I am bad at making fires (Help?)
 

I now have TWO lovely wood stoves to heat with... One in the main house, and one in a separate building that we are using as a school room. Now that I finally get to use them, it takes me FOREVER to start a fire. I have lovely, dry wood. Still can't make a good fire. Fortunately, my son seems to be doing a better job over in the school room than I am in the house. THat is good becuase the school house has no other source of heat. Over here, we can turn on the electric heat if we want to, but I am trying not to do that. What am I doing wrong?

Sometimes, if the "draw" isn't right, the fire has trouble keeping going.
I have found dried pinecones to be a great fire starter. A friend gave me two garbage cans of pinecones and I used them to get the fire going in our furnace. I put them on the bottom, put a few smaller sticks, bigger splinters light them and as the fire grows, add bigger pieces of wood. I have read where some even dip them in wax, then you'd only need one to start I should think. Before that I just used a few wadded up pieces of newspaper under the kindling to get it going.

I'll share my technique. Small limbs and branches that just fall, I break up the twigs, then break up some bigger stuff, and I keep a bucket of these for the next fire. Wad up some newspaper in the woodstove, place a bunch of small twigs on top of that, then the bigger ones on top of that. Sometimes, I crisscross a few stacks of the larger stuff. Just light a match to the paper and you're on your way. After it gets to burning, then add dry wood that's not too large and graduate up to the big stuff. You'll have a fire to be proud of in no time.

I crack a door to get a draft going up the chimney. That helps to not get smoke in the house.

Building top down works well. Stack your wood in. Pile some kindling on top, some news paper on top of the kindling, more kindling on top of the newspaper. Light the newspaper and let it go. Works best with seasoned wood.

Don't forget to pre-heat your chimney if the stove is cold or else you won't get much of a draw. Roll up a newspaper long-ways, light the end and put it up the chimney. You will hear the difference in draw as the chimney heats. Then light up your fire.

I put two largish logs (relative to the size of the stove) and then put crumpled newspaper between them. Stacking fine split dry softwood across the two logs (cabin style) and some wood up-right in the middle so the fire from the paper can ignite the ends. Lite up the paper. This small fast hot fire heats the chimney fast and leaves a pile of burning kindling you can put larger fire wood on top of in a few minutes. Certainly if burning just paper is enough to warm the chimney do that first. Too easy to not try!

I do it a lot like Ross does. I lay the two large pieces in and put paper between and crisscross my smaller pieces or even some cardboard if I have some trash. Then some larger pieces on top of that and light the paper. I immediately close the door and let the physics take over. If I leave the door open it is slow to catch. If I vclose the door so that the air is more quickly sucked along the bottom of the pile, it starts with a whoosh! I do not close the damper until I hear 4 crackles from the wood.

I agree with the pine cone thing. Actually, I put a handful of cones in and go right to the big split pieces. My secret is cotton balls soaked in kerosene. Take a pint jar and stuff it full of cotton balls. Pour in about a half cup or so of kerosene. The balls don't have to be dripping with kerosene, just wet. Take large tweezers, or a pair of tongs or needle nose pliers or some such to pick a cotton ball out of the jar and wedge it under the wood and light with a match. It doesn't explode, it just burns for about 10 min. or so, enough to get the cones going and that sets everything else on fire. It only takes one ball but you can use more if you like. I leave the door very slightly open so it creates a vortex of wind and that helps to. I close the door once the fire is going.

Well Hubby has always told me I start fires weird. Anyways I've done this since I was a kid in our fisher stove, and still do now.
I put one larger piece end first into the stove to the side. I put some newspaper & maybe a cardboard box alongside the log. Then I put 2-3 log ends ontop of the first log, with the other ends on the stove bottom, forming a triangle of space/newspaper. I light the fire, keeping one door open. The draw pulls under the little triangle shape & the fire burns stronger until the wood catches. Sometimes I have to adjust the 2-3 logs to make sure some flame goes between them, Wait 10 minutes & close the door. After a bit I add more wood if the night will be cold enough.
I've never warmed the chimney for a draw.

I'm another one that uses pinecones. Then make sure you have space between your logs for air to get through. I know that may sound obvious, but my DH has problems getting his fires going, once I re-position the logs they do great.

Crap
I just put the small stuff on the bottom. Pour two ounces of paint thinner on it and light it off. Once it gets going I put a little bigger stuff on it till it ges log size. Sometimes I just put it all in at once. Been doing it for as long as I can remember. Just use the cheapest paint thinner I can buy.

Another thing you can do is buy little 3oz dixie cups. melt some wax and mix in sawdust and pour it into the cups. Just light one up and put it in the middle of the kindling.

Just stating some obvious things:

It takes 3 or more pieces of wood to build a fire.
Is your kindling small enough? Pine works great, if you have it.
Plenty of wadded up newspaper is great.
The fire is getting enough air, right?

Here is how I lay a fire:

Two logs set apart like they are railroad tracks. Stuff wadded newspaper between them.
Lay kindling cross wise, on top, like a bridge, and plenty of it. Then, lay a smaller log on top, in the same direction as the other logs. Smaller the better.

Fires need surface area of the wood to burn up, and the flames need to be able to flame upward thru cracks to start burning the upper layers of kindling and the other logs.

Make sense?

Clove

I was just about to post the same as clovis does. My side woods are usually about as round as a drinking glass more or less & very dry. I save them out for this purpose. I like them with little or no bark. Then I stuff in some rolled up newspaper, not too much! maybe 3 single sheets. I top that with some little dry twigs/bark keeping the stove open, light & wait. Once it gets going a little I add some bigger dry pieces across the two side logs...about as big as two thumbs put together. Once it's rolling I close it for a few minutes then add my medium logs, wait, then the larger stuff. Sadly, it still takes me a while to get a big fire going (from scratch) that I can just feed into it....perhaps an hour or so. I hate starting up, I do everything I can to keep the home fires burning so I have at least a little coals to work with!

Hillside.

I do it the way Country Lady does. It works better than the top down fires dh builds. But I also simultaneously to lighting the bottom of the fire shove a burning piece of newspaper on a poker to the top back to warm the chimney and get it to draw.

Paint thinner is a little testy for me,-----but=---- a cup of kerosene will do it. It will light real slow on cold wood and will boost a fire when used with kindling. bcs

I am very proficient at primitive fire starting. The bow and drill,steel and flint, and several others. I have also seen other people try to start fires this way. By far, the problem most people have is they start with too large of wood. I have no problem getting a roaring fire in minutes, but I start very small. Twigs or wood chips thinner than a pencil are good if you use somekind of tinder. You will need even smaller if you start from a small coal or spark. Cottonballs dipped in vaseline are very good to start. Save pieces of wax paper you use. They hold a flame good as well. Jute rope is excellent to start fires. Unravel some pieces and ball it up,put under small kindling and sticks,and look out. Jute rope ,unraveled, lights up like gasoline! Slowly add larger logs. If you practice lighting a fire without matches or a lighter, once you do use them it's simple. You should be well aware of what your problem is if you can't get a fire started easy. Is your wood and tinder dry, I mean DRY!. Is there enough airflow? Did you start too large? Did you use a good helper?, Vaselined cottonballs, wax paper, jute, pinecones, birchbark. If you don't know what the problem is - practice! You will figure it out,promise.

The first wood fire I ever lit was 30 yrs ago and I had an awful time. I think every stove is different and I eventually learned how best to start it. This is how I do it. I open both dampers completely. Line the bottom with about 3 rolled up loosely newspaper pages then some cardboard usually egg cartons. Then I put in some kindeling and start the fire by lighting the newspapers and wait untile the kindling is well burning then add the fire wood not a full load until all is burning well and set the dampers where I want them.

RenieB

I have just changed to this method and have to say, I have much more success starting fires in the wood furnace.

But...it really does take a little practice and you'll eventually get it!

RVcook

I guess I'm lazy. After cutting and splitting and hauling and stacking cords and cords of firewood every fall, the last thing I want to do is split a bunch of kindling to start approximately 150 fires a year!

What we do is purchase two boxes of fire starter bricks a year. Each box contains 24 bricks. I cut each brick into thirds. A 1/3 brick will start a woodstove of full-sized pieces of firewood without using any kindling....zip, nada, none. Thus, the two boxes are sufficient to start 144 fires at a cost of about $16 for the entire heating season.

The rest of you can collect and split your kindling....and then build your nice litte cabin or teepee style fire and hope that it takes. I'll spend 16 bucks a year, and light one match to my little ol' 1/3 brick firestarter, cover it with full-size logs, and have a blazing fire within minutes. No mess, no hassle.

agree with CF. hubby used to scoff at my 'yuppy starters'....not any more! :) and he is also right..no mess, no hassle.

Well, I tried some of the techniques in this thread and managed to get the fire started. Thanks to all. Having said that, I am really wishing for one of those "yuppy" fire starters right about now! There is only so much newspaper in my life!

CIndyc.

Fire starter bricks are the exact reason why people can't light fires. That's fine if you know what you are doing. But, If you can't get a good fire started without it that's sad. Throwing a fire brick under huge logs will teach you nothing. Learn how to light one properly.

Should'nt take too much paper. A couple sheets crumpled. One paper, along with junk mail, lasts me all week.

See Ross' post. That is what works best for me. I used to have trouble with the bigger logs smothering the fire. Tried top down, didn't seem to work. Using 2 logs and bridging with kindling works great. leaves plenty of air space for the fire to get roaring, and the larger logs catch easily.

Two sheets of newspaper, wadded up. Place about a robin's nest size amount of small tinder/kindling. let that get going with a match. When it's about half consumed, start adding very slowly some larger pieces of kindling...perhaps 6-8 pieces the size between a pencil and your finger(I usually build a tipi or put them criss cross across the flame). After that gets going, start adding slightly larger pieces, but don't rush it. Worse thing you can do is add pieces that are too large, too quickly. The whole time this is going on, be sure you have your stove door slightly ajar. Too wide, and your room will get smokey. Too small and your fire won't get enough oxygen. As the fire builds, you can then begin putting on pieces the size of your wrist. Maybe only needs two or three of these. After that you should be good to go. good luck. (Be sure your dampers are open till your stove gets good and hot. Want to get as much air running through your stove as you can, early on.

Cabin Fever is right about those firestarters they work good. We get free kindling from our son in law's furniture making place. But they slow down in the wiinter so I may have to use the fire starters. I used to break them in half but I may try thirds.

RenieB

I go out and collect dead hedge twigs for kindling. I get the ones that are about as big around as your finger and thumb and cut them to length. Put down a few wads of newspaper, a few pieces of the hedge kindling followed by a couple small logs and finally one or two pieces of the regular stuff. Once you light the paper you really don't have to mess with it until you start adding the normal sized stuff you burn. Those hedge sticks really put out the heat and will get about everything burning.

When I want to really knock the chill off the house quick nothing beats a bunch of hedge. I've got some ancient hedge that was cut probably 40 or 50 years ago. It was the stuff that was just a bit too small for fence posts. About as big around as your arm. That stuff burns obscenely hot. I can take a log off of the regular woodpile that was encased in snow and ice and have it burning in short order if I put some of that hedge in with it.

nobody said we didn't know how to get a fire started without it, simply that is was wonderfully easy. trust me....I'd bet the ranch any one of us could manage just fine without.

forgot to mention this yesterday, but when they say to keep the ash pit door closed, it is for good reason. however, if I light the fire and it seems a tad sluggish, opening the ash pit door about an inch gives that extra boost of air that ignites the fire in a true flash. I'm talking about being right there and controlling the situation, not opening it and walking away. :) even with the air flow full-open, this little boost of draft is amazing. takes a minute or two...flame in full swing...close ash pit door...voila! I was always the 'fire builder' for our fireplace, but it took me a couple times in the woodstove to get the hang of it all.

Mamita, Please read your post, it makes no sense. The original poster (Cindy-E) said she is having trouble. Why would you " Bet the Ranch" any of us could light one just fine. Obviously Cindy-E can't. I will stick to my original advice to learn and practice. Making a good fire is a craft, even if some people disagree. Taking a shortcut before you know what you are doing is wrong in anything you desire.

sure she can, she merely said she needed a bit of advice. which she got. HOWEVER, read YOUR post and it sounds like the school marm smacking hands with a ruler. and if mentioning an easier way offends your boy scout charm, so be it.

DH goes to the local wood shop and gets sawdust/shavings which he puts in a can and mixes with some turpentine. When we put the wood kindling, paper, to start the fire, he gets a small paper cup, goes outside and scoops up some of his mixture, and adds it to the mix.....works every time.

I am sorry if my advice SOUNDS like a school marm? Maybe you just READ it that way. I will however take the high road. I stick to my original sound advice, and I will not sink down to public namecalling.

I'm somewhere between HappyFarmer and Cabin Fever.

I hate messing around with kindling--hubby is devoted to it.

He laughs when I start fires successfully and quickly using a 1/6 chunck of firestarter brick and three pieces of wood. I put one piece along the back wall of the stove, the firestarter just in front of it, and I angle two pieces of wood toward the front of the stove, with the ends resting on the first piece along the back. I make sure there is a little space between the second two logs and that the firebrick is beneath the small space.

I leave the door cracked open until the fire is burning well, the add more wood and close the door.

We start 1-2 fires daily from November until the end of March/beginning of April (or longer on either side if it's particularly cold), so I prefer a quick, simple method.

I have mastered the technique of starting fires with only kindling--when I was a child we camped a lot and I learned to make a great campfire, and there are times that we forget to buy more firebricks and need to manage without.

No matter what technique you use, the key is to move air across the fire source. A teepee arrangement will help create draft, or placement of the logs as I was describing will help too--the smaller opening creates a directed draft.

Preheating the chimney will help if you just can't get your fire going. I spent some time researching chimneys for woodstoves and found some great sites that explained how drafts work and what can interfere with good air draw. I don't have the links handy, but I think I found some through Hearth.com

glad to hear you're having success already!

no...you read my post harshly, and frankly I don't really care. I am apologizing to you if you think I was calling you names. I just think you sounded a little too 'high road', and we're all not accomplished great outdoorsmen like you obviously must be. there is a place to learn the primal way of things, but again.........there isn't anything wrong with mentioning an easy way. it is lighting a woodstove.......not surviving in the wild. paleese.

Mamita and Monnster, lets hug and make up. You are both right based on your own personal reasoning. I agree with both of you. I've built fires all my life and can do it real well, even in a survival mode with flint and steel. Heck, I've camped in the woods since I was kid and was an Eagle Scout. I also understand the themodynamics of a fire and a woodstove.

I agree that a person should know how to build a fire from scratch. I also recommend the use of wax/sawdust firestarters as an option to start a fire in your woodstove. The frequent collecting and making of kindling is time-consuming and messy. I have better things to do.

forgotten. hugs....seriously?? ok...then picture me ...sorta, kinda, maybe having my arms outstretched. just a little. but this is not my full body hug that knocks you over by any means. :) so...monnster....my little boy scout....I hug you. not with my leg wrapped around........but a hug anyway. LOL

I agree that wood stoves and fireplaces are all created a little different.

It takes some practice to learn what works best for each individual, and their particular stove or FP.

Don't forget that fire needs to burn upwards, and it has to have burnable fuel above it to continue to burn....if that makes sense.

Clove

Apparently I AM good at starting fires, at least the verbal kind. Who knew that fire starting was so controversial. :shrug: Oh well.

Anyhoo, I just wanted you to know that I am having much better success using some of the techniques in this thread. Some of you will be happy to know that since I do not have any firestarters right now, I have had to do it the old fashioned way, and have been successful. (Hey it's been one day, but that still counts as success, right?) Others of you will be happy to note that I am going to GET some of those fire starters as soon as I have the chance! There you have it. Everybody can be happy. :lookout:

Cindyc.

Sorry for the mess Cindy. I am glad to hear you are having some success.

No worries. :) Thanks for the encouragement.

Cindyc.

guess I wasted a hug to monnster. :) oh well. so...tis a hug to cyberspace then. LOL

I won't do it again. :)