Your version of lighting the wood stove?

EricB

Member
Let's hear some recipes for lighting a wood stove in the house. This time of year when you only need one fire every 24 hours lighting the stove is a once a day experience. Sometimes you have to overcome downdrafts without getting smoke into the house etc.
 
I need to add, Also I insert a wad of crumpled up newspaper on top of the kindling. This way the burning newspaper starts the draw and the kerosene starts the kindling to burn. I even open the ash tray to allow air into the stove from the bottom. Seems like it makes things burn hotter.
 
Kerosene has gentle odour which is good. My wife has super sensitive smell so I stay away from odour filled substances for lighting the fire (in the house).
 
I lay two pieces of 2"wood about 6" apart in bottom of stove. Then I put crumpled news paper between the two pieces of wood with dried white pine kindling on top of that with some small limb wood. If I go to start fire and cold air is coming down chimney I put a propane torch in stove and shut door. In about 5-10 minutes it will reverse the air flow and then start fire..
 
EricB- "My wife has super sensitive smell so I stay away from odour filled substances for lighting the fire (in the house)."

Well, I can't think of anything burning in a wood stove that does not smell.
 
I have a Country stove in basement and if you burn cured wood you very seldom smell it burning. If you keep it burning at about 550 degrees it burns clean and no smell .
 
d beatty- I agree with you. My stove does not smell once it is going but the OP asked about "Let's hear some recipes for lighting a wood stove in the house. This time of year when you only need one fire every 24 hours lighting the stove is a once a day experience. Sometimes you have to overcome downdrafts without getting smoke into the house etc.".

I really have not found a way to keep the 'smell' from entering the house "totally"(I have reduced it) while igniting the fire.
 
I use torn up waxed paper fruit boxes , these make the very best firelighters . Free from just about any fruit and vegetable shop . The wood heater at my farm is a little stubborn at times , especially when the atmosphere is wet and heavy . A few torn up bits sees the kindling roaring away in moments .

http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Cardboard-box-3-Layer-E-Flute_1945825292.html
 
Much the same here. I save all the cutoffs from my woodworking shop and various carpentry projects. Kiln dried 2x4 splits work very well, as do cedar shingles.

Have to try the propane torch idea, I've had a cold chimney give me fits before.
 
To get the fire going I try to have some very dry Cedar split small or some Black Locust bark both will get a hot fire going quickly.Also used to get cut off ends from a company
that resawed old heart Pine into flooring that stuff will fire up almost with no paper.
 
I have a small fan in a open small window that when turned on blows inward and pressurizes the house and that is what I use to get the air flow up the chimney when it hasnt been used for a while, keeps the smoke alarm from working!, then light a normal fire with cedar kindling, Located in the deep bush of northern Ontario
 
During the summer while using the woodsplitter I save "chaff" and sawdust and put it in large mesh containers to dry. (I got three former about 50 gallon size recycle bins at an auction) In the fall I bag some up in plastic grocery bags, when I need to start a fire I put one of those bags in the stove, open it up and squirt a little used motor oil in it with an old plastic bottle (such as a syrup bottle). It burns well enough to get bigger pieces going.
 
Our current wood stove (LOPI) is pretty fussy and prone to backdrafts. The first thing I do is to put my hand inside the stove and see if I feel a draft coming down the flue, if there's a backdraft I know I have my work cut out for me if I'm going to get it going without smoking up the house. I turn off the house boiler if it's running, since it generates a lot of draft. Once I've got the stove ready to light, I open a door in whichever direction the wind is out of to pressurize the house. I just have to keep it open for a few seconds after lighting the fire to establish a draft.

I always roll a sheet of newspaper into a ball and stuff it up into the chimney and light it up the same time I light the kindling. That helps to establish a draft and helps to block any backdraft.

I don't use anything fancy for kindling, just regular firewood split up small and stacked so it with light up fast. Tinder is just newspaper torn into small pieces and rolled into balls.
 
before i put any wood in it i throw in 3 or 4 newspaper pages crumpled up and let them burn out and create a draft, then place two pieces of wood about 4 inches apart, then more wood at an angle on top of these two. Light a fire starter cube and place between the first two pieces and under the rest---leave wood stove door open about an inch and it takes off every time with no smoke
 
My old stove is usually not too fussy, sometimes the weather or the wind will create conditions where I have to establish draft. Some papers/cardboard which I put in garbage cans, packaging from groceries that are not plastic, I burn in the barrel in good weather, winter its what lights the fire. I use that, and make a pyramid of the dry kindling, and thats the secret. I make kindling on my splitter or cut small diameter wood from the branches. Make a tee-pee or pyramid, and light. Don't forget to open the fresh air intake and or open the damper above the stove in the smoke pipe. I have to be careful because with too much of the above, it will fire like a blast furnace with a roar and it will turn that smoke pipe orange in no time, of course my chimney is clean and there is never any significant amount of creosote, nor any overfiring heat concerns, the times I have done it in the past, stand there and manually operate that damper with the long gloves on, LOL ! you learn quickly how much is enough to get a fire going ! When first lit, it does like to take off, but once settled, really easy to keep going, and it does not have a propensity to over fire once the flue is warm. You can load it up and set the damper and fresh air, check the flame and walk away knowing you have a fire that burns evenly. My damper handle is counter weighted so no concern of any backdraft opening or closing it, I can set it precisely where I want it per what the fire is doing, firing up or reloading. Its interesting as to whats involved, from fire up and stoking to get the fire just so and orientated so that the top of stove gets most of the heat, darned thing will have the entire half of the basement warm in no time, it can get to 80 deg F near the stove in less than 1/2 hour from cold.
 
Propane clicker torch to light - build fire and put few extra sheets of newspaper on top - light it and close door until the paper is burned then open a crack while paper under the wood starts to burn. Once the wood gets going I don't open the door until it's burned down close to nothing.
 
Buck #91 cat stove, so no starters. Put a couple of split logs, end first, about a foot apart. Put 3-4 crumpled newspaper pages in between, then layer kindling and bigger wood on top. Open the cat bypass and air intakes, 1 lit match to the crumpled newspaper, shut the door and relax for a while as the stove gets up to temp. Very seldom does this stove back puff when first lit. Mark
 
My Jotul fireplace insert has been a great disappointment in regard to smoking back into the room, even after a good fire has been burning in it for hours and everything is as hot as it's going to get. Starting it is always tricky and problematic. Sometimes it puts out smoke for no obvious reason---no apparent difference in wind direction, weather, humidity, etc. from days that it has performed correctly, more or less.

To get it going I lay a bed of shredded paper from my office paper shredder, then top that with a grid of dry cedar kindling as thin as I am able to split it---playing card thickness, if possible. I have to open the front door and storm door of my house, then light the shredded paper and kindling, and hold one of the fireplace doors open half an inch or so until the kindling fire has heated the fireplace and flue enough that I can open the door to add firewood. The fireplace has two glass doors, but there is never a point in an evening's burning when I can open both doors without smoke coming back into the room. This makes it difficult to add pieces of firewood as large as the firebox is capable of holding.

I have been using wood stoves and fireplaces for almost fifty years, and I have always been able to figure out a stove's particular style and needs. After three or four years dealing with this one, I'm convinced that it's never going to perform any better than it does now, and it's about the worst performer of any stove I've ever owned.

Stan
 
If I take down a tree that is dead and is dropping bark I will take bark home with me. If I have time I take a lot of the small limb wood and dry it out. It makes good kindling.
 
Not a stove, but I have a cast-iron natural gas starter in my fireplace. So quick and easy. I have an unlimited supply of lighter pine on my place, so I would use that if I didn't have the natural gas.
 
A lot is in the design of the stove and chimney draft. I build my own stoves and they are very easy to light. I taught my kids how to get them going when they were very young. Main thing is to have only one place for the draft. Use large wood far away getting smaller & smaller to kindling and paper at the draft. Light it through the draft with the door shut & it is good until the wood is gone. I leave the draft open unless it gets too hot in the house.
 
I mix a gallon or two of drain oil in a full five gallon pail of sawdust. Just keep adding oil till the sawdust is good and soaked with oil. Not sure I would use it if my stove was directly in the living area cause of the smell. I have a mapp gas torch with a bernzomatic TS4000 clicker torch head on it that gets used for starting all fires. I got tired of those cheap crappy clicker lighters and matches that are hard to use in the wind. The oil sawdust mix is a simple match light mix though.
 
Hello EricB,

Every body knows that keeping a good fire going is all about proper draft. A cold chimney does not do that very well. So I take a piece of news paper folded it twice, stick it in the chimney as and light it. Once is usually enough, repeat as needed. Now get your preferred small wood bundle and light your fire,

Guido.
 
Thanks to everyone for taking the time to share how you do the "stove lighting ceremony" LOL. I find it interesting that nearly everyone has a little different twist on their "how to". Lately for myself I have used dry birch bark under the kindling. Only need a piece about 6" x 6" and rip it into approx. 1" strips and put it in just inside the draft. I stuff crumpled newspaper on top of the wood when I know there's a downdraft. The patio door open an inch or so helps. Once the birch bark takes off there's no stopping for several minutes, it gets hot fast. I appreciate the different insights as it is all helpful. Eric.
 
(quoted from post at 06:55:37 10/02/15) Let's hear some recipes for lighting a wood stove in the house. This time of year when you only need one fire every 24 hours lighting the stove is a once a day experience. Sometimes you have to overcome downdrafts without getting smoke into the house etc.

Corn cob soaked in diesel (cut open a milk jug and put a couple of inches of diesel in the bottom and stick the cobs end first down in the diesel) and small sticks of wood or a grocery bag with cobs in it. Works everytime.
 
Split the kindling into small sticks the night before and leave them next to the warm stove overnight. They're easy to light with a couple of sheets of newspaper to get the draft going.
 
Last year I took a dry pine plank and put it on the floor of my fireplace, put 10-12 pieces of regular charcoal and lighter fluid on it. When its going, I put several small pieces of split pine in the rack, then when its starting to burn, I'll put on my oak or maple logs. Wifey thought I was crazy for starting fire like that. But after reading what everybody else does, I've decided I'm not real crazy. Besides, because of the lighter fluid smell, my neighbor, if the wind is right, thinks I'm grilling steaks or burgers!
Thanks to everybody for the new (to me) ideas!

Scott
 
After running the splitter, I put the bark/splinters of wood and such In 5 gal buckets and put them in the shed.
I can start 8 or 10 fires form 1 pail full with a large hand full of that stuff and a little news paper.
When it gets real cold out the fire burns 24-7.
 
years ago when I was young I lived in a house with only a wood stove in it for a year. Well at the time I used to drink a "little". When I would get home from the bar, usually late, I would pile it full of wood. My secret was an 1/8 cup gasoline with a match right behind. Not really sure why I am still alive, but they say God looks after drunks and fools! I qualified for both.
Just to let you know, the fire started REAL fast
I do not recommend this to anybody
 
Last spring we rented a cabin at a state park that was hosting our family reunion. By mid spring, most of the seasoned wood was gone. I had a fire lit but it wasn't doing much. I took a small room fan and placed it across the room facing the open fireplace. A gentle breeze made that fire roar. After a few minutes, the wood had dried enough to burn much hotter even without the forced draft. I wish I had known this trick years ago...

Aaron
 
That's good advice...however for those of us with (air tight) stoves changing from down draft to up draft has to happen right inside the door without (hopefully) letting the smoke in the house.
 
Surprised no one else has mentioned it, but a hair dryer works wonders as well. Know a few people with particularly cantankerous stoves, drafts, chimneys or some combination of the above who have one setting by the stove at all times. In the interest of domestic tranquility, using the wife's for this purpose isn't recommended!
 
When I burned wood, I was lucky.
worked at a wood building construction 'factory'
We took turns taking home a truckload of cut ends and pieces.
not good as useable burning wood of course, but split into tiny pieces,
that pine lumber would get the real wood going with one match.

I could never use newspaper...always windy (2 Great Lakes close).
stoves/fireplace weren't perfectly airtight and chimneys drew like crazy.
light newspaper and whoosh, it would be gone....lol..run outside fast enough and it would be floating away..still on fire.
 
News paper for dry wood but if it was wet or I was having trouble a half coffee can of charcoal and some lighter fluid. That trick has never failed me
 
Buy a box of Starter Loggs, open box, take out 2 pieces, place in stove, stack wood on top of Starter Loggs, light, enjoy fire. No smell, no paper ashes, works every time, worth the money. Tom
 
Hello ErickB,

Not sure what you mean, but where ever the smoke is going out of the house is your target. Get it warm first,

Guido.
 
Hello Again,

I know what you mean now. I had one of those. Small door at the back bottom of the stove in air tight position. WARM UP THE FLUE,

Guido.
 
I light it in October with those fire starters. It usually never goes out until spring. It's an airtight Vermont Castings and typically burns 14 hours on a full load up. It heats the whole house.

The chimney sweep is here as I speak. I use the same guy that did the install. He knows everything about it and how to take care of the enameled flue pipe. Wifey HAD to have a red stove and matching flue pipe. Admittedly, it is a very good looking stove. I just wanted something with a decent burn time. The rest was her decision.
 
Propane is a great fuel...a friend of mine told me he spent $500 a month on propane in the winter.
 
Ether. A really big industrial sized can of ether. Usually works pretty good. Not always, but usually.

Mark
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It's got a small ash pan - that's my only disappointment. I carry it out each day and dump it on the gravel drive.
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1" x 1" sticks that were used to separate lumber while drying. I cut them a little shorter than a 5 gal. bucket with a lid. Put as many as I can in the bucket with 2 1/2 gal. of kerosene. I put one walmart bag of paper from my office paper shreader in the stove, 3 kero sticks and some dry wood on top. One match - never fails. A bucket of sticks last me all winter.
 

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