Outdoor grills and barbecues not only bring meals and parties outside, they extend your outdoor season. A Las Vegas couple, for example, installed a large beehive-shaped Chimenea fireplace and subsequently found plenty of reasons to go outdoors, even in the winter.

Fire pits are a big part of an outdoor design trend that started in New Mexico and Arizona and has since spread nationwide. Even lower-priced new homes are being equipped with outside fireplaces and can occupy and add charm to very small spaces.

The popularity of outdoor cooking and grilling has even brought the kitchen outdoors, as more homeowners equip hardscapes with utensil storage units, gas grills, and counters for food preparation.

Fire pits and fireplaces

Fireplaces generally cost more, sometimes upwards of $10,000, although with a little help from your landscape designer, a beautiful outdoor fireplace can be assembled with modest effort for much less. Generally, fire pits are less costly than traditional fireplaces and custom-built ones can start at $500.

Proper fire pit design will help you get the most warmth and beauty for your dollar; many portable and custom fireplaces are constructed to conserve warmth around their perimeter. Walls and masonry should be placed close by to absorb heat and gently radiate it back on people enjoying the fire pit. Ask your landscape designer to show you some design options.

Your outdoor fireplace must meet local codes, and these usually specify firebricks made to withstand the high heat of a fireplace. Safe design and ventilation are crucial, especially if your outdoor fireplace shares your home’s exterior wall.

Design and décor may include tiles, concrete, or stone façade elements, stucco or brick. If your landscape plans include a pool or spa, locate your fireplace or fire pit close by, so guests and family members can use both and stay warm on cold afternoons.

Both portable and built-in fire pits can burn propane, natural gas, or wood, depending on your preference, but size and heat output will vary. Your climate, foliage and available space will help determine which type of fuel will work best. Here are a few fireplace-planning tips.

• Make sure your fire pit is placed away from structures or other fire hazards.

• Fireplaces and fire pits should harmonize with existing landscaping and architecture.

• Design for utility so your fire pit can also serve as your barbecue, social setting, and an effective outside light source.

• Fire pit elements should be sturdy and weather resistant and design should consider how weather and prevailing winds might affect enjoyment of the surrounding space.

• Make sure gas fittings, cleaning handles and other maintenance items are fully accessible, not buried in concrete that requires a jackhammer to replace.

• Consider mobile fire pits and grills because they cost less and can be moved as needed.

• Locate fire pits or fireplaces where they can be seen from your living room.

• Include outdoor water, gas and electrical stub-out in your home and landscape design plan, for easier hookup later.

• Masonry fireplaces are heavy, so include a solid foundation for large outdoor fireplaces, particularly in seismic areas.

Emissions

Air quality is an increasing concern in many parts of the country, particularly where winter weather inversions can make fireplace smoke a major pollutant source. Check with your city and county about outdoor fireplace rules but don’t be discouraged if traditional wood fireplaces are outlawed; low-emission type closed system fireplaces that meet most urban emission laws are now available for outdoor use. Here are a few different outdoor fireplace types and themes:

--Chimeneas, Mexican-style chimney pots, lend a traditional southwest feel to your landscape. Little more than large clay pots, they provide both decoration and utility on cold nights, but low-cost Chimeneas may be constructed of non-fired clay that can weather and crumble over time.

--Integrated fireplaces can be part of the design of your new custom home, whether attached or freestanding. Designed in to an exterior wall, an integrated fireplace is close enough to your patio entrance for a quick trip inside on cold nights; plus, you will find that using the exterior wall provides a great windbreak. Custom integrated fireplaces usually add upwards of $ 3,000 or more to the cost of your home. Popular design materials and themes include English, Eastern brick, Southwestern adobe, or Old World traditional. Façade elements and materials should obviously key into your home’s design.

--In-ground fire pits. These features are usually made of block or stucco and constructed in the center of a small circular enclosure. Seats may be designed into a low circular wall to add privacy, while conserving heat. Gas percolators are often buried in this type of fire pit, allowing the gas to percolate up through sand or lava rock and burn at the surface. In-ground fire pits usually provide more even, less intense heat.

--Masonry fire pits and fireplaces lend a woodsy, traditional charm to your home. Slate, river rock and designed concrete façade elements capture the flavor and tradition you’re looking for, without the high cost of real rock.

--Lavers and Fire Rings are decorative portable fireplaces that can be moved as easily as a table or recliner. Both are gaining in popularity, mostly because of their low prices. A laver is a large bowl-shaped metal enclosure usually mounted on a wrought iron base and made of copper, stainless steel, or ceramic materials. Lavers work well in confined spaces because they burn smaller quantities of fuel. Fire rings are made of iron or other metals, and can be placed on a base of sand or gravel to provide a very low-cost fire pit. Both types of units run between $100 and $300 in price.

--Stand-alone fire pits occupy center stage in your landscape design and should be used where they won’t overwhelm your outdoor spaces. Increasingly popular are large stucco, beehive type fire pits, which are excellent for wood fires because they conduct smoke up and away from you and your guests.

--Outdoor catalytic heaters are a good option, if the nature of your outdoor space or prevailing weather proves too forbidding for a fire pit. Similar to the types used at many restaurants and outdoor gathering places, most catalytic heaters are freestanding pedestals that are six to eight feet in height and resemble hooded streetlights. Generally these heaters operate on natural gas or propane and are equipped with electronic starters that prove easy to light. Fuel circulates around a ceramic or metal grid, where it burns efficiently, producing a radiant heat that warms you even at a distance away. Outdoor heaters burn clean; smoke-free, they are perfect for urban settings. In rainy climates they can be safely placed under awnings or canopies as long as the area is well ventilated.

Outdoor grills

Since barbecuing is such a popular past time, many homeowners consider an outdoor grill area an essential landscape design element.

Grills can take the form of inexpensive portable units or become central components in fully equipped outdoor kitchens. Your patio or deck should be designed to allow safe use of a barbecue or grill and include storage and counter space for food preparation.

While conventional round charcoal grills don’t offer these amenities, as you move up in price, you can purchase many mid-range grill models that both offer shelves and storage in one self-contained unit and can be moved as needed.

As your landscape needs move upscale, consider a dedicated outdoor kitchen area, with water, electricity, and gas service, along with space for a drop-in grill unit with side burners. While your landscape designer can suggest many different locations and layouts, you will most likely prefer island-type outdoor kitchen layouts because they are more easily accessible for serving and socializing. Full outdoor kitchens are not inexpensive, but they do allow you the option of moving meals outside in balmy weather.

Charcoal or gas?

What kind of fuel should your outdoor grill or barbecue use? Outside of the obvious convenience issues, the answer usually comes down to a matter of taste, but the answer may also include hardwood fuel and electric element barbecues.

Blind taste tests reveal that most people can tell little difference between charcoal-grilled or gas-grilled food. Many longtime barbecuers will tell you the slightly smokier flavor of charcoal cooking is preferable but few people can tell a difference between gas and grilled hamburgers (although the difference can be more noticeable with grilled steaks and chicken). The bottom line is that your personal taste will determine what is your best option.

--Hardwood grilling gets the nod if you love that right-off-the-grill taste, but the price is a lack of convenience. Wood takes longer to light and heat control is tricky. Synchronizing meal preparation is tougher and you must be able to predict when you can begin cooking. Heat control is difficult because heat output from wood varies, but for proficient wood barbecuers and smokers, the flavor says it all.

--Wood grills, whether custom or manufactured, are the simplest and the most robust in construction. Yours should have a way to adjust grill height for heat fluctuations and different cooking temperatures required by poultry and meat. Wood grills are less expensive than gas or electric grills; a basic grill can be made from as little as $10 in materials, while quality manufactured units may cost upwards of $100.

--Charcoal grills provide less wood flavor but heat output is more consistent and predictable. Charcoal grills have a reputation for being slow starters, but can-type charcoal starters can help get your grill up to temperature in 15 minutes or less. Charcoal grills are generally less expensive, smallest and the least robust but they can be built into smaller spaces. Portable grills solve really tight landscape and patio issues because they can be moved anywhere. Portable units cost anywhere from $20 for simple portable grills to hundreds of dollars for name brand wheeled units, built in grills or portable heavy-gauge Santa Maria style charcoal grills.

--Gas grills are the easiest to use and the fastest to bring up to temperatures. If you live by a tight schedule this convenience and speed can make a big difference. Prices run from $100 to well over $4,000 for built-in, side-burner models. Portable gas grills use bottled propane tanks and quantity must be checked regularly. Adding wood chips to gas grills restores that barbecued taste, but flare-ups make location and ventilation safety considerations.

--Electric grills are the easiest to use and maintain but they all but eliminate flame or wood grilled flavor. Liquid smoke may be added to marinade and wood chips can replace some of the taste, but electric grills don’t always provide the "barbecued" flavors that only a flame can produce. The advantages though, are many: simpler equipment, and ventilation and safety clearances can be reduced. Starting an electric grill is as easy as flipping a switch or turning a knob and no fuel refills are ever required. Electric grills use significant electrical current, so costs are relatively high, but few homeowners will use their grills often enough to note a significant increase in utility costs.

Slow smokers

Increasingly popular are outdoor smokers. Common in Texas and most southern states, smokers utilize a slow, cool smoke-cooking process that usually require several hours to half a day to complete.

Smokers can turn salmon and inexpensive cuts of beef and pork into tender, succulent treats. Turkey and beef jerky can also be made in a smoker. Slow smokers typically resemble tanks or cylinders and are constructed to control the flow of oxygen into the cooking chamber to keep foods cooking slowly enough to retain moisture.

Commercially available smokers can be gas fired, electric, or charcoal; most utilize airflow controls to keep smoke and heat constant.

If slow-smoked barbecue is up your alley, consider adding a smoker enclosure to your outdoor barbecue or fire pit area. Or you might want to opt for a stand-alone unit, depending upon how often you plan to "fire up" your smoker.