We’re big fans of the Solo Stove, with its efficient design that allows it to burn fast and maintain a raging blaze while producing very little smoke. It’s an awesome way to keep warm in both backyards and campgrounds alike. Turns out, the outfit still has some tricks up its sleeve to make it even more efficient and that’s what the Solo Stove Heat Deflector brings to your portable fire pit.
You know the outfit’s accessory bundle that turns the double-walled fire pit into a functional grill? It kind of looks like that. Except, instead of letting you cook steaks and sausages on top, the accessory simply redirects the heat from the pit towards the sides where the people are likely to be, ensuring it warms the surrounding air instead of the area directly on top.
The Solo Stove Heat Deflector consists of a round disc with three legs that mount on top of the fire pit, blocking hot air from escaping out the top and redirecting it to the sides. According to the outfit, this magnifies the fire pit’s heat radius, allowing it to keep even larger groups gathered around it warm and toasty. It’s able to do that because of the disc’s shape, which uses carefully-calculated angles for both the center cone and the main deflection disc, which reflect the thermal radiation downwards and outwards, so warm air hits you on your lower extremities. Since hot air travels upwards, it results in more efficient heating for the whole body.
The disc, by the way, hovers nearly seven inches above the fire pit’s opening, allowing you to easily add logs without having to remove the accessory. Construction is stainless steel for both the disc and the legs, so it’s just as hardwearing as every part of the fire pit.
The Solo Stove Heat Deflector isn’t designed to be a semi-permanent fixture on the fire pit. Instead, the outfit recommends starting the fire without the disc onboard, adding it only as soon as you get a sustained and consistent flame, to ensure the pit is able to retain its superior airflow to get the fire going. Goes without saying, you should wear gloves any time you’re mounting or removing the disc, as a raging fire can get that stainless steel surface hot in short order.
The Heat Deflector is currently listed in three sizes: one each for the Ranger, the Bonfire, and the Yukon models, respectively, so you can get one sized specifically for the kind of fire pit you’re using. Can you cook it? Truth be told, probably, considering how hot thing thing will get sitting right on top of the fire. However, the surface of the disc isn’t exactly designed for cooking, with an inward cone in the center, perforations in the area around it, so it’s more likely you’ll make a mess you’ll have to clean up. Yeah… best use the backyard grill instead.
The Solo Stove Heat Deflector comes out beginning in March. Price starts at $124.99.