New To Woodburning...need advice on lighting

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plenzlerjm

New Member
Dec 17, 2011
23
Maryland
I just bought a VC Encore and was looking for advice on lighting/firing it.

I have used it about a half dozen times and am still experimenting w/ settings etc.

It seems that building a teepee fire out of dry kindling and rolled newspaper works best for me to get the flue drawing.

I then place on a few small chunks and leave the damper open for about 10 mins.

Then I add 2 - 3 split logs.

I'm not sure if I'm adding enough logs at the start. How much is too much?

Any advice on your lighting rituals is much appreciated.

Thanks!
 
I use a quarter of a Supercedar between two Eco Bricks with 3 or 4 splits on top. Light the Supercedar and I'm good for several hours. I did the paper and kindling thing my first year burning and this is much easier. However, for paper and kindling, it sounds like you're on the right track. You could try adding a few more splits and see how it goes. There's a certain amount of trial and error when you first start burning until you find out what works best in your stove. Make sure you have good dry wood.
 
Sounds to me like your on the right track. Get you some Super Cedars or Pine Mountain fire starters from Wally World. They can be cut up into quarters and they're really easy to get your kindling started at 3:00 in the morning :). I usually use a fire starter in front and lincoln log about 5 or six pieces of kindling around it with a couple splits behind that in the back.
 
I use the Rutland fire starters that come in square sheets and you break off a square. I then stack kindling, 1'' diameter pieces N/S and E/W on top of each other, several layers high. Then add small 3-4 inch splits and light it off. Once that gets going good and I have a good coal bed I add the larger splits. Works like a charm.
 
I used paper at first also cause thats how dad always did it. But since i bought super cedars I have not ever used paper again. And a quarter of a supercedar is plenty of you have good kindling.
 
Pretty much any fire starter beats paper for getting a draft started because they send clean heat up the flue while the kindling is starting to burn. The primo ones like Super Cedars can eliminate kindling completely after you use them for a while.

And yes, they are a forum sponsor. But even then I resisted trying them for five years. Tried them and I ain't looking back. I screwed around for 30 years with paper and kindling for nothing.
 
I start my stove with at least half or 2/3 of a full load of wood, plus a bunch of smaller wood and kindling on top. I;d fill it completely except that I have to have room for the small stuff to get a quick start. Then I add a piece of SuperCedar firestarter nestled in the kindling, light it and leave the door open a crack to get a strong flow of air. If I have loaded it well the fire will be burning strongly in 10 minutes and roaring in 20 or 30 minutes. I then shut the door and let her burn a while, eventually I turn the air down to where it would be for a normal reload with a hot flue. I won't add wood until the initial wood is all burnt to coals two or three hours or maybe more after I light the stove.

I have a clay flue that is slow to heat up so the first load starts slowly and doesn't seem to burn the same way as the second and subsequent loads will.

So, to answer your question I would say no, you are not starting with enough wood.
 
When I used to burn an Encore Cat I would use 4 or 5 small splits (maybe 2"-3" diameter), criss cross them over one firestarter square, light it, wait till full flame on the little splits, drop 2 full size splits, wait for them to catch, fill to top via top load, air open, damper open, wait till 600 degree griddle temp, shut main damper, wait a few more minutes and shut combustion air.
 
Wow... NOBODY uses good ol' kerosene?


























** Note: The above is satire. A joke. That means DON'T try to start your stove with kerosene. If you do you're very likely to prove Mr. Darwin right.
 
I build the fires very similar to the way I did before the new epa stove. It is not a top down but not totally a bottom up fire. I lay 2 splits on the bottom with the bark down. Form a Vee with the 2 splits. Now I use 1/4 of a Super Cedar and light it right away. I still like kindling so lay about 4 pieces of kindling crossways or diagonally across the Vee which is slightly above the fire from the Super Cedar. Then I lay a small split on top, close the door and forget it for a while before going back and adding another split or two.
 
bluedogz said:
Wow... NOBODY uses good ol' kerosene?


+1 haha

I use the top down method more frequently now and man it works great! Believer become have I Hmm !

Pete



























** Note: The above is satire. A joke. That means DON'T try to start your stove with kerosene. If you do you're very likely to prove Mr. Darwin right.
Click to expand...
 
I only saw one poster mention good dry wood. If you are not new to burning than I apologize up front. If you are new, you should know wood needs to be split and stacked for at least a year or two to season properly and get the moisture out. Most people who sell wood advertise it as seasoned when in fact it is not. Unseasoned wood is pretty worthless until it dries out. It wont light immediately, doesnt give off much heat, and needs a lot of oxygen to stay lit.. that means leaving the air open to keep it going and when the air is open, most of your heat is going up the chimney and not radiating out of the stove into your home. Hope your wood is seasoned and best of luck w the new stove.
If you cant get super cedars, I found that using two or three sticks of fatwood from the depot works just fine. Comes in a bag of a few dozen for about 6 bucks.
 
Joe_1775 said:
I just bought a VC Encore and was looking for advice on lighting/firing it.

I have used it about a half dozen times and am still experimenting w/ settings etc.

It seems that building a teepee fire out of dry kindling and rolled newspaper works best for me to get the flue drawing.

I then place on a few small chunks and leave the damper open for about 10 mins.

Then I add 2 - 3 split logs.

I'm not sure if I'm adding enough logs at the start. How much is too much?
If your neighbors call concerned about the 20 feet of flames emanating from the chimney cap, that might have been too much.

Any advice on your lighting rituals is much appreciated.

Thanks!
Click to expand...


I still do the teepee thing with various sized pine branches because I (almost quite literally) have tons of them and knotted or shards of newspaper / chipboard. Although after this warm Winter and short quick fire after short quick fire those little convenient waxy firestarters are looking attractive. If a couple weekends had been rainier and I couldn't go replenish my piles of branches easily I may have bought a box this year.
 
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