Reflect for a moment on the variety of products being sold into Outdoor Rooms. First there are the huge categories of products such as patio furniture, gas grills and charcoal grills, with sales figures in the multi-millions of units. Then there are the smaller categories such as electric grills, pellet grills, ovens, pizza ovens, power burners, side burners, warming drawers, cabinets, smokers, refrigerators, bars, beer dispensers, ice makers, venting hoods, wine coolers, sinks, heaters, outdoor fireplaces, fire pits, fire tables, sound systems, TVs, pergolas and you’ll most likely think of other categories.

The fact is that sales of almost anything related to today’s Outdoor Rooms are growing. Leading the pack has been the recent phenomenal sales growth of fire pits and fire tables. That growth has already attracted more than 50 companies offering these versatile fire features, including many patio furniture manufacturers in addition to manufacturers of hearth products.

Fire features have been an integral focal point for Outdoor Rooms for some time now, but as more and more manufacturers enter the field, numbers are really skyrocketing. The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association reports (for its members only) shipment numbers of fire pits. Those figures show 21 percent growth in 2013, and an even stronger performance in 2014.

A main reason for this growth is price. While outdoor fireplaces can easily cost well over $5,000, fire pit prices range from less than $100 for a cheap, imported wood-burner at a Big Box store, to $2,000 or $3,000 for quality and stylish fire pits and fire tables at specialty shops. Not every consumer has the backyard space for an outdoor fireplace; the wide range of fire pit sizes and shapes can fit almost any patio.

While most true fire pits, meant to simply hold a fire, can range in height from 12- to 24-in., fire tables – basically a fire pit with a usable table surround – come in many heights. Chat height, by far the most popular, is 16- to 24-in., while dining or counter heights range from 30- to 36-in., and pub- or bar-height is approximately 42-in. This variety of height and function has added to the popularity of fire tables.

“We’re doing really, really well with fire pits and fire tables,” says Bob Gaylord, president of outdoor furniture manufacturer Agio USA. “We kind of pioneered them about 12 years ago, and at that time they did not sell that well. We were pretty much alone until four or five years ago. You can’t create an industry by yourself but, three years ago, 40 or 50 people suddenly were offering portable fire pits. We believe they can become the number one category in outdoor living, even bigger than furniture.”

Gaylord says the catalyst for this growth has been chat groups, where casual outdoor chairs are combined with a fire pit. He says another big trend has been the switch from logs to other fire media.

“Decorative glass or lava rocks without logs allow more fire to show,” he says. “Logs are now only 10 percent of our business.”

“This is an exploding category, and it’s going to continue,” according to Mark Bottemiller, National Sales manager for Ebel, also an outdoor furniture manufacturer. “We design and sell our fire pits with our furniture products. Fire pits are all about kicking back, relaxing and lounging in comfortable chairs around them. Combining fire pits with outdoor furniture stimulates dealer sales.”

Calais Chat from Ebel.

Ebel has introduced its Calais Collection of chat-height fire tables, and now offers smaller 42-in. round and a rectangular style to go with its 49- round and 55-in. square models. All have wood-grained aluminum tops and woven bases to match Ebel furniture.

“We’re having a great year with fire pits and fire tables, with strong double digit growth,” says Ross Johnson, vice president of Marketing for The Outdoor GreatRoom Company. Chat height, or coffee table height, is the company’s biggest seller, representing 80 percent of its fire pit and fire table sales.

“People like to sit around a fire and talk to each other. It’s more intimate. After eating at the fire table, you can turn on the fire. The consumer wants a multi-functional product.” Circular models have been the most popular for The Outdoor GreatRoom Company, but linear fire pits are increasing in popularity. The company has sold linear models up to 10 ft. long for commercial use.

The Outdoor GreatRoom Company has introduced its smaller Providence Series and Colonial Series 60,000 Btu fire tables in rectangular and round models in chat, dining and pub heights. With the fire off, the burner can be covered with a lazy susan for convenient dining. Glass guards are becoming more popular on the company’s fire pits, keeping wind from the flame and “creating an ambiance with the reflection of the flame,” according to Johnson.

Napoleon Fireplaces is finding sales success with its growing line of gas fire pits sold through hearth and barbecue dealers, according to Stephen Schroeter, senior vice president of Sales and Marketing. New from the company are its Patioflame series fire tables. Both the 48 x 48-in. square and 551⁄2 x 36-in. rectangular fire tables are all aluminum, powder-coated in a Hammertone Pewter finish with stainless-steel 60,000 Btu burners featuring “Easy Start” ignition and Topaz Crystaline glass media. Napoleon’s Patioflame series also includes fire pits in 24-in. round and 48-in. linear sizes offering either logs or glass media.

Fire Bowl from RH Peterson.

RH Peterson is relatively new into fire pits and fire tables with its American Fyre Designs, but the company is “very pleased” with sales results, says Bob Dischner, senior vice president of Marketing. New from Peterson is its Artisan Glass Edition and Nest fire tables with modern styling and made of glass fiber-reinforced concrete. The Artisan Glass is embellished with mirrored glass, colored glass or colored stones.

The company also has added new fire bowls and upgraded lighting effects on its Fire Fall water and flame models and is adding decorative elements to its chat-height fire tables. Fire urns, which look like large vases, says Dischner, are another offering from Peterson. Included is the company’s five ft. tall Nest Lantern.

While its 43-in. round fire tables are the company’s biggest sellers, OW Lee is offering a new 30-in. round fire pit and a 42 x 72-in. rectangular dining height fire table in its Classico line, according to Leisa McCollister, Marketing manager.

“The smaller models are perfect for balconies now more prevalent in today’s more urban living. We are also matching our fire pit aesthetics with our furniture designs, such as our Classico with its distressed look. We’re making it easier for the consumer to match furniture with a fire feature.”

OW Lee offers 12 options of tumbled glass fire media. “We also offer logs and rocks, but we sell far more glass,” says McCollister. “There is no comparison.”

Belo square fire pit from Tropitone.

Tropitone Furniture is doing very well with its fire pits; it also matches finishes with its furniture, says Tanya Stevens, vice president of Marketing and Service Operations. “They really fit with our deep-seating options,” she says. New from Tropitone is its smaller, round HPL Fire Pit Collection featuring Belo tops made of high-pressure laminates in six finishes. Tropitone also offers fire pits that burn ethanol fuel.

Claiming to be “The Original Firepit Table Company,” California Outdoor Concepts is having a “good, strong” sales year, according to owner Clint Blevins, touting a 22 percent sales increase this year, “and we don’t think this category has yet matured.”

The company offers more than 10,000 skus with fire tables from 42- to 54-in. diameters, most with solid granite tops. Blevins says, “Chat height is the thing to sell; other heights are small sellers.” Blevins also sees glass as the media of choice. “In the past, 90 percent of our sales were with logs. Today 85 percent is with glass media.”

Not as optimistic as most manufacturers about the fire pit and fire table market, Kingsman Fireplaces offers three styles of fire pits and has fire tables on the way, says Neil Green, director of Marketing. “More and more fire pits are being hand-built on site by landscape architects to match a particular size, placement or style,” he says. “They simply buy burners and build a surround. We’ll offer some new products, but we’re giving priority to our hearth products.”

Some of those site-built fire pits may be masonry modular models from manufacturers such as Masonry Fireplace Industries with its Mason-Lite brand. Offering wood-burning models as well, the Mason-Lite line includes 48-in. diameter models from 16- to 24-in. tall. “They are assembled on site unfinished so a homeowner or builder can simply put on the stone, stucco or tile they want,” says Bill Harris, managing partner.

Penta Burner from HPC/Hearth Products Controls.

While offering some finished fire pits, HPC/Hearth Products Controls is best known for its gas burners and fire pit inserts. Celebrating its 40th anniversary, HPC owner Greg Steck says, “Round burners have been around for a long time, but linear is growing like crazy, and we’re seeing overall double-digit growth this season.” New from HPC is its Penta Burner with five “lobes,” like a flower instead of a round shape. Available in 12- to 36-in. sizes with 48-in. coming soon, this unique burner design is said to use less fuel while maintaining at least the same flame height. Also scheduled to be introduced at the Nashville HPBA show is HPC’s Evolution 360 Fire-on-Water, a CSA-certified gas insert featuring fire burning on water.

While most fire pits today are fueled with LP or natural gas, some manufacturers are featuring stylish wood burners. Decorpro Home + Garden features its custom-made, very stylized Folia and Ion fire pits, solid steel models finished in epoxy gunmetal grey. With a suggested list price of $1,650, the Folia is a sculpted, petal-shaped, 260-pound, 66-in. round x 25-in. high model. The Ion lists at $1,200 and is a “Romanesque structure,” (185 pounds, 47-in. diameter and 39-in. high).

The company also offers its unique Aqua Flame fire feature, more of an electric fire, featuring water vapor mist and halogen lighted “flames,” according to Sales director Pippa Hildred. The company also offers 15 table-top fire pit models burning “spill proof” ethanol-type fuel.

Fire pits and fire tables are not just products for patio furniture retailers to sell. There is a growing market through hearth dealers as well. “Virtually every specialty shop should have gas fire pits on their floor,” says Agio’s Bob Gaylord. “Successful dealers need at least two or four on display to show different shapes and burners,” adds The Outdoor GreatRoom’s Ross Johnson. “You sell what you display.”

“You should display them all year,” adds Clint Blevins, “because they sell all year. We sell as many in September through November as we do in April through June. Consumers can use these products all year.”

Display them properly, and they will sell.

Strangler Vine Triptych.

Fire Bowl.

Elena Colombo, owner of Fire Features, is a classically trained sculptor who just happens to love fire (now, fess up; you know that everyone in the hearth industry also has just a wee bit of pyromania in their brain).

Colombo deals primarily with outdoor products, although she occasionally steps inside to create a stunning log or vine set. The closest she comes to creating a fire pit is with her Fire Bowl; it’s 68 in. in diameter and so far has been purchased by about 300 people.

Most of her work is custom – one-offs with stunning design and price tags that just stun (hey, custom work is never commissioned by the faint of heart or wallet!).

Her most recent sculpture was installed in a pool this past December. It’s called Strangler Vine Triptych and was cast in bronze, including the lily pads.

Three bronze, 300,000 Btu vertical burners were placed up the middle of the vines. One is six ft. high, another is 9 ft. high, and the third is 11 ft. high. The electronic ignition, venturi and gas connection were hidden behind a utility hub at the bottom where all the lines come through the concrete piling.

It’s situated in front of a residence on Star Island in Miami. In the photo, water has yet to be added to the pool.