Cold Fireworks Wiki | CryoFX®
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Cold Fireworks Wiki, Info on Sales (New or Used) Cold Spark Machine
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Cold Fireworks Wiki: A Plain Reference for Every Name in the Category
Cold fireworks, cold sparks, cold pyro, and spark fountains all describe one device: an electric machine that heats metal granules until they glow and blows them out as a fountain. The words differ by audience, not by hardware. This page sorts out which name to use with a client, a venue, a production crew, and a fire marshal, because picking the wrong one costs time.
If you want the category itself rather than its vocabulary, our cold spark machine information guide covers the equipment, the code, and the operating side in one place.
Why the category has so many names
Four separate groups named this product at roughly the same time, and none of them consulted the others.
Manufacturers named their own products, and those product names leaked into general use. The lighting and effects trade borrowed the pyrotechnic vocabulary it already had, so "pyro" got attached to a machine that contains none. Wedding and consumer buyers reached for "fireworks" because a firework is the picture in their heads. And one brand name got rented so widely, so early, that it went generic.
No standards body ever named the category. NFPA 1126 gets close with "pyrotechnic (device) effect simulation equipment," added by a 2017 amendment, but nobody says that out loud.
The consequences land at two points. A permit filing using the word "fireworks" can be routed to a reviewer who processes fireworks displays. And a technical rider saying "Sparkular" can be read as a contractual requirement for one manufacturer's product when the designer meant any spark machine.
The terminology map
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Terms for the machine
| Term | What it means | Who says it | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cold spark machine | The industry-standard name for the device. An electric unit heating metal granules and ejecting them as sparks. | Manufacturers, distributors, effects companies | Invoices, quotes, rental agreements, permit filings |
| Cold pyro machine | Same device, filed under the production department that handles effects. | Lighting designers, production managers, touring crews | Technical riders, show files, cue sheets |
| Spark machine | Shorthand, used once everyone in the room knows what's being discussed. | Crews on site | Verbal, radio, load-in paperwork |
| Cold fireworks machine | Consumer-facing name for the same unit. | Wedding and event clients, retail search | Search queries, consumer marketing, venue enquiries |
| Indoor fireworks machine | Loose retail phrase covering several unrelated products. | Consumer marketplaces | Product listings, marketplace titles |
| Sparkular (generic use) | A Showven product line used as a category word. | Clients, DJs, some venues | Riders, enquiries, rental requests |
| Electric spark effect machine | Plain mechanical description with no brand or category baggage. | Suppliers filing paperwork | Permit applications, AHJ correspondence |
House standard: we write "cold spark machines" on every permit filing, and we make the distinction between that and fireworks explicitly with the fire marshal each time.
Terms for the effect
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Cold sparks | The output itself, incandescent metal particles that stop glowing in mid-air. |
| Cold fireworks | The same output, described from a consumer's point of view. |
| Spark fountain | The cone or column thrown by one nozzle. |
| Cold spark fountain | The same thing, with the category word attached. |
| Spark curtain / fountain wall | A line of machines fired together so the cones overlap into one sheet. |
| Gateway | Two machines facing each other so people walk through a corridor of sparks. |
| Spark fall | A downward effect, machines rigged overhead dropping sparks. |
| Crisscross | Hanging and ground machines offset from each other rather than stacked, so each hung unit fills the space between two floor units. |
Our cold spark fountain page has the geometry for each of these, including spacing in feet.
Terms for the consumable
| Term | Accuracy | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Granules | Correct | The material is a graded metal alloy grain, not a dust. |
| Pellets | Loose but harmless | Occasionally used by operators. |
| Powder | Misleading | Widely used, including by manufacturers, but a metal powder and a graded granule behave differently in a hopper and on an SDS. |
| Cold spark powder | Misleading | Same problem, and it's the term most likely to worry a venue that hears "powder" and thinks explosive. |
| Spark pack / granule pack | Correct | The retail unit, normally 200g or 50g. |
Grades, cross-brand compatibility, and what the RFID card does are on our cold spark granules page.
Brand names used as category terms
| Name | What it actually is |
|---|---|
| Sparkular | A product line from Showven, a manufacturer. Used generically because it arrived early and rented widely. |
| iSparkFX | A manufacturer and brand in its own right. We buy iSparkFX machines and sell them; iSparkFX builds them. |
| Sparktacular | A separate US manufacturer with its own machines. |
Our cold fireworks machine page covers the brand landscape properly. Treat all three as brand names in specification documents, because a rider naming one can be enforced as naming one.
Terms that describe something else entirely
Handheld sparklers are consumables a person holds. They burn a composition, produce their own oxygen, can't be stopped once lit, and have nothing mechanical about them. A venue that has approved handheld sparklers has approved a different risk.
Gerbs are conventional proximate pyrotechnic devices: a case, a composition, an electric match. They give a sharper, faster jet than a spark machine and they're single-use. The fire response is the inverse of a spark machine's, which is the detail that catches crews out. Our cold spark machines vs pyrotechnics page has the comparison.
LED "spark" fixtures produce no particles at all. Elation SparkLED, Chauvet SparkliteLED, and ADJ Sparkle LED are lighting fixtures that imitate the look. They need no permit and no clearance, and they don't read the same on camera.
Chauvet is not Showven. Chauvet is a lighting manufacturer and makes no cold spark machine. The names look similar in an email and the confusion is common enough that we spell it out: when you mean the Sparkular manufacturer, write Showven.
Which word to use with which audience
| Audience | Use | Avoid | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client or consumer | Cold fireworks, cold sparks | Pyrotechnic simulation equipment | They're picturing an effect, not filing paperwork |
| Venue operations | Cold spark machine | Cold fireworks | Venues route "fireworks" to a different approval path |
| Production and crew | Cold pyro, cold spark | Indoor fireworks | Crew vocabulary is organised around effect departments |
| Fire marshal or AHJ | Cold spark machine, with manufacturer and model | Cold fireworks, cold pyrotechnics | The plainest mechanical description gets the fastest, cleanest review |
| Insurance broker | Describe the effect mechanically: heated metal granules, no combustion | Any word containing "fireworks" | Some carriers exclude pyrotechnic-adjacent effects outright |
The insurance point deserves attention before you buy anything, because a standard DJ or AV policy very often excludes this. Our cold spark machine insurance page covers limits and exclusions.
When you're specifying equipment rather than describing an effect, name the manufacturer and model and attach the cut sheet, which removes the ambiguity entirely. Our cold spark machines for sale listings carry the model names and specs to copy into a filing.
Download the terminology map
This page exists partly so it can be sent to someone else. The terminology map above is available as a single-page PDF with our branding on it, sized to paste into a venue email or attach to a permit filing without any editing.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between cold sparks and cold fireworks?
Nothing at the hardware level. "Cold sparks" is the term the effects trade and most US manufacturers use, and it's what appears on quotes and rental agreements. "Cold fireworks" is the consumer search term, more common with wedding and event clients picturing a firework and looking for an indoor version of it. Both point at the same machine.
Why does this product have so many different names?
The category grew from several directions at once. Manufacturers named their own products. The lighting trade borrowed pyrotechnic vocabulary it already had. Wedding and consumer buyers reached for "fireworks" because that's the visual in their heads. And one brand name got used so widely it turned generic. No standards body ever settled on a single label for the category.
Is cold pyro the same as cold sparks?
Yes, with a different audience attached. "Cold pyro" is production and lighting vocabulary, and it's what turns up on technical riders and in show paperwork. Using it signals you're talking to a crew rather than a client. It also makes a fire marshal reach for pyrotechnic paperwork, which is usually the correct outcome. Our cold pyro page covers rider language.
What is a spark fountain?
A spark fountain is the effect rather than the machine: the cone or column of glowing particles the nozzle throws. The word covers both a single upward jet and formations built from several machines aimed to read as one shape. Our spark fountain page covers what each formation looks like and the height each machine class reaches.
Are indoor fireworks and cold spark machines the same thing?
"Indoor fireworks" is a search phrase rather than a product category. It gets applied to cold spark machines, handheld indoor sparklers, and small conventional pyrotechnic gerbs rated for proximate use. Only the first is an electric machine with no combustion. Ask a supplier which one they mean before you agree to anything, because the fire code treatment and the fire response differ.
Is Sparkular a brand or a category?
Sparkular is a product line from Showven, a manufacturer. It went generic the way Kleenex did, because it arrived early and got rented widely, so plenty of people say Sparkular when they mean any cold spark machine. If you're specifying equipment, name what you actually want, because a rider saying "Sparkular" can be read as requiring that specific brand.
What do production riders call these machines?
Most say "cold pyro" or "cold spark," usually with a quantity and often a model name. Some say "sparkular" generically. Riders also specify height, position, and whether the effect fires upward, downward, or horizontally. What a rider almost never states is who holds the pyrotechnic license, and that gap is what causes arguments on load-in day.
What term should I use on a permit application?
Use the plainest mechanical description available: "electric spark effect machine" or "cold spark machine," with manufacturer and model, plus the equipment cut sheet and the granule SDS. Avoid "cold fireworks," which invites a reviewer to process the filing as a fireworks display. Our fire permit page lists the full package contents and the lead time to allow.
Updated - 08/06/2026.