Natural Gas vs Propane Fire Pits: The Real Differences

Everything downstream — where the pit can sit, what it costs to install, how often you have to think about it after the first burn — flows out of that single fuel choice.

We sell hundreds of fire pits a year at firepits.com, and we watch the same pattern play out on the phone: customers pick a pit they love, then discover their yard doesn't have a gas line running to it, or that the model only ships in propane. Both fuels are genuinely valid. A natural gas pit is the “set it and forget it” answer if you have a line nearby. A propane pit is the “put it wherever you want, this weekend” answer if you don't.

How Natural Gas Fire Pits Work

A natural gas fire pit taps into the same low-pressure line that feeds your furnace, water heater, and range. Fuel arrives from the street at utility pressure, drops through a regulator at your meter to roughly 7 inches of water column (about 0.25 PSI), and travels along a dedicated black-iron or CSST branch to a shutoff valve near the pit.

The two things that make NG different from a plumbing standpoint: the orifice is drilled larger than a propane orifice because NG has lower energy density per cubic foot, and the whole system runs at much lower pressure. That's why you can't just swap a propane pit onto a natural gas line. Something like our Regal 48-inch corten steel NG pit ships pre-configured for NG orifices.

How Propane Fire Pits Work

A propane fire pit runs off a liquid-propane cylinder — usually the same 20-pound tank that feeds a backyard grill. The tank sits either in a concealed compartment under the pit (most tables) or in an external enclosure connected by a hose.

Because propane is stored as a liquid under pressure and vaporizes on the way out, the entire package is self-contained. There's no trench, no permit, no plumber. Our Del Mar 72-inch propane table hides a full 20-lb tank inside the GFRC base — from three feet away, nobody knows it's there.

Installation Cost & Effort

Natural gas installation means a licensed plumber runs a new branch from your existing gas manifold to the pit location. For a typical suburban run — 25 to 40 feet, trenched under a lawn — we see quotes between $800 and $2,400 depending on region. Long runs across concrete patios push that number toward $3,500. Add a permit fee of $75 to $250.

Propane installationis a $0 line item. The tank ships with the pit or you pick one up on the way home. There's no permit, no plumber, no trench.

The catch: NG is a one-time cost, and propane is forever.

Fuel Cost Over Time

Natural gas runs about $1.20 per therm at the residential meter (national average). One therm is 100,000 BTUs. A 65,000 BTU pit at full flame consumes 0.65 therms per hour, or $0.78/hour.

Propane costs about $22 for a 20-lb tank exchange or $16 for a straight refill. A 20-lb tank holds roughly 430,000 BTUs of usable energy. Divide by 65,000 BTUs/hour and you get 6.6 hours of full-flame burn per tank — $3.33/hour on exchange.

At 200 hours of annual use, natural gas costs about $156/year. Propane on tank exchanges runs about $666/year. If your NG install came in at $1,800, the break-even happens around year 3.5.

Below that use threshold (say, 40-60 hours a year on a weekend cabin), propane usually wins on total lifetime cost because the install never amortizes.

Portability & Placement Flexibility

Propane wins this category outright. A propane pit can move — to the far corner of the yard for a summer party, onto the deck for shoulder season, off to a rental house. Our Unity 48-inch hammered copper propane table gets ordered by customers who explicitly don't want to commit to a location.

Natural gas is a permanent fixture the day the plumber leaves. That is a feature if you know exactly where the pit belongs and you're building a hardscape around it. A bug if you're renting or planning a landscape redesign.

Run Time Between Refills

Assuming a 20-lb propane tank with ~430,000 usable BTUs:

45,000 BTU: ~9.5 hours full flame, ~19 hours at 50%.

55,000 BTU: ~7.8 hours full flame, ~15.5 hours at 50%.

65,000 BTU: ~6.6 hours full flame, ~13 hours at 50%.

90,000 BTU: ~4.8 hours full flame, ~9.5 hours at 50%.

Natural gas has no run time. It runs until you turn it off.

Heat Output & Flame Character

Both fuels are held to the same BTU rating on the same burner. A 65,000 BTU natural gas pit and a 65,000 BTU propane pit produce the same total heat. Our Cazo 36-inch NG bowl and its propane sibling put out identical warmth from three feet away.

Real-world flame character diverges slightly. Propane flames tend to look denser, brighter, and slightly more orange at the tips. Natural gas flames read a little taller and softer, with a more consistent blue base.

In cold weather (below 20°F), propane tank pressure drops as the liquid struggles to vaporize. Natural gas has no such penalty. If you use your pit in true winter, that's a real point for NG.

Safety & Storage Considerations

Both fuels are safe when installed and used correctly, but the failure modes differ.

Propane is heavier than air. A leak pools at ground level. Never store spare tanks indoors or in a basement.

Natural gas is lighter than air and dissipates upward, so a small outdoor leak is less likely to accumulate. The tradeoff is that leaks in the buried line can go undetected until you smell the mercaptan additive. Have the shutoff and connections inspected annually.

When to Choose Each — A Decision Framework

Choose natural gas if:you own your home, you have an existing gas line within 40 feet of the pit location, you'll use the pit more than 100 hours a year, you're doing a permanent hardscape install, and you use the pit in cold weather.

Choose propane if: you rent, your yard has no gas line, you might reposition the pit, you use it under 60 hours a year, you want it operational the day it arrives, or you value the flexibility of moving the fire to wherever the party is.