oh happy day
Tonight we sat drinking hot chocolate beside our very first fire. We had the chimney swept on Thursday Friday and got the go-ahead that the inspection looked good. At first it suffered a little and took a lot of paper, then we realized we had built it upside down. After a bit of poking and lots of blowing (we don’t have bellows … yet), Steve got it blazing. Here’s how to do it right:
1. Make certain the chimney damper and flue are open (we got that part right).
2. Set the kindling (i.e. firestarters, pellets or 3 to 4 sheets of newspaper crumpled into tight balls) on the floor of your fireplace. Place small DRY kindling over the paper or starter – this makes it easier to start your fire. FYI, tent or crisscross the kindling so there is plenty of air space in between each piece. Wood that is packed too tight will not burn properly.
3. Set larger wood on top of the kindling, and continue to set larger and larger pieces on top until the firebox is over ½ full.
4. Light the newspaper or starter and enjoy. Remember that until you’ve warmed the stove up, warmed the chimney and established a good bed of coals (red embers), your fire is not really at critical mass.
5. To put it out, stop provoking it and try to spread out the wood so it will just burn itself out as embers and close the damper if you have one. Don’t pour water on it! – it will fill your house with smoke and make a mess.
Our nice size log with two little ones lasted 2 hours. Notes to remember:
- Don’t leave a fire unattended – that’s just stupid.
- Always keep a “flame on” – a smoking or smoldering fire is a cold and inefficient fire. It also produces pollutants and tar in the chimney. Add more wood before the fire gets too low to assure continuation.
- Use dry wood – if your wood sizzles and refuses to light or burn it’s probably too set. Store your wood in a dry place and cut and split it at least 8 months prior to burning. Splitting it exposes the soft wood inside that burns well – bark has some fire resistant properties that make it hard to get started.
The nice chimney sweep man also left me with this cute poem:
Beech wood fires are bright and clear if the logs are kept a year. Chestnut’s only good they say if for long it’s laid away. Birch and fir logs burn too fast, blaze up bright and do not last. Elm wood burns like a churchyard mold, even the very flames are cold. Poplar gives a bitter smoke, fills your eyes and makes you choke. Apple wood will scent your room with an incense like perfume. Oak and maple, if dry and cold, keep away the winter cold; but ash wood wet and ash wood dry, a king shall warm his slippers by.
