The Best Way To Light A Wood-burning Stove

All you should need to start the fire in your wood burning stove are dry newspaper and kindling. You need to use dry softwood for kindling as it is less dense than hardwood and so burns faster. Add plenty of scrunched up single sheets of newspaper (though not scrunched up too tight or it won’t ignite) and lay a good smattering of kindling tepee style against the newspaper. Light the paper at multiple points and virtually close the stove door.

The air inlets on your stove should all be completely open at this point and it’s often favourable to leave the door just ajar. The fire should be crackling away in virtually no time and now bigger pieces of wood can be added carefully. Watch out not to smother the fire with huge bits of wood. Your patience will pay off within a few short minutes once your stove is going strongly.

Lighting a wood burning stove varies in one crucial respect from lighting an out of doors fire. As well as initiating the fire itself, you are also priming the flue which will be full of air and cold. Air is heavier than smoke and must be dislodged before your chimney will work. A cold chimney can slow down the initial flue gases to stalling speed and should be warmed up fast. Sometimes, in awfully colder weather conditions or with an exposed or uninsulated chimney, the flue will need warming up even before attempting to start the fire, otherwise you will fill the room with smoke. It can be surprising how little heat is required to make a substantial difference between a good draw and a stubbornly resistant chimney. Either way, it’s an easy fix.

Burn a good bunch of newspaper first, all at one time, then start again, adding kindling this time. Cardboard torn into strips and added judiciously to a young fire can mostly defeat the most recalcitrant of chimneys. Or you can even employ a hair-dryer!

Some experts counsel building your nest of kindling on top of a bed of logs (on occasion called a upside down fire). This is a great system which optimizes combustion and reduces the risk of falling down the fire through piling logs on top.

There are many imaginative ways to prepare the kindling and it is likely that you will shortly find your own favoured pattern.

The New Forest Woodburning Centre installs wood burning stoves across the counties of Hampshire and Dorset in UK. Their showroom has a good range of models to fit all requirements and tastes. Their staff are specialists and can guide you in the selection, installation, use and maintenance of wood burning stoves.