How to Light a Wood Burning Stove and Keep the Fire Burning

Lighting a fire may sound old-fashioned but there are many reasons, including the need to save money in a recession, why the sale of open fires and wood burning stoves in particular, are currently booming across the globe.

This Hub explains the differences between lighting, igniting or starting a wood burning stove and an ordinary, 'open' log fire. It also contains tips about lighting wood stoves and how to successfully maintain the fire once lit.

If you want to know more about wood burning stoves or the reasons why wood burning stoves are cost effective and environmentally friendly in these recessionary times then read: Wood Burning Stoves and Ten Reasons Why Now is the Right Time to Burn Wood

Before we get down to lighting the fire, it is helpful to understand some differences between ordinary fires and wood burning stoves:

1. The wood burning stove is in an enclosed metal box. It therefore takes a lot of heat energy to get it hot (particularly if it is made of cast iron)
   
2. Air intake is controlled by one or more valves
3. The design means you can preheat the air so the stove burns much hotter than a conventional wood fire
4. The wood stove is therefore much more efficient in terms of converting fuel to heat energy than an ordinary fire

Preparing the Fire

Like a conventional fire, you can either start your stove with Firelighters or old Newspaper. With a wood stove it is good to light the new fire on a bed of ash so don't remove all the old ash when preparing the fire.

Open the stove door and add several sheets of scrunched up paper to the top of the ash. Some people prefer to roll the paper into a cylinder then twist the ends together.

Next add small bits of Kindling, on top of your paper or firelighter, typically arranged in a 'wigwam' pattern. Kindling is any easy burning material but typically a soft wood like pine chopped into small pieces with a hand axe.

Firelighters are typically made of paraffin wax. Some manufacturers add small amounts of kerosene or other light fuel to the wax in order to make them burn better. This means they are a bit more smelly than newspaper but slightly easier to use and more efficient at getting the fire started.

Have larger pieces of dry, seasoned wood ready to add as the fire catches hold.

Check out the links to the right of this article to find out how to obtain wood, saw it up, split it if necessary and finally, store it ready for burning.

Air Input Controls

Your wood burning stove may typically have both a primary and secondary air input controls or valves. In the photo of the Morso Squirrel (right), the circular control on the front is the primary control and there is a slider control for the secondary valve under the ash box at the bottom of the stove.

When lighting the stove these should both be open in order to get as much oxygen to the fire as possible. Until the fire really gets going, it is also advisable to keep the door open too.

The Primary Air Input Valve brings cold air from the room under the burning wood. The Secondary Air Input Valve takes air which has circulated around the stove and over the front viewing glass (helping to remove soot and keep it clear).

This means the secondary air is already very hot when it meets with the hot gases from the burning wood. The gases therefore ignite in the upper part of the stove making the stove much hotter and releasing more heat energy from the wood than with a conventional, open fire.

This is the exciting bit. Light the newspaper in several places or the firelighter and gradually add larger pieces of wood as the fire burns. Beware of putting on too much wood at once as this will lower the temperature.

The goal with a wood stove is to get the stove itself up to working temperature as quickly as possible. ideally you need to end up with a bed of glowing red embers before you add more wood.

Also make sure the wood is seasoned (has been stored long enought for the wood to dry out fully). Seasoning typically takes about a year for newly felled wood.

I keep my fire wood in my garage so I bring it into the house before burning and stack it next to the stove. This ensures it is already warm and dry before it is added to the fire.

Generally, build up the temperature of the stove using soft wood such as Pine (which burns easily) and burn harder woods such as Oak once the stove is really hot. Once the fire has warmed up you can close the front door.

More on Those Air Intake Valves

As the stove is warming up it makes sense to keep both valves fully open and get as much oxygen to the fire as possible, Once it is really hot you can close the primary (cold) air input and use only the secondary (hot) air valve to control the fire.

This makes the fire operate at a higher temperature and means you get more heat energy from the wood you are burning. Hot air ensures flammable gases are burnt and not lost up the chimney as is the case with a conventional, open fire.

If your fire is burning too quickly or is too hot you can reduce the secondary air flow. Note that if you completely close both valves then the fire will quickly go out as it has no oxygen supply.

If the fire isn't burning well enough then open up the primary valve for a short period of time and/or open the front door slightly to get more oxygen into the fire.

Lighting and maintaining a fire in a wood burning stove is, in some respects, different to lighting and maintaining a conventional open log fire. The main differences are the need to control the air supply and the understanding that you need to get the stove itself hot before it will burn efficiently.

There is nothing quite like a real log fire on a cold winter's day. And one of the many advantages of the wood stove is you can leave it burning while you go out knowing that the fire is safely enclosed.

Like any skill, the best way to learn wood burning stove lighting is by doing. You'll learn by trial and error how to get the best from your own particular model of stove.  If you enjoy an open fire then you'll find a wood burning stove even more satisfying.  Its hotter, more efficient and safer.  So now you know what to do - Get it lit!