Ethanol, Propane, or Natural Gas: Which Fuel Type Is Right for Your Fire Pit Kit?

EcoSmart fire pit kits run on bioethanol, liquid propane, or natural gas, and the right choice depends on where the pit will live and what utilities are available at the site. Bioethanol is the only EcoSmart fuel rated for indoor use, certified under EN 16647 and UL 1370. Liquid propane and natural gas fire pit kits share the same burner hardware and produce up to 65,000 BTU/hr (19 kW) per burner. Natural gas fire pit kits require a licensed installer and an orifice swap from the default propane configuration. The table below summarises the three options before each section goes deeper.

Bioethanol fire pit kits are the only EcoSmart configuration rated for indoor use, and that single fact reframes the rest of the comparison. A bioethanol burner needs no flue, no gas line, no licensed installer, and no permanent fuel supply. It draws liquid e-NRG bioethanol from a sealed reservoir, burns it through an engineered combustion chamber, and produces flame, heat, water vapour, and CO2, and nothing else. No smoke. No soot. No ash on the tray to vacuum out in the morning.

Heat output across the bioethanol range scales with burner count. The compact Round 20 fire pit kit and Square 22 each run a single AB8 burner producing 20,433 BTU/hr (5.99 kW) and burn for roughly 7.5 to 9 hours on a full 8-litre reservoir. The linear range steps up through the single-burner Linear 50 and Linear 65 at 15,000 BTU/hr (4.4 kW), the twin-burner Linear 90 fire pit kit at 30,000 BTU/hr (8.8 kW), and tops out with the triple-burner Linear 130 fire pit kit at 45,000 BTU/hr (13.2 kW).

Certifications are where the bioethanol picture gets serious. EcoSmart's AB8 and XL900 burners are O-TL listed to UL 1370 in the United States and Canada, EN 16647 BSI Certified in the UK and EU, and ACCC Safety Mandate compliant in Australia. This is the same standard the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission used to distinguish certified appliances from the unengineered pooled-alcohol products its 2025 consumer alert pulled from sale. Pooled-alcohol fire pits and pressure-controlled, UL 1370-certified burner systems are categorically different products, and conflating them is one of the reasons bioethanol gets unfairly written off elsewhere.

Liquid propane is the no-utility-required outdoor choice. The same EcoSmart kit configuration that ships as bioethanol becomes a propane kit with a different burner head and a hose to a standard LP cylinder. Heat output jumps to 65,000 BTU/hr (19 kW) per burner, which on the Linear 130 means three burners producing a combined 195,000 BTU/hr (57 kW). A single 9 kg cylinder runs for roughly 8 to 20 hours depending on flame setting and ambient temperature, so a typical evening uses a small fraction of one tank.

The case for propane is mostly about flexibility. Because the fuel travels in a cylinder rather than down a buried line, the entire installation is mobile. A propane pit can move when a deck gets rebuilt, follow a holiday-home owner between properties, or stay outdoors year-round in climates where natural gas pressure drops in deep cold. The cylinder also sits inside the kit's enclosure or in a discrete adjacent cabinet, so no plumber, no permit, and no trenching are involved at install. The cost story is roughly an entry-level setup against the four-figure trenching and permit picture for natural gas reported in HomeAdvisor's 2025 cost data.

On the certification side, EcoSmart's gas burners are UL/ULC listed to ANSI Z21.97-2017 and CSA 2.41-2017 in North America, CE marked under Gas Appliance Regulation 2016/426 in the EU, and UKCA marked in the UK. The 2017 ANSI revision added rain testing, capped exposed-surface temperatures at 78°C (172°F), and introduced wind resistance tests at 16 km/h (10 mph) and 50 km/h (31 mph), meaningful upgrades for an appliance that lives outside year-round. EcoSmart publishes clearance and non-combustible surface requirements in a dedicated fire pit kit safety reference, which any gas configuration needs to follow.

Natural gas is the set-and-forget outdoor configuration. The burner hardware is identical to the propane version: same UL/ULC listing, same 65,000 BTU/hr (19 kW) per burner output, same six-model lineup from Round 20 up to Linear 130, but plumbed into a fixed gas line rather than a cylinder. Once installed, burn time is unlimited and refuelling is no longer a calendar entry. For restaurants, hospitality venues, primary residences, and any application where the pit gets used several times a week, that's the difference between a service ritual and a switch.

Natural gas fire pit kits require a licensed installer and an orifice swap from the default propane configuration. EcoSmart ships every gas kit in the propane orifice setup as the default, so a competent gas technician converts it on site to suit local natural gas pressure. This isn't a step to attempt as DIY. Gas plumbing is licensed work in every market EcoSmart sells into, and the certification chain only holds if the conversion is done correctly. Honest cost framing matters here: natural gas commands the highest upfront install cost of the three fuels because of the line work, trenching, and permits, but it then delivers the cheapest running cost per kWh of any option once the line is in. For more on whether a kit makes sense versus a from-scratch masonry build at this cost point, see our analysis of kit versus custom build.

A brief aside on global availability before the next section: EcoSmart's gas and electric products are not sold in Australia, so an Australian project running natural gas through an EcoSmart kit is not an option. Australian customers spec bioethanol; the rest of the EcoSmart international footprint covers all three fuels.

The fuel choice ultimately comes down to three numbers, and the table below holds them in one place across all six models. Two patterns are worth sitting with after you read it. First, gas delivers roughly 1.5× to 13× the peak BTU of bioethanol depending on which model you compare, but those are peak figures, not effective warmth, and bioethanol's flame profile and radiant heat distribution differ meaningfully from a high-output gas burner, so raw BTU comparisons don't translate directly to perceived warmth. Second, bioethanol's burn time per refuel is broadly comparable to propane's burn time per cylinder, despite competitors framing bioethanol as having "short" run times.

Running cost is the spec almost every competing fuel guide quietly omits for bioethanol, and the reason is straightforward. Bioethanol's cost per hour sits in the moderate-to-premium tier and varies meaningfully by region: e-NRG is sold by the litre in Australia and the UK, by the gallon and quart in the US and Canada, and is not distributed in the European Union (EU customers source their bioethanol from local suppliers). Within any given market the spend per evening is predictable, but it's higher per kWh delivered than natural gas, and roughly comparable to propane at low-to-medium flame settings.

Propane sits in the moderate tier with very stable per-cylinder economics. Cylinders are a commodity, refill costs barely change across a year, and a typical evening of use consumes a fraction of a tank, so the per-hour cost is predictable and easy to budget for a hospitality operator or homeowner alike.

Natural gas is the cheapest of the three on a per-kWh basis once the line is paid off. The headline upfront installation cost is significantly higher than propane setup or a bioethanol kit, but the ongoing fuel cost is the lowest of any option in this article. The break-even point depends on how many hours a year the pit actually runs. A hospitality courtyard burning through 1,500 hours a year crosses the break-even inside the first year, while an occasional-use suburban deck might not for a decade. That's the lens to apply rather than headline running cost alone.

The placement rule for EcoSmart fire pit kits is genuinely simple. Bioethanol is rated for both indoor and outdoor use, including covered outdoor spaces, provided the room volume requirement is met and (for indoor) the AB8 Burner Efficiency Ring and Indoor Safety Tray are fitted to bring the kit into EN 16647 compliance. Liquid propane and natural gas configurations are outdoor-only, and "outdoor" here means uncovered or genuinely open-sided structures, never a fully enclosed pergola, garage, or covered alfresco where combustion byproducts can accumulate.

EcoSmart's certifications stack covers every major market the brand sells into, with parallel coverage for both bioethanol and gas configurations. For bioethanol, the AB8 and XL900 burners are O-TL listed to UL 1370 in the US and Canada, EN 16647 BSI Certified in the UK and EU, and ACCC Safety Mandate compliant in Australia. In Australia, the ACCC mandate requires flame arresters in all bioethanol fuel containers, a requirement e-NRG exceeds by integrating the arrester directly into its proprietary Safety Spout.

For gas, both propane and natural gas configurations are UL/ULC listed to ANSI Z21.97-2017 and CSA 2.41-2017 in North America, CE marked under Gas Appliance Regulation 2016/426 in the EU, and UKCA marked in the UK. The 2017 ANSI revision tightened the standard with rain testing, a 78°C (172°F) exposed-surface temperature cap, and wind resistance tests at 16 km/h (10 mph) and 50 km/h (31 mph).

Two availability rules apply globally and override anything a regional storefront might suggest at the UI level. First, EcoSmart gas and electric products are not sold in Australia. Australian customers can only spec bioethanol for fire pit kits. Second, e-NRG bioethanol fuel is not distributed in the European Union; bioethanol fire pit kits still ship to EU customers, but the fuel itself is sourced locally from a non-e-NRG supplier. The fire pit kit is the same kit; only the fuel-supply route changes. Both rules matter when planning a project across multiple markets, particularly for hospitality groups specifying a consistent design palette across regional properties.

The fuel decision usually resolves in three questions. Work through them in order and you'll land on the right answer for almost any project.

1. Will the fire pit live indoors or in a covered space where gas appliances aren't permitted? If yes, bioethanol is the only option in the EcoSmart range that's rated for that placement.

2. Will the pit live permanently in one outdoor location on a site with an existing gas line, and is the project willing to absorb a licensed install? If yes, natural gas delivers the lowest ongoing fuel cost and unlimited burn time.

3. Will the pit live outdoors with no fixed gas supply, in a cold climate, or in a location it may be moved from? If yes, propane is the right call: high heat, portable, and no licensed install required.

Hybrid scenarios are common, particularly in hospitality. A hotel running bioethanol in the lobby lounge and natural gas in the open-air courtyard is using the same EcoSmart kit shape across both spaces, with the fuel decision tuned to each placement independently. The shape and size decision sits separately from the fuel decision, which is what makes the EcoSmart range flexible to spec.

The fuel decision is one of three independent calls in any fire pit kit project (fuel, shape, and surface), and once it's made the other two slot into place quickly. Bioethanol if the pit is going indoors or under cover. Natural gas if it's permanent, outdoor, and the site has a line. Propane for everything else outdoors.

The next decisions to work through are the shape of the kit, the surface and clearance requirements at the install site, and the choice between an off-the-shelf kit and a custom build. EcoSmart's complete fire pit kit guide walks through models, sizes, and installation in one place, and the full lineup of configurations is available on the fire pit kits category page when you're ready to specify.