Napoleon: Riverside RSS42

An outdoor room shouldn’t close for the season.

Quick Facts

• Heating Capacity: 1,500–3,000 sq ft
• Viewing Area: 42 3/16″ x 33 1/16″.
• Fuel: Natural gas or propane.
• Controls: Exterior on/off panel; optional timer kit with 30, 60, and 90-minute settings.

Who It’s For

The furniture is out, the lights are strung, and by the end of September nobody sits out there after dinner—the evenings turn cold before anyone is ready to go in. You need a fire that makes the outdoor room worth staying in after sunset. If you’re building or finishing a covered patio and want the fire to be its focal point—switched on from a panel on the wall, not tended from a wood pile—the Riverside 42 is the one. It builds into a framed enclosure the way an indoor fireplace does, so the finish work is part of the job; a portable fire feature skips that step, but it gives you a flame, not a hearth the whole space gathers around.

What Makes It Special

The fire itself is the feature: a viewing area more than three and a half feet wide, with a clean face and an included finishing flange so your stone or tile runs right up to the flames—no grille, no frame. From any seat on the patio, you see fire, not appliance.

It also runs without anyone babysitting it. An exterior control panel handles on and off, and the optional timer kit shuts the fire down on its own after 30, 60, or 90 minutes, so nobody has to be the last one out. Underneath, a high-limit safety switch—a first in outdoor fireplaces—disables the unit if it detects unsafe temperatures, a second layer of protection you never have to think about.

Possible Downsides

• The log set is a required, separate choice. Standard oak, split oak, and high-definition birch are the options.
• The timer kit and safety screen are optional add-ons, not included.
• The Prestige heat and exhaust management system must be added during installation, so it’s a decision to make before the fireplace goes in.

If you want an outdoor room that stays in use after the weather turns, the Riverside 42 is the right decision. The patio becomes the room the evening ends in.

Choose standard oak, split oak, or high-definition birch logs, then shape the look with Newport brick or Westminster herringbone decorative panels, reflective porcelain radiant panels, topaz glass embers, a woodland media kit, a stainless steel screen, or a brushed stainless weather cover.