that professional finished and sexy look.  Feel free to try cement board (a water-durable, mold-resistant panel for use under tile and other finishes in a variety of interior and exterior applications). Sold as Hardie Board, Durock, Wonder Board from your local hardware store <$15  3'x5' sheet  (over wood, ceramic, metal studs or by itself). 

Also try cooking/ pizza pans, pots or mixing bowls from your local restaurant supply (<$20 and once covered by pea gravel below the burner, and lava rock or glass above it...function the same as our pans)

Ceramic or concrete bowls / planters... anything heat retardant which you can also find in a statuary or home improvement store... can easily substitute for higher priced alternatives.  

Just like many department store gas fire features/ pits/ tables with the tanks inside, we offer kits for putting your LP tank inside (ITCK+ Kit). Remember a standard LP grill tank is not supposed to be mounted on it's side or it can leak the liquid propane into the regulator before it turns it to gas; which in turn can kill a regulator.  Portable tanks such as 20# or smaller are designed to be portable and while will work for fire features; when using with larger than 12" rings and such, may ice up after a little use without a partial water bath or way to keep them "warm"; rendering the fire feature useless until the tank "cools" down (heats up). 

The smaller a portable tank the quicker it will ice up so keep that in mind when you decide to put a tank in a fire table. 

When you assemble our kits into your creation, assemble from your gas supply or tank to the mounting kit and instead of finally mounting the burner, you can purchase a 1/2" cap to put in place of the burner. Leak test the fire feature and once you feel confident there are no leaks, uncap the mounting nipple and screw on the burner; and even if there is a small leak inside the pit from the nipple to the burner... it's supposed to breathe fire from here!

Up? Down? Up? Down? Chicken? Egg? We suggest always mounting with the fire holes facing up; ESPECIALLY with PROPANE as it otherwise falls (as it's heavier than air) and can pond and become dangerous.  As for Nat Gas, many installers like to mount the burners with holes down as to avoid water in the lines (we hear of that sooo rarely, we don't feel it's worth it).  We  prefer the gas going straight up or being near to the top of the lava rocks, glass, etc. as otherwise wind blows the gas (hydro static pressure) around within and sometimes it all ends up on one side or uneven, or can blow out altogether easier.