Mosquito Repellent for a Propane Fire Pit

Mosquitoes have a way of ruining some of summer's fun outdoor activities. If you have an outdoor propane fire pit, the pesky bugs may have turned a peaceful campfire into chaos with their buzzing and bites, and mosquitoes are more than just annoying — since they can carry disease, it's extra important to be prepared to get rid of them. Thankfully, there are excellent outdoor mosquito repellents and methods for making sure the bugs won't be able to crash your next outdoor fire.

You may have noticed that mosquitoes stayed away from your wood-burning backyard fire pit. That's because burning firewood creates smoke, which naturally repels bugs like mosquitoes. However, if you are burning a fire using a propane fire pit, the fire will produce carbon dioxide rather than smoke.

The smoke-free air can be a pleasant way to experience an outdoor fire, but it also means that your fire won't automatically repel mosquitoes. In fact, they're drawn to carbon dioxide. If you're in an area with lots of mosquitoes (especially one where they're known to carry diseases, like West Nile), you may need to take extra measures to keep the bugs away from a propane fire pit.

One way to keep mosquitoes away from a propane fire pit is to utilize different herbs or scents that the bugs dislike. They don't like the pungency of herbs like lavender, sage, mint, eucalyptus, rosemary, lemongrass, and citronella.

You may already use candles or torches in these scents to repel bugs in your backyard, but as long as you're lighting a fire, you can also toss fresh bunches of these herbs into your propane fire pit for added protection. The smell is often mild and pleasant for humans but too strong for mosquitoes, which will buzz off somewhere else rather than hang around your fire.

If herbs don't do the trick or if you're super sensitive to scent, you might try investing in an outdoor mosquito trap to help keep the bugs away. These odorless traps work in different ways, and you might have to try a few to see which ones work for you.

Some odorless bug zappers use UV lights to attract and then trap all kinds of bugs, mosquitoes included. Other traps use a combination of heat and moisture that mimics human breath to lure and trap the bugs. If you have a serious bug problem, these can be efficient ways to curb the issue, whether or not you have a fire burning.

If you are using a propane fire pit in your yard, it can help to take some general mosquito prevention measures to keep the bugs away from your fire. Mosquitoes love water, so if you have areas of standing water, like a swimming pool, gardening bucket, decorative fountain, or birdbath, try to set up your fire pit far away from it.

You can also use chemical mosquito repellents to keep mosquitoes at bay while you're sitting around a fire. Make sure to read the instructions or warnings on the bottle before spraying near your propane fire pit. Some repellents contain ingredients that can be flammable, so it's always smart to apply the spray far away from the fire and wait for it to completely dry before sitting near the fire. Hopefully, using a combination of these methods, you'll be able to enjoy the fire completely bug-free.