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maximum amount of heat is to use the correct type of wood and kindling items to start the fire.
Lighting the Fire
The first consideration is to prepare the wood heater for the fire and to decide what position in the wood heater is best for combustion. Ideally there should be no more than 2 inches (5 cm) of ash in the bottom of the stove. If there is more it will need to be removed prior to setting up the kindling fire.
The ideal location to start the kindling fire is as close as possible to the air intake of the wood heater. This will allow the maximum amount of combustible air to start the kindling fire burning and generate enough heat to start the chimney drawing. Once the chimney starts to draw air in the rest of the larger pieces of wood will quickly ignite producing a clean and very low smoke fire.
Kindling
Kindling are the small fine pieces of very dry wood that are used to start the fire and get the larger wood ignited. Kindling should be as finely split as possible as opposed to smooth small branches. The more edges that are exposed to the flame the faster the kindling will catch on fire. Small branches are smooth and have no edges so are harder to get to start to burn. Softwoods that are high in natural oils such as pine, spruce, or cedar are better for kindling than are hardwoods that do not have as much natural oil.
Once you have collected and split your kindling, you are ready to prepare your fire. There are two basic ways to start a fire; the top-down method and the parallel log method.
Top-down method
• Begin by placing two or three standard sized logs on the bottom of the wood heater, either across or lengthwise. The logs should be at least 3 inches from the sides of the heater to allow air circulation.
• Place a layer of slightly smaller logs or heavy kindling directly on top of the standard logs.
• Finish with a layer of fine kindling.
• Several pieces of newspaper rolled tightly and crimped over at the ends are then placed on top.
• Light the paper and the fire will burn down through the pile to the big logs.
• Keep the airflow open to the fire until the big logs have become fully involved in the fire and there are some visible coals. At that time the intake can be closed to the desired level.
Parallel log method
• Place two full size logs parallel to each other with a significant space in between them in the bottom of the heater going either lengthwise or across.
• Fill the center of the log with paper and fine kindling. Light the fire and keep the airflow open until the outside logs have begun to burn.
Loading the wood heater
To maintain a good fire remember that wood burns better in cycles with a larger amount of wood added at one time. Avoid being tempted to add a stick or two every hour as this will lead to a smoldering type fire rather than a steady burn.
The more compact the wood is that is placed into the heater the slower it will burn. The more loosely the wood is placed in the heater the faster it will burn. To maintain the burn on the fire slowly decrease or shut down the amount of air the fire is able to draw in. Do this slowly to avoid excessive smoke production. For overnight fires a very compact stack and use harder types of wood that are longer burning.
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