So, for the past couple of years, I've burned an fire in an open pit, at night, to throw out some heat and ambiance. This Spring, I cleared a section of forest and set up another space, including a cheapo woodstove - just a Home Hardware steel box with a chimney, all kinds of metal shops offer something similar. I was surprised by how much more heat was thrown at me, through the open doorway, compared to when I burn in the open pit. It makes sense, I guess, a lot of heat must be reflected off the steel.

This has me wondering about a new fire pit I'm building, though, to replace the current open pit on the ridge. Am digging into the hillside, will set up some retaining walls, will bury a very large rock under the fire pit itself to act as a thermal mass, but I'm now thinking about a chiminea -style cover on it, maybe a large quarter-hemisphere or something. I dunno, think it's worth the extra expense, or will the semicircular retaining walls reflect enough heat that more from the fire itself won't be necessary? I suspect this would be mostly fired in winter.

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