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Protect your deck or patio from the heat of a fire pit.
Review: The Smokeless Breeo X Series 24
More than a fire-pit, this is an engineered system for burning wood. The Breeo® X Series 24, the middle size of the X series, is one of the most popular fire pits in the U.S. … for good reason. We ordered this fire pit for testing DeckProtect and were really impressed by everything about it. Made in Lancaster, PA, it is a great example of American inventiveness, and solid quality.
First impression is how solid and well made the Breeo is. It takes a strong person to lift it out of the box and place it on the deck. The one in this photo is made with 304 stainless steel legs and corten steel. (All stainless is an option.) When new, the corten steel is a smooth gray color, but it develops a rust brown patina over time. The patina is a surface rusting that will not penetrate the steel because of the composition of the corten steel. The Breeo is built with a double steel wall. The space between the walls allows heated air from under the fire pit to rise and flow into the fire through a ring of holes in the inner wall. While most fire pits, even expensive ones, have single fire bowl, The Breeo system is entirely different. In other fire pits there is no way to feed oxygen into the bottom of fire bowl under the logs.
Click on photo to enlarge.
The Breeo is engineered to make good use of the space underneath. Not only does air flow upward between the inner and outer wall, it also flows into the floor of the burn chamber through a series of well designed vents.
The Breeo should really not be referred to as a "fire pit," though the company does use the term on its web site. A fire pit is a steel bowl you can build a fire in. The Breeo is an engineered system.
The Breeo should really not be referred to as a "fire pit," though the company does use the term on its web site. A fire pit is a steel bowl you can build a fire in. The Breeo is an engineered system.
An X of 16 large air holes in the floor of the burn chamber are covered by an ingenious vent system that keeps ash from getting into and clogging the holes. Oxygen-rich air flows into the fire from underneath, which makes a big difference in helping the logs to burn efficiently. You can't tell from the photo, but the visible welds are perfectly smooth on chamber floor and where the floor is welded to the inner wall. Again, impressive build quality as well as design.
Click on photo to enlarge.
Conclusion:
Smokeless and Hot
The Breeo was primarily designed to be smokeless, a feature it achieves through more complete combustion of the wood which is the result of oxygen-rich air flow. Of course you need dry wood. Wet or unseasoned wood will likely smoke anyway. We ordered the Breeo for testing DeckProtect on various deck surfaces because the Breeo does burn hotter than many other fire pits. Our tests have revealed that it will turn pressure treated wood a dark brown and melt the thin plastic surface of composite decking. However the Breeo is nowhere near as hot or harmful to decks as fire pits with an enclosed base. Still, the Breeo company makes it very clear to customers that its fire pits are NOT intended for use on decks or even unprotected patios. The ideal surface under a Breeo is gravel. However, we are pleased to be able to report that the Breeo is completely harmless to a deck or patio when placed upon our DeckProtect.Cooking
Although it is designed for its smokeless effect, it has also been designed to be an excellent outdoor cooking system. Since our purpose was testing it on DeckProtect, not cooking, this review does not go into its culinary capabilities and popularity. The company web site does a great job of covering that. We think they don't brag enough about the engineering and build quality.
Warmth for a Circle of Friends
Because it produces so much heat, this is a good choice for keeping warm on a cool evening. A group of friends can stay warm without getting smoke in their faces.The Down Side
The company points out that, since the Breeo is smokeless, you won't have to move your chairs every five minutes to stay upwind of the smoke. However, you should be prepared to add another log every five minutes because this optimized wood burning system really needs to be fed.https://breeo.co
Testing the Breeo
We designed a DeckProtect specifically for the Breeo X-24. Then we ran some real-world tests to demonstrate what happens to different types of composite and PVC decking when you ignore Breeo's advice and fire it up on a deck. See the Results.
