Starting a Stove Fire

4570Man · Feb 3, 2017

My stove glass cleans itself in a hot fire and blackens up once the fore starts to burn out.

Industrial Toys · Feb 3, 2017

A lot of good information. "Need Input" as the robot said. When this house was built in 1972 next to a hillside, it quickly became apparent that draft was a problem. Wood is kept under roof for a year at least until burned. Shows lots of cracks.

airbiscuit · Feb 3, 2017

Industrial Toys said:
A lot of good information. "Need Input" as the robot said. When this house was built in 1972 next to a hillside, it quickly became apparent that draft was a problem. Wood is kept under roof for a year at least until burned. Shows lots of cracks.

So, what kind of stove do you have? In any case it sounds like it doesn't draw well.

If you have a decent stove with good draft, then the newspaper, kindling and finely split wood will get a fire started just fine.
If not, get a better stove, or get better draft,

I live in a tri-level home - 2 basements. One stove was that like what I mentioned above. No problem.

The other was an air-tight add of furnace with an uninsulated outside chimney. It actually had negative draft! If I lit a fire, smoke would pour out of the front of the stove. I would have to put lit newspaper in the clean out opening and heat up the chimney enough to draw. Then I would have to quickly start a bed of newspaper and kindling and try not only to get it to burn, but to generate decent heat for the regular wood. The firebox was kind of narrow, and that stove was designed to smolder more than burn. It generated as much creosote as heat. My happiest day was when I sold that @#$% stove and moved it out of the basement.

The other stove was a dream. Same wood, but different stove and different chimney.

I feel your pain.

beowulf · Feb 3, 2017

My daughter and son in law both worked taking city kids on week long treks where they would camp out. They used, and then taught my wife to make, starters out of dryer lint and wax set into individual cut up paper egg carton pockets, or my old t-shirts and shorts cut up into small strips, waxed and tied in a knot. They seem to work quite well, but a little work is involved. I have watched them make them but did not pay a lot of attention - saw they were melting wax and soaking the lint or scraps of t-shirts.

And no matter what kind of "starter" you use, you will be happier with the result if you keep kindling near by. We always have plenty of that.

For a simpler way, as someone here has said, buy the starter packs at the dollar store.

dstig1 · Feb 4, 2017

A couple sheets of newspaper crumpled up in the middle. Sometimes some cardboard if it is handy. A couple small chunks of firewood on each side to support the stuff above it. Kindling above that, and then more firewood above all that. I use a bunch of small pieces of thin plywood or offcuts from my woodshop as kindling, and I often throw in real wood, like offcuts of oak lumber. Once those catch, anything will go as they are very dry and burn hot. I use a propane torch, because it is easier. I get the paper going and keep blasting it for a minute or so working on the paper and the kindling. Never fails to catch. I've only been doing this 2 yrs, but I have only used a half a tank of leftover propane (the small torch sized ones) and started on a new one this year. The propane cost is ~zero given that it works, and works fast.

My big problem is I haven't had time to get enough wood to make it a real regular item to burn here. Hoping to get some time next summer to start catching up a bit...

TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark · Feb 4, 2017

MossRoad said:
If you can't start a fire with wood and newspaper, there's something wrong with the wood or airflow. It's just that simple. No fire starters are needed. No torches. No piles of kindling. No hocus pocus.

If the fire keeps going out when attempting to get it going, there's just a few things it can be.

Wet wood or lack of draft.

Exactly. And usually, it's wet wood.

Now that I know a year of drying isn't enough (unless maybe you live in the desert), I never use more than a bit of cardboard egg carton and some splitting scraps to get things going when the fire is out.

General Lee · Feb 4, 2017

Can you post a pic of your chimney and roof? The chimney requires a certain amount of clearance from the roof to draft well.

Also is your wood placed under roof as soon as it split? Maybe your current storage location doesn't allow it to dry enough (lack of sun and wind). May need to move to an open location for 6-8 months THEN move under the roof location. And depending on the wood species, a year dry time is not enough, especially with Oak. That takes 2-3 years in optimal conditions.

MossRoad · Feb 6, 2017

Here's a video of my cold wood stove lighting up today. It has been out for two days. I sifted out all of the ash and just left the cold charcoals in a row down the middle. Then I loaded it full with dry, split wood and left about a 2" gap down the middle. Took a sheet of newspaper (that's two pages wide), rolled it up loosely, then folded it over and twisted it (not crumpled, twist it, you have to twist it to simulate kindling... anyone remember that movie?:laughing

. Put four of those down the middle. Opened the air control, and lit it. Close the door and check back in about half an hour.

MossRoad · Feb 6, 2017

About 26 minutes later, its going well. Shut down the air all the way, then opened it up to my liking (about 2 on our stove). Check back in about another hour and a half...