What's the best way to make a good fire in the fireplace?

Question

we have some pretty garbagy wood - but it's wood, it was free, and so we're using it. The fireplace is form and function (want to look nice/help heat the room). Any thoughts on building the best, most smoke-free fire?

Answer 1

The starting of the fire is done with scrunched up (but not too tight) newspaper sheets. Some folk make 'tinder' by dripping lots of wax from burning candles onto those fibre cardboard egg cartons. When dry the wax makes them very effective for starter.

Then lay some 'tinder', which is small twigs/sticks (sold sometimes for just such a purpose.) I gather the stuff that falls off the trees in our area! Then add the bigger bits gradually getting larger diameter stuff to catch fire. the otehr writer who warned about toxic fumes is RIGHT. Do not burn coated or painted wood. It is a great pollutant and can be dangerous. Even outdoors it should not be used for fires.

Answer 2

#1 a fireplace is not a very efficient way to heat a room. If you are using a furnace in your home you must remember the air used by the fireplace for combustion is air the furnace has already heated. However they do provide some radiant heat and of course look very appealing. To start the fire you must make sure the damper in the chimney is full open. Crumple up some newspaper in loose balls and place in a good size pile in the back of the fireplace or on the grate if you have one( really should in order to get air under the wood). Place some kindling, should be nice and dry cut in small pieces ( probably about 1 foot long by about 1 or 2 inches wide) lay them in a the form of a tepee around the paper along with some slightly larger pieces of wood . The idea is the paper burns easily, ignites the kindling and provides enough heat to start the larger pieces of wood to catch fire. Now before you light the paper place your hand kind of up the chimney and see if you feel a cold draft coming down the chimney(very important). If you do when you light the fire the smoke will go in the room and not up the chimney. To prevent this open a window or door slightly and then take a piece of newspaper in the shape of a cone light it and hold it up into the base of the chimney, you will soon hear it start to draw air up after the flame. You are establishing a path for the smoke to rise by heating the air, now light the paper under the wood. You can close your window or door now and the smoke should all go up the chimney. It is important to have dry wood to prevent smoke.Once the fire is well established you can now put on larger pieces of wood. If the fire looks good you can even trim back a bit on the damper but not too much or you will get smoke in the room------have a nice romantic fire!

Answer 3

Start with good, seasoned (dry), hardwood, that has been split.
Hickory or Oak are the best, in my opinion. I put scraps of spruce
or white pine on the grate first for kindling the fire. You can also use chunks of bark, if it's good and dry. Put two or three pieces
of your harwood on top of the kindling. Take sheets of newspaper,
or brown paper bags, wad them up and put them under the grate,
completely covering the underside of the grate. Light each end of the paper, and allow nature to take its' course.
If neccesary, add more kindling later. Once your split pieces catch fire well, add an unsplit log to the top, and enjoy the fruits
of your labors.

Answer 4

This has too be a shaggy dog tale. relatively? Your hearth has an exceedingly vast hearth in it which you're possibly stressful of commencing your residing house on hearth and you pass to the internet searching for an answer that must be rapid adequate to help? i'm calling bull!

Answer 5

The single, most important thing you need to do is to insure that you do not have a creosote buildup in your chimney flue. A creosote chimney fire can burn the house down.
A good cleaning and inspection to check the chimney condition can save you much heartache.

Answer 6

Garbagy wood, you say?
Be careful that it is not pine (sticky soot), or something else worse - wood coated with toxic (paint,etc) substances that are poison when breathed in. . .

Answer 7

You first need to find some good wood
then you need to chop it down and put it in the fire place and you warmer than you thought you were try it cause i did it.

Answer 8

EIther use lighter fluid on it or buy a starter log from places such as walmart.