Outdoors Only: Why Garages and Covered Patios Are Risky

Keep the oven outdoors, in open air. That's the plain answer, and the reason is a gas you can't see or smell.

Why makers say outdoors only

A wood fire or a gas flame gives off carbon monoxide. One US maker says its pizza ovens, whether gas or wood-fired, produce carbon monoxide and need open-air ventilation.¹ A gas model's manual page is short and blunt. It says "for outdoor use only."²

A second site says wood-fired ovens make significant carbon monoxide as part of normal combustion.³

Carbon monoxide is hard to spot. Wikipedia says it's tasteless, odourless and colourless, so you can't detect it by sight or smell.⁴ You won't get a warning. That's why the rule is about where you put the oven, not about waiting to notice a problem.

Garages and closed rooms

The answer for a garage is no. One maker says enclosed patios without proper airflow are not safe for outdoor oven use, and a garage is more enclosed than a patio.¹

The same goes for sheds, enclosed porches and anywhere with walls on every side. If the weather is bad, wait for another day. Don't pull the oven under cover to finish the cook.

Gas bottles have their own rule. One manual says not to keep a gas cylinder in a building, garage or any other enclosed area, and to keep it away from children.² Another site says never to store a connected propane tank indoors or in an enclosed garage.³

What about a covered patio?

This is where people get caught. A roof feels sensible. It keeps the rain off you and the oven.

One maker says an oven can go under a patio cover only with adequate height, typically three feet, and open sides for ventilation.¹ It also says enclosed patios without proper airflow are not safe for outdoor oven use.¹

Those are one maker's terms for its own ovens. Your manual may be stricter, and it may not allow any cover at all. Follow it. If the manual doesn't say, ask the maker's support team before you light the oven under a roof.

A note on grill advice

Fire departments publish tips for grills, and the National Fire Protection Association is one of them. Its tips say propane and charcoal grills should only be used outdoors.⁵ Those tips are written for grills, not pizza ovens, so use them as general support and let your oven's manual lead.

What to do

• Light the oven only in open air, away from walls on every side.
• If there's a roof overhead, check your manual first, and keep the sides open.
• Keep gas bottles outside, out of garages and sheds.
• If you can't tell whether a spot is open enough, treat it as not open enough.

Distance from walls and fences has its own page: how much clearance to leave. Wind does too, in the wind and weather guide.