What are the best gas logs for an outdoor fireplace?
Use a vented gas log set approved for outdoor use — we install Real Fyre, whose hand-painted logs cast from real oak pair with weather-rated burner components built to live outside. Outdoor gas logs are about tall, realistic flame and easy evenings, not efficient heat, so buy the most convincing set you can and have a licensed gas contractor run the line.
Outdoor duty is a different job
An outdoor fireplace is a hard place to be a gas appliance. Rain blows in sideways, mountain temperature swings work on every fitting, and spiders treat an idle burner like free real estate. That's why the set has to be outdoor-approved — corrosion-resistant burner and valve components made for weather. An indoor-spec log set moved outside rusts, sticks, and fails fast, usually right when you've got people on the patio. Ignition matters out there too: match light or millivolt systems work with no electricity at all, which keeps the whole feature simple and outage-proof.
Why Real Fyre gets the nod outside
Real Fyre is the vented log brand we carry, and it's the one we install outdoors. The logs are hand-painted and cast from real oak, so the set holds up to close inspection in daylight — which matters more outside, where there's no dim living room doing it any favors. Their Charred American Oak look is the classic pick: a tall, realistic yellow flame that reads like a real wood fire from across the patio. Be honest with yourself about the job description, though. Vented gas logs are decorative-first — most of the heat goes up and out. Outdoors that's exactly right. Nobody is heating the backyard; you want flame at the flip of a switch on a cool mountain evening, with no wood to haul and no smoke chasing your guests around the chairs.
The buried line is the real project
The log set is the easy half. Getting fuel to an outdoor fireplace means a buried, outdoor-rated gas line — natural gas if you're along the Asheville or Hendersonville mains, propane out in Fairview, Candler, Brevard, and the cabins. In North Carolina, running or extending a gas line is licensed work — a hardscaper or landscaper can build you a beautiful surround, but they legally can't connect it to fuel. We can, and we permit and pressure-test every line we run, then meet the county inspector. Call (828) 545-0525 for a free assessment.
Related questions
Still deciding? Talk to a real installer.
Free assessments across Western North Carolina — no pressure, straight answers.