How to make a good fire

[Rob G]

I was going to say that we are neanderthals when it comes to lighting a

wood fire, but the neanderthals were probably pretty good at it! We're

just learning - never had to light one or keep it going until we moved

to our house in Normandy 2 months ago.

We have an open fireplace and are having a delivery of 33cm "buches"

(logs). These come in various thicknesses. We have also bought a supply

of "buchettes" - i.e. small stuff that lights easily for kindling. We

put some bits of paper, kindling and a few bits of firelighter block on

the hearth under the actual firegrate, and get this burning nicely. We

then put a couple of split logs - not too thick, into the firegrate and

get them burning. Then maybe add a couple more split logs. I read

somewhere that you should always have 3 - 5 logs burning at any one

time.

The problem is keeping the logs burning at a good rate. They tend to

smoulder rather than really burn. Once every bit of kindling has died

away into a glowing ember, the logs stop flaming and start smouldering

- to keep it burning we then have to stick some more bits of kindling

into the hearth underneath. I think we must be doing something wrong -

I thought we should just be able to keep adding logs to keep it burning

nicely.

Before anyone asks, yes the logs were cut two years ago and are nice and dry.

Advice required from expert firestarters please!

Rob

[Nick Trollope]

Petrol. or TNT or central heating.

Or love

Ahem....

We now have a woodburner which is definately an upgrade from our open fire - in as much that the open fire seemed only to be for aesthetic purposes. Looked good, too.

[Rob G]

LOL!

A wood burner may be an option for the future, but at the moment it's

an outlay we can't afford. When the fire is burning nicely, it kicks

out a lot of heat. The question is how do you easily get it going

nicely, and keep it going nicely?

Rob

[Christine Animal]

My father always used to say to put the new wood at the back and it seemed to work.  Does your chimney draw well?

 

[Blanche Neige]

A successful fire can depend a lot on the wind and the weather outside.

Bon Courage

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Try building the fire upside down: lay a couple of hefty logs at the

bottom, followed by maybe some split logs, then kindling, then finally

paper. This sounds counterintuative, but some people swear that it

works better for fireplaces (not inserts) as the fire spreads downwards

without collapsing on itself at an early stage, potentially smothering

it. Once you have a cheerful blaze just add more logs as required.

[Dog]

Another trick with wood burners and open fires is to get the flue hot with moving air. If the smoke hits cold air it cools quickly and does not want to keep going up the flue.

So after laying the fire put some newspaper on top to get a good flare of hot air that will rise up the chimney and get a good draw going.

Do not underestimate how much air a fire needs it will never burn well in a draught free environment.

[Suandpete]

Another hint is not to clean all the old ash out each day - log fires burn much better on a fairly thick bed of ash.

[Weedon]

You mention a grate, under which you put kindling and paper underneath the logs in an attempt to get it to flare up.  I am no expert but I seem to remember retaining a bit of "useless" knowledge that, coal needs to draw air from underneath and logs draw air from above.  I also seem to remember that Olde English Pubs have logs sitting directly onto the hearth.........or maybe it's just me dreaming fondly.

weedon

[Chas]

After five years of open fire we had a woodburner installed yesterday.  The open fire threw out sufficient heat and looked good but is not very fuel efficient. Woodburner theoretically reduces consumption by about 50% and produces more heat. Time will tell.  

With the open fire we originally had a "conventional" grate but swopped it after about a year as it did not seem to burn very well. It was replaced with moveable supports set at the width of the logs which allow the ash to collect underneath. I think it is important for wood burning to let the ash bed build up. We take out some ash every 3/4 days to keep the amount manageable and light the fire on what is left. A couple of firelighter blocks plus a bit of kindling followed by a couple of smaller logs has always seemd to work OK, but you must have a decent draught in the room. The brochure for the woodburner recommends that it may be necessary to put in an air brick.  

[Miggimeggi]

[quote user="Suandpete"]Another hint is not to clean all the old ash out each day - log fires burn much better on a fairly thick bed of ash.
[/quote]

I love it,  something where less work is better!  I always clean it out every day but will try and see how long I can get away without all that chore.  A week would be good - what a pleasure.

We have an insert and never have a problem lighting it.  I just use tightly twisted newspaper or similar paper, then some kindling and finally four or five of the thinner of the days selection of logs.  Light it, shut the door and off it goes.  Before anyone points out that we should be talking about open fires here,  I used exactly the same method with our large open fire before we came to France and it always went well.

Anne

[chenauds]

Our woodburner, a  'Villager' runs 24 hours, 7 days a week from November to March, I clean out the worst of the ashes, which become compressed and like clinker about once a month or whenever it gets too deep to get enough logs on. The ash bed itself holds a lot of heat. I always leave a couple of inches depth of ashes for the new fire to burn on. IOf your fire has a grate with bars, get a thick metal plate to fit on top of it. Wood burns best on a flat surface with no underneath air supply.

[Opalienne]

A good way to light an open log fire is to start it with one of those long-burning artificial logs you can buy in supermarkets and bricolage shops.   They cost about €1.5 and burn for 3-4 hours.   One of those under your conventional logs will allow the fire to really get going before it burns out.

[Blanche Neige]

" One of those under your conventional logs will allow the fire to really get going before it burns out"

 

I thought the advice given on the packaging said that they should never be combined with regular logs or other fuel[*-)]

[Opalienne]

It does but we have been doing it for ages and it hasn't caused any problems!

[Rob G]

Following various people's advice, we tried lighting a fire yesterday

without using the fire grate. We kept the ashes from the previous day's

fire and lit a new one using paper and kindling, then put logs directly

onto that.

What we found was that it was a bit harder to get it going in the first

place, but once it was really burning, it was a lot easier to keep it

burning. Using the grate, we found that quite a few times the fire went

right down to just embers, and we had to add bits of kindling and mess

about with it to get it going again. Last night, without the grate, it

kept burning much better all evening, and yet strangely seemd to use

fewer logs. The cinders underneath the burning logs were much hotter than previously.

We need to find the best way of getting it going without using loads of

kindling - can't afford to keep buying bags of the stuff! (Unless

anyone has any suggestions where you can get a ready supply....)

The only thing now is that the fireplace looks a little odd with no fire grate in it. Oh well, can't have everything.

Rob

[Jonzjob]

We had an open fire in the U.K. for 23 years with a Devon grate ( should have been great, 'cause it got very 'ot) It is a stone 'dish' with slots cut into it and it worked wonderfully and even though it was a small fire it heated up the whole 3 foot thick Cotswold stone wall and acted like a big storage jbbie.

Here in the Aude we have a large open grate, totally different, and we have found that a set of bars with a bed of ash under burn well as long as the wood is dry. Fresh oak is one step away from asbestos, without he dust problems! And the only way to get it burning is to put a wood with it that burns hot. Dry beech or elm are good, but the other thing to watch is that if you burn a lot of fresh (wet) wood then you will get a buildup of tar in the chimney and it is very hard to remove and after a short while will give you a fire where you don't want it, in the chimney!!!

Kindling. Have you got a supply of pine cones? Dry they are the best kindling you will get! I kid you not. With a dry cone, just hold a match under it for a few seconds and see how it goes. even straight from the tree they go well when hot enough! I can now understand why pine forests burn so well here. Be VERY carefull of burning pine wood on an open fire unless it is VERY dry! It contains resin and can have it in handy pockets... A neighbour in England got badly burnt when a pine log spat a pocket of resin about the size of a small ball from a log on his fire. It hit his leg and started to burn. The reaction was to try to get it off with his hand. It's liquid and way above the boiling point of water. It stuck to his hand too and he was bably burnt. Good for hot glue, but a bugger if it's on you! Going back to the cones, there is not enough resin in cones to do any harm, but they burn bruddy well!

Just to finish, a lot of home insurers require a cetrificate to show that your chimney has been swept and if you have a chimney fire without it they can walk away!

John.

[Jonzjob]

Nearly forgot........ Does anyone know how well mimosa wood burns?  In the lovely snow here in the Aude, followed by the freezing rain (brrrrrrrrrrrrr) our neighbours lovely 60 foot mimosa tree came dow as if a bomb had hit it and we have been offered the wood. I would think that it would burn well, ut as it isn't a very common wood in the U.K. I am at a bit of a loss?

I would think that it is a lovely wood for a turner, like me, so watch this space..

John.

[le bouffon]

Yes it does,we cut down some year before last,cut the trunk in to nice sized logs and put them a few at a time behide the fire to dry out,burned very well.

[Jc]

My woodburner has no grate;just a flat plate at the bottom(no holes-air comes from the front) covered in ash.I light it with paper and to make kindling just chop a few slivers off the logs with my hatchet.

[Robbos]

I love open fires far too much.  I agree with Chas' suggestions- keep the fire low or on the ground (very low dogs, long logs and no grate works pretty well).  One you have got your logs burning nicely keep topping them up, and provided your fire is well protected at the front and can't cause damage with a spit, cover with the ash every one rightly tells you not to throw away (good for the garden when you eventually have to) and reduce the fire to a shrouded mess each bedtime.  In the morning put one or two bits of kindling and a log on, give a quick poke and wait for it to crackle into life.  Should stay alight without further effort for all of the week you keep the ash. Just keep running low with one or two logs at a time during the day (plus ash if necessary) and let it flare up when you want to sit in front of it.  If you don't want to use kindling in the morning use yesterdays' paper and cardboard waste - very eco and saves on the poubelle bit!!

 

happy fires till you get the log burner - we've those in the UK and they are undeniably more efficient if you're ready to have them and much cheaper - but a tiny bit less poetic perhaps.  Me I 'd have both given the chance.

 

xx K

[Blanche Neige]

It does but we have been doing it for ages and it hasn't caused any problems

Opalienne

Thanks to your info. we have just put this idea to the test and using the artificial log then adding real wood later really works, so thanks for the tip. I bought the log at a local (u.k.) garage and it actually said on the packet that you could add real logs after and hour and a half............result, lovely flames to watch all evening.

 

I will have to check and see what it says on the French artificial logs when we go back there.

 

[Paul Bradford]

Hi,

Have you split your logs. You need a really good fire going to keep burning whole logs. Also, if you have double glazing & no airvent (like us!), you will need an airflow. A window or door just slightly open should do the trick and get it to draw well. A chimney also works better when it is warmed up. More kindling to start with can help that. A note of caution though to all woodburners-you can get deposits of creosote or a creosote like substance build up in the chimney. This can catch alight causing a dreaded chimney fire. Don't forget to have your chimney cleaned. There is a powder that you can buy in the uK that you sprinkle on the fire. This helps keep the chimney clean. The other alternative is to use some coal or coke now and again. Enjoy that fire!! We will be upgrading to a stove at some point this year to save on the logs.

Regards

Paul

[Patmobile]

[quote user="Robbos"]

... cover with the ash every one rightly tells you not to throw away (good for the garden when you eventually have to)....

[/quote]

What do you do with the ash in the garden?  I 've been chucking mine out in a heap behind the barn.  Not being much of a gardener I didn't know it was any good for anything.

Has anyone any tips for making good use of wood ash from a stove?

Patrick

[Rob G]

Having established that the chimney worked fine, sorted out the airflow

problems so it draws well etc., and having bought some small bags of

logs locally and made several good fires, we decided to order a bulk

delivery to keep us going.

I understand that midwinter is not the best time to have wood delivered

- it's best in summer so it has plenty of time to stand and dry out.

However, having only arrived recently and in desperate need of wood to

reduce heating bills, we had no choice. I checked with the company how

long the wood had been cut, and was told two years minimum. So we had

three "steres" delivered on Tuesday morning (all losse, of course -

took me ages to move it into the lean-to...)

Looking forward to having relatively limiteless supplies of logs for

the fire, we eagerly made the first one on Tuesday afternoon, only to

find that the logs are, well, wet. Not wet as in they've got a bit damp

on the outside; wet as in they hiss and spit when burning, and some

sap/resin bubbles and seeps out of the end. Should this happen with

wood that was cut two years ago? How long can we expect to have to wait

now until it's completely dried out?

Once we can get it going with plenty of red hot cinders underneath, it

does keep burning; it just doesn't burn as vigourously as very dry

logs, so the amount of heat it gives off at any one time is much less.

In fact, a lot of the time it mostly smoulders rather than flames.

This fire business is not as straightforward as I had thought.

Rob