Lighting a fire in the fireplace is usually seen as a simple operation. Because of this, it often happens that those who are not familiar with lighting and with the fireplace can forget some fundamental steps to be successful. An evening warmed by the fire can easily become a thick smoke nightmare indoors. Here are some tips to follow to successfully light a fire on the first try.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Lighting a Fire on a Grate
Step 1. Most modern fireplaces have a grate on the bottom that allows the passage of air for combustion, and from which the ashes fall into a collection tray to be disposed of the next day
First of all, check that the exhaust smoke shut-off valve, located inside the flue, is open. This valve controls the quantity (and speed) of the fumes leaving the flue. Find the lever to operate the valve, if you are unsure of the position insert the head into the chimney and look upwards, if necessary with the help of a torch, moving the lever until the valve is completely open. The check is certainly easier to perform before lighting the fire. If the valve remains closed, you will have a lot of smoke in the room when you ignite it, and the fire will not be able to develop.
Step 2. If your fireplace has a sealing glass, open it about half an hour before lighting the fire
In this way the temperature of the house will heat the inside of the fireplace. Cold air is heavier than hot air, and if the outside is too cold it can happen that cold air comes out of the chimney, making it difficult and at risk of generating smoke inside the room. dispose of it correctly through the flue. Opening the glass early can help heat the inside of the chimney and restore the correct upward draft.
Step 3. Check the draft
Light a match near the flue joint, and see if the air is flowing up or down. If the current goes down, you have to find a way to reverse the flow and make it go up, otherwise it is not recommended to light the fire. You can try to reverse the draft with a lighter block (either one made of sawdust and oil or wax, or those derived from petroleum), lighting it and placing it on the grate. The block will burn until it burns out, and the heat should change the chimney draft upward:
- Close the fume valve. In this way, you stop the air flowing down the chimney.
- Place the lighter cube on the grate towards the rear or in correspondence with the smoke outlet. The effect you seek is to heat the interior and top of the combustion chamber.
- When the inside of the fireplace has warmed up (you will verify with experience the necessary time), carefully open the smoke valve, and you should see the heat rising, taking away the little smoke that should have developed. When you are sure that the draft is correctly upward, you can start lighting the fire.
Step 4. Start by making a base of newspaper and other lighting material
This creates a good initial combustion, developing several flames.
- Crumple four or five sheets of newspaper (newspaper, not glossy magazines), not too tight, and use them as a base. Don't overdo the paper, or you could create too much smoke.
- If you don't have old newspapers in the house, you can use other materials that are easy to ignite, such as wood or straw, or something that burns quickly and without too much smoke. The trick is to add enough easy-to-burn material to light the first load of thicker wood.
- Never use any type of accelerator such as lighter fluid, gasoline or diesel fuel when starting a fire inside your home.
Step 5. Add small diameter wood, creating a stable base on which to eventually put larger logs
The wood on the bottom must ignite easily and last for at least half an hour.
- Be careful to place the lagna horizontally, i.e. lying flat, and never with one side resting against the walls. Furthermore, it leaves room for air to circulate, in fact the fire does not burn without an adequate supply of oxygen.
- Layer the wood, placing it on top of newspaper or other thin material. If you believe, you can do perpendicular layers, although this makes the structure easy to collapse.
Step 6. Then place one or two larger logs on the ignition base
Depending on how much ignition material you have prepared, arrange the logs so that they cannot fall towards the glass, but only towards the rear wall of the combustion chamber.
- It is certainly better to choose small logs than larger ones, especially for ignition, because they burn more easily.
- Fill the chimney to a maximum of two thirds of the height of the combustion chamber, to prevent the flames from escaping out of control.
Step 7. Set the paper on fire, and it should ignite the other light material
Observe the smoke carefully for the first half hour. There should be little smoke, and it should come out directly from the chimney.
- If the smoke coming out of the barrel is black, the fire does not get enough air for combustion. Try to move the wood with the poker, a minimum movement should be enough, just to allow the air to circulate better. If there are too many embers, spread them out with the poker.
- If the smoke is gray over a long period of time, a lot of the fuel goes to waste.
- You did not turn on properly.
- Maybe you are using too moist wood.
- The fire has too much oxygen. This can be confusing - fire is a delicate combination of oxygen and fuel. If there is too much oxygen, the fire does not take root well in the fuel, and produces more smoke than normal.
- If there are people between the fireplace and the window, they will feel the air being sucked in from outside.
- Let the fire burn with the window open. Sometimes, if the chimney is not high enough, this may be the only way to have a normal draft and prevent smoke from invading the interior. The room should warm up even though there will still be a draft between the window and the fireplace.
- When the fire is well underway and there are already embers on the bottom, take a larger log, and add it on top of the fire carefully, avoiding dropping it especially towards you.
- Large wood takes longer to ignite, but lasts longer without requiring attention.
- If you feel cold air coming down from the flue, you can use a hair dryer to reverse the draft, turning it on and pointing it towards the smoke outlet. This way you should get to reverse the draft.
- If you still have draft problems, it may be that the chimney is not high enough, or that the flue is not suitable for the fireplace, or too dirty. If the chimney is too short, you may want to add elements, usually found in hardware stores or by those who sell plumbing items. Use products that guarantee the tightness of the added materials.
- Choose your firewood carefully. Dry wood burns better, while fresh wood is usually too moist and creates more residues.
- Check wind speed and direction. If there is too much air, keep the chimney glass closed to prevent smoke from escaping.
- Never leave the fire unattended, unless your fireplace is closed with glass. Several accidents could occur (the most common are the small bursts that the wood creates when burning, due to air pockets or liquid inside the trunk), and which can cause embers to come out with even terrible and dangerous consequences.
- Pay close attention to the correct draft before lighting the fire.
- Buy a pair of thermal gloves (welder type); should it happen that a burning log falls out of the fireplace, you will be able to pick it up promptly.
- Carry out regular cleaning and maintenance of the chimney and flue, and check that there are no cracks at least once a year, to prevent possible flue fires, which can be harmful to the structure of the flue itself and of the house in general.
Step 8. Try opening a window slot
If you still have draft problems, and some of the smoke comes out into the room, try opening a window, preferably in front of the fireplace. Avoid sitting between the window and the fireplace though, as you would find yourself in the draft. Sometimes this helps to free the draft from a kind of "vapor block" inside the room.
Step 9. Place larger logs on the fire
If the purpose is to enjoy an evening in front of the fire, adding larger wood can allow it to burn on its own even for a few hours. Add thick wood only when you have already created a nice bed of red coals.
Step 10. Move the wood about half an hour before putting out the fire
Spread the embers with the poker: the thinner the layer, the sooner they will go out. Close the fume valve to keep the heat inside.
Method 2 of 2: Light the Grate-free Fire
Step 1. Arrange two large logs - the bigger the better - parallel and spaced about 50cm apart
Make sure they are parallel to the closing glass. These trunks will act as a base for the fire and as a receptacle for the embers.
Step 2. Place a log sideways on the two just placed
This trunk should be about the diameter of your arm.
This trunk serves to support the material you will use for ignition, and to facilitate the passage of air under the flames
Step 3. System newspaper (uncoated) on the bottom
You can use alternative materials such as sticks or straw.
Step 4. Arrange the fine wood on top of the newspaper
Don't put any more big logs for now. If you can, arrange the small wood like a grill, leaving room for air to pass through.
Step 5. Set the paper or straw on fire
Make sure the material you choose is on fire, it is often easy to notice for the pops.
Step 6. Add thick wood between the first two logs you used as a base, resting one end of the new wood added to your perpendicular bar
