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Although cast iron chimineas and steel chimineas come with legs, the majority of clay chimineas don’t so a question that often comes up is Do I need a chiminea stand?
If your chiminea does not have legs you will need a chiminea stand to keep it off the ground. This will keep it stable, and stop it from burning the floor or damaging the bottom of the chiminea.
As we stated above, most cast iron and steel chimineas either come with legs attached or will have legs in the box to attach when you assemble them.
Most clay chimineas however are usually made without legs and will require some form of stand.
Why Does a Chiminea Need A Stand?
There are a number of reasons why you need a stand for your chiminea which include:
Stability
A chiminea is made from a bulbous body with a chimney section on top. If you were to sit a chiminea directly on the floor it would make them pretty unstable. A chiminea stand therefore will prevent the chiminea from moving around on the floor and falling over.
Fire Hazzard
This is closely linked to stability and also protecting the floor. A chiminea sitting directly on the floor can easily cause a fire hazard. Firstly, due to the stability, the lit chiminea could easily be knocked or fall over. Secondly, intense heat from the bottom of the chiminea can easily set light to the grass or other floor covering.
Protects the Floor
As we’ve said, the last thing you want to do is to cause damage to the floor underneath your chiminea. Grass will easily scorch and expensive paving can be damaged through heat. Finally, for those wanting to put a chiminea on decking, the last thing you will want to do is to set fire to your wooden or plastic deck.
Easier to Reload Fuel
There’s nothing more relaxing than sitting around a chiminea with friends and family chatting, drinking and eating. Therefore you want a chiminea that’s at the right height to allow you to easily refuel. If it’s sat on the floor this would make refueling a really tiresome and arduous job.
Projects Heat Better
A chiminea sitting on the floor would also not project heat the way it should. Let’s face it you don’t want to just keep your feet warm when you’re outside on those cold summer evenings.
Chiminea Looks Better
If you want a true focal point in your garden that you can sit around and enjoy the evening then you don’t want to be sitting staring at the floor!
Less Smoke at Head Height
When you light a chiminea when you refuel and if you use the wrong type of fuel, you may find that you get some smoke. Now there are steps you can take to avoid a chiminea smoking too much as detailed in our How to stop a chiminea smoking? article. However, if there is a small amount of smoke, you really don’t want to be sat with it hitting you in the face constantly.
A chiminea without legs and without a stand will allow any smoke to hit you pretty much at head height when you’re sitting down!
What are Chiminea Stands Made From?
Chiminea stands are generally made from steel or cast iron. They predominantly have three legs and are often decorated with some form of scrolled leg. A three-legged stand provides a nice stable base for a chiminea.
What Size Chiminea Stand Do I Need?
The size of your chiminea stand will depend on the size of the base of your chiminea. Stands come in a variety of sizes and so the base way to choose a stand is to look at the picture above.
The very bottom of your chiminea will need to sit inside the rim of the stand to produce a nice stable base. Measure the circumference of the bottom of your chiminea as in the picture and then this will be the rough internal diameter of the stand you will need.
Where Can I Buy A Chiminea Stand?
Most chimineas do come complete with a stand however there may be occasions when you’ve perhaps bought a secondhand chiminea or you may have damaged or lost your stand that you need to get a new one.
If this is the case then you may need to buy a new stand but please make sure that when you buy a new stand it is tough enough to do the job. Many stands say they are for fire pits and you may assume they will suffice however this is not always the case.
Fire Pit stands do not always have to hold the same sort of weight that a chiminea stand does so just make sure it will cope with the weight.
You can buy good quality chiminea stands from a range of places. If you’re after a bespoke stand then many blacksmiths and wrought iron workers will be able to produce beautiful pieces of work.
You can also find good-quality stands on eBay such as this one.
How Else Can I Protect the Ground?
So, you’ve got a stand but you’re still worried about causing damage to the ground surface, how do you offer the ground further protection?
There are numerous ways you can protect your patio, decking or grass from the heat and embers that may be produced by a chiminea.
Firstly you could stand the chiminea on a spare patio slab, a large piece of slate, or even bricks.
Or you could buy a heatproof mat. Heatproof mats are great for any surface but are especially useful if you want to offer some protection for a deck. We cover the topic in full over in our Can you put a chiminea on decking? article.
Finally
One of the most important things to remember when using a chiminea is safety. This is the main reason you need a chiminea stand to keep your chiminea stable and to prevent it from falling over or burning the ground surface when it is lit.
Don’t forget that most new clay chimineas come complete with a stand so if you’re looking for a new one please take a look at our clay chiminea for sale.