The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Techniques and skills => Topic started by: Womble on November 20, 2014, 07:08:14 pm
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A question for all you with stoves and open fires - how do you light them?
We have trouble keeping newspaper dry enough for it to really burn well, and I'm too tight to resort to commercial firelighters. I've had some success using wax from those mini cheese things, but we don't eat enough cheese to keep up with the demand at this time of year! Any tips? :thumbsup:
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i confess to being lazy and using fire lighters occasionally...
but if im being good i use a sharp knife/axe to create a load of wood shavings off the edge of any scrap wood im using as kindling (usually old pallets that arent useable for anything worthwhile)
the other one to remember earlier in the year is collect up lots of pine cones they make excellent fire lighters when dry burn like crazy and are free....
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I have a regular supply of newspaper from the station handy the evening standard and metro being free.
pine cones are handy if you can store them as mentioned before.
Failing that a blow torch
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Newspaper to get the cardboard going that gets the kindling going that gets the pallet bits going that get the proper logs going.
Try putting a tealight under a pile of kindling - store it close enough to the fire so that it stays dry but not hot enough to catch fire!
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just loads and loads of very dry twigs, let it flame up then add a couple of split sticks, then the logs.
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Hmmm, my problem is getting the newspaper going enough to get the kindling going! Quite often the newspaper will burn out or go out without lighting the kindling :rant: . That's why I was wondering if anyone had come up with something that would light easily from the newspaper (like a firelighter! ;D ), but would then burn for long enough to ignite the kindling.
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daft question is the kindling really dry???
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daft answer: nothing is really dry in our house!
We used to keep the kindling in the warming oven of the Esse, but since that's gone.....
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For starting a wood fire we:
-use half a Courier at a time.
-each double page wrapped around my fist and then twisted.
-all stacked on the bottom of the fire.
-then a lot of dry kindling/small twigs on top.
-air vent under the grate open then light the fire and enjoy.
Works for us every time.
The small wafery bark from a silver birch tree will always light - so its sometimes good to peel it off the tree and store it.
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I think I'm going to start storing newspaper in the airing cupboard then, as yours clearly lights better than ours!
We get quite a lot of couriers up here making deliveries and stuff. I never thought to use them as kindling though - thanks for the tip! :thumbsup:
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Womble - thanks for making me laugh.
Fire building is actually quite a skill. Have a look at Ray Mears, who does the living in the wild stuff, maybe a you tube clip of him lighting a fire. Obviously you don't need to rub two sticks together, but the bits about what to use for getting it going, then how to build the kindling in a pyramid etc is very useful. So just start your fire by treating it like a bonfire.
I tend to make the grate a bit smaller by putting a small log along each side, maybe one at the back too, so the kindling is all in a smaller area. This gives something for the small logs you hope to catch after the kindling has burned, somewhere to rest, without squashing the kindling down and putting out any flames.
We collect all our used tissues, loo roll tubes, and other scrap paper either in empty tissue boxes, or in empty flour bags from bread making. Once alight, these burn for long enough to light the kindling. The trick to get them to light is to tear some bits of the bag so there's a torn surface to catch the flame. Otherwise we use scrumpled newspaper, or on the rare occasions we have fish and chips, the greasy paper they were wrapped in.
We use a lot of willow which has dried for a year under cover as kindling and small wood ( after the sheep have stripped the bark) I find that some more paper or another tissue box on top of the pile seems to draw the flames up through the kindling, which also helps it to catch.
We adjust the air intake carefully - wood burner.
If you have an open fire, you can try the old trick of holding a sheet of newspaper (broadsheet) over the opening. This helps it draw, but often catches fire and disappears up the chimney to cause problems elsewhere ::) You could also blow into the bottom of the fire.
We find it much easier to light the fire when it's windy outside than when it's a dead calm.
I use those extra long matches, Mr F uses a cigarette lighter. I used to use firelighters, but after endless ridiculing I manage without now.
Finally, lighting the fire seems to be one of those things married couples can't help but squabble about, over all generations. I have a lovely picture in my minds eye of a couple of Neanderthals or cro magnons doing exactly the same thing :D
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Womble, keep an eye on the Aldi website, several times over the winter they sell a big box of firelighters ( box of 768 ) which are very cheap compared to the other shops ! they are great quality too, I use them with 6 half pages of newspaper scrunched up & thin bits of kindling chopped off my firewood logs, never failed me yet & it's effortless.
Bought in this quantity the firelighters are so cheap it works out better for me than trying to get the fire going any other way.
Dave
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Pretty important the chimney is clean or the fire won't draw properly Womble. Setting aside the fire risk issues.
We use firelighters, but after my thread earlier in the year we have stored a lot of very dry pinecones. One thing I have noticed is that the wood burner lights far better if a thick layer (10-15mm) of compressed ash is left on the bottom. This stops the heat being lost into the casing as the fire is lit and gets the fire up to temperature very quickly. I was too clean last year and swept out the base (no grate, it's a Jotul 3) every morning. It was only on a lazy day I realised my mistake.
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Finally, lighting the fire seems to be one of those things married couples can't help but squabble about, over all generations. I have a lovely picture in my minds eye of a couple of Neanderthals or cro magnons doing exactly the same thing :D
Surely not :-J...I'll let the good Dr try and light the fire and when she gives up with frustration, I knee down and sort it. No squabbling at all but the back of my head always seems to be warm as if someone has a laser focused at me :thinking: It must be the love radiating from the good Dr that she has for me :excited:
We get quite a lot of couriers up here making deliveries and stuff. I never thought to use them as kindling though - thanks for the tip! :thumbsup:
We get a load of couriers to the house as we're the centre of the post code. The festive period is manic at ours but for all the wrong reasons - telling couriers where to go......I mean where to deliver!
But Womble I like your way of thinking though :) however I fear that they wouldn't burn properly.....not like the local rag sheet.
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Now going into our third wood stove winter I can't believe how much we struggled to get the stove to burn properly in the first winter... (despite using up large quantities of firelighters ::) )
Eventually we found that the single most important bit in getting it to light up quickly and reliably is to build a square, hollow kindling 'tower' (rather than a pyramid or any other shape). Not sure how to best describe it (there was a video on it but can't find it anymore) - position 2 bits of kindling in the middle about a hand width apart (parallel to the stove sides) then two bits across (parallel to the stove front) so you create a square and you keep stacking them in layers of two until you have created a little 'chimney tower', maybe 5 layers high (i.e. 10 pieces of kindling). Crumpled newspaper goes in the middle, two small logs on each side of the kindling tower (nothing else needed on a windy day, I might wrap bits of old candle in a newspaper on a still day).
The shape creates a chimney that literally sucks air through the layers of kindling, and just lighting the newspaper will create a strong draw very quickly, and the whole thing is ablaze in less than 5 mins. One more log on top (position it so that it will collapse into the middle as soon as the kindling burns down) job done.
For us this now works every time, all the time.
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Wind blown oak twigs, once dry, go up like an inferno and burn for a surprisingly long time. Free to collect too
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Dried orange peel lights easily and burns really well - may just do the job you need, lighting from the newspaper and lighting the kindling. When I eat an orange, the peel goes on top of the stove to dry.
Silage net also burns extremely well. If you don't have your own, your local farmer will almost certainly let you have some.
Our house used to be cold and damp too, before we got the Rayburn. But by keeping an old newspaper, and some twigs and small sticks near to the woodburner, there is always some dry fire-starting stuff.
My fire-starting technique is:
* empty the grate - clear the route you want the air drawn through to the underneath of the fire. I agree with whoever said that with some woodburners it actually helps to not clean out the part-burned stuff and ash from on top of the grate completely, just where you are building the start of the fire, and underneath where the air is to be drawn in
* make a draft proof 'pit' if necessary (that remaining ash and so on can help here, or a few logs as FW says)
* scrumple three sheets of newspaper loosely and place in bottom of pit
* twist two separate sheets of newspaper into tightly-twisted sticks and place on top
* if I have some, shred a couple of old loo rolls or other useful cardboard / stiff paper type stuff on top - just a bit, don't smother it
* a dried orange peel next, if I have one
* three or four small twigs, must be very dry, dropped on top, spread out but crossing over each other
* three or four slightly larger very dry twigs / sticks on top of those, again spread out but crossing each other
* a couple of bits of chopped pallet or similar on top of these - if sticks, about 3/4" diameter - and dry
* light the newspaper at the bottom in a couple of places
* manage the draft to ensure the air is being drawn up through the fire from underneath. In an open fireplace, this is usually accomplished by a sheet of a broadsheet paper opened up and held across the whole fireplace, so that the only air gap is below the grate. Hold it taut so it doesn't get sucked in and lit! Or a big sheet of cardboard that covers the whole opening works brilliantly - and once it's started to be a bit scorched, it's great to be torn up for layer #3 next time ;)
* when the twigs start to crackle, put a bit more wood on top - don't smother it
If I have some silage net and want to use it, it goes on top of the first layer of twigs with some more twigs on top of it / stuck through it. (Of course the net needs to be dry too.)
Other tips I've picked up over the years... save the 'brash' from larch and other coniferous trimmings, keep them dry and in two years they are phenomenal firelighting material - when they're so dry they crumble.
Some woodworking places will sell you - or let you collect - sawdust and wood planings/chippings; as long as these are dry, a handful in a paper bag is good firelighting/rescuing stuff.
Our local woodworking place produces discs of dried, compressed wood waste; £3 a bag, and these are as good as any firelighter once lit. (Not quite as easy as Zip to light, but not very hard.)
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The best kindling is old chopped up staves from whisky barrels - they light pretty fast - horrid smell though :innocent:
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It's worth reading all this thread to pick up good tips but a few points should be emphasised
Cutting and storing twigs as kindling for 150 plus days is impossible.
Lighting logs is difficult.
Fire lighters are cheaper than a daily newspaper, Fleecewife describes a good way to reduce the stove area for lighting by putting larger pieces or logs at the back and sides then building up the centre with smaller bits of wood.
I cut up all branches and mix them with split logs. The smaller branches can be put under a log to ensure oxygen flow under the logas and the branches will light quicker.
Very important to burn off yesterday's soot and tar with a real roaring burn for 20-30 mins. It may seem an extravagant use of wood but a clean chimney is safe and will ensure good burns and easy lighting.
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A question for all you with stoves and open fires - how do you light them?
We have trouble keeping newspaper dry enough for it to really burn well, and I'm too tight to resort to commercial firelighters. I've had some success using wax from those mini cheese things, but we don't eat enough cheese to keep up with the demand at this time of year! Any tips? :thumbsup:
Womble ,would you know what I mean when I used the words " Make paper crackers " ?
Put some of your papers in tied up plastic carrier bags and slip one under each settee /armchair seat cushion so the heat of your bum dries them out .
or
Lay the open papers in front of the fire till they're nice & dry then bag then up as made up paper crackers & seal the top off .
Plastic carrier bags also make nice fire lighters as they drip hot burning molten plastic down on the lower fuel ( three or four are good for starting outside bonfires)
If you can only get your papers in big bundles only do a few at a time .
Three well made paper cracker will light almost any fire .. Though if as you say the wood is damp why not bring the next days kindle into the house and leave it by the fire on an old roasting tray to dry off a bit .
Back in the late 1950'smy Uncle Jack used to cut up the weeks kindling wood on the Saturday afternoon after he'd finished work and stacked the sticks in three large catering sized bean tins into which he'd first poured about an inch of diesel .
The sticks soon soaked all of the diesel up and didn't drip any as he brought six or seven into the living room to make the fire at 06. 00 every morning.
He said used the three tins because a cut down steel 5 gall drum took too much diesel and the sticks dripped with fuel .
All his other fire wood was stacked neatly cut & some split against a galv steel wall and covered with old corn bags & an old rotting tarp .
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We use tea light candles as fir lighters, just one or two each day does the job. Remember to take the metal casing off though...
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Pine cones - nature's firelighters. And always 3 logs to make the initial fire smaller ( see FW post) :thumbsup:
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I used to mess about with newspaper and cardboard etc..but now it's simply a dry woodstore, clean chimney, a small piece of firelighter (yup, blow the 2p) under a few thinner logged branches - 1-1.5" and stack prgressively thicker ones on top.
If your having problems it's likely a lack of draw somewhere. The reason here was the amount of tar buildup on the predecessors birdwire cowl - a new cowl and it was all sorted.
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I saw a piece of copper pipe at a country show. It had been flattened at one end but for a small hole the idea you blow thro one end and it really gets the embers going, I made my own with an off cut of pipe about 16 inches, put a round nail in one end and flattened around it with a small hammer then removed the nail,
It works great when the kindling didn't quite take but your paper seems to have burned away.a bit like a blacksmiths bellows it gets it going and generally less blow back from old ash!
Works for me !
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The golden rule with a fire is that you dont't ever, ever, put anything with any moisture in it on the fire. It's the equivalent of driving with the brakes on.
I now pre-heat all of my wood fuel on a rack on top of the stove. I only put it in the fire when the grain has gone crazed- the wood has then had all of the moisture baked out of it.
On the odd occasion when I've been unable to do this, I am amazed at how little output I get from what appears to be a good fire. Seasoned, dry stored wood is good, but cannot compete with what is effectively kiln-dried.
My kindling lives in the space underneath the stove. At the moment I have a supply of old gym hall flooring. The bottom thin layer of plywood peels into little strips which light instantly from a lighter. The middle breaks into fingers of white softwood. The top veneer layer has some sort of flammable varnish on it and burns like billy-o. No firelighters involved :)
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I think "dry" is the key word, whether it's newspaper, cardbard or sticks. If you have a berberis in the garden the prunings are very good firelighters once dried. The type of wood you're trying to burn will have a big impact on how well the fire goes - ash being the king.