Best Woodstove Lighting Methods

What do you guys find as the best way to light your woodstoves, when the fire and coals are out?

I roll up a paper sack from the store, and put it under two thin/split logs leaning together in a triangle, then light one end of the rolled up sack. It works 75% of the time first try. Sometimes, I'll add a paper towel to one side to enhance the flames at the beginning. Sometimes, if I have large pine cones, I'll add that to the end of the paper sack, or add kindling, or whatever.

I've also made fire starters two ways, I guess I learned in cub scouts many moons ago:
First way is save empty toilet rolls, and stuff with cut up store paper sacks, or paper lunch sacks rolled up to fit into the toilet roll, then dip the complete roll in old melted candle wax, cool, and light. I use my wife's old candles she is done with. You know, the ones everyone gives your wife for their birthday or whatever.

Second, I get an empty corrugated paper egg carton, fill with wood chips from wood cutting, then pour melted old candle wax into each egg section, cool, and break off and light one with the wood. This one works great, and is my favorite.

I'll start my fires with Douglas Fir or Pine or Alder, whatever softwoods I have at the time, then add more wood to stoke the fire after 30 minutes or so.

Oregon Bigfoot.

With a cold stove and chimney, the quickest and easiest way to charge the system is to fill up the firebox with crumpled newspaper and light it off. It will get the draft flowing the right way and burns down fast so you start building the real fire fairly quickly.

Do I always do that. No, I'm a sucker for punnishment and tend to fiddle with it for a while trying to get the draft going strong when I know an easy way.

Matt

One or two pieces of fire starter, some news paper or brown paper on the bottom, pallet wood kindling, some small twigs and branches, light it all with a propane torch, always works and fast.

You might be interested in this clip on starting a cold stove using top down method. You should be able to find part 2 as well which descibes relighting on a coal bed. They are a little dry but informative.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=4PPmsMdEqEA

From the bottom up- 1/4 Super Cedar, kindling, small splits, med split, everything n/s

Works, dare I say, 100 % of the time

1/2 of a Super Cedar (break that half in half 1/4 front 1/4 back) - kinding (5 peices 1"x1"x 16") -3 medium splits (3"x3"x16") - w peices of crumbled newspaper on top to get things going the right way.

Have been using less and less kindling. Used to use about 16 peices and 1/2 a Cedar. Found I dont need that much. Probably dont need the 5 peices but it hasnt failed yet.

I just by the starters from Lowes. You just need a small piece and a box will last the whole season.

Couple of smalls, kindling laid on top. I used to then stuff the remaining space with newspaper knots and light it up. Worked most of the time unless things were really cold. with a 1/4 super cedar, I eliminate the newspaper and place one of the pieces of kindling on top once I've lit the thing.

For backdrafting, only solution that worked for me was to pressurize the firebox. I have a pedestal for my Regency stove which has a cavity for an ash pan (which I don't have). The Regency draws air from below the firebox (or, in my case, from the cavity in the pedestal). I cut a cardboard plug for that cavity and place a 6" fan in the opening. When I have a problem, I flip the front cover down, insert the plug and fan, lay the fire, open damper all the way, turn on fan, light fire and quickly close door to keep smoke from spilling out. The fire will appear to die down, but within a few moments, the draft is revered. Once I see the smoke going up, I open the door and the fire takes off. Clean up and enjoy.

maybe i'll do real time video shoots of the various start up methods we use here...

So far, 1/4 of a Super Cedar has been doing the job quite effectively! I put a smaller, flat piece of slab on the floor of the stove and place my pile of kindling around it and let it rip! 1 match is all it takes. If you want to start a larger fire faster, knot up some newspaper and place it around the kindling with somewhat larger pieces of kindling, but not too large or you'll smoke the heck outta your stove and have very dirty glass!

2 splits say 6 inches apart, fill with paper, 3 pieces of kindling across splits, 2 splits on top of kindling...light paper....no problems.

Top down method with good dry wood and kindling, was skeptical the first time I tried it but now am a real advocate!

Two Eco Bricks N-S (front to back) with a couple of inches between them. Put a small scrap of kindling from my friend the woodworker between them with a quarter of a Supercedar on top and another small scrap of kindling leaning on the Supercedar. Place 3 small splits E-W (side to side) on top of the Eco Bricks. Depending on how much fire I want I may place another split diagonally on top of the three splts. Light the Supercedar, close the door with the draft wide open and away we go. If I'm getting a cold draft down the chimney I'll crumple up a piece of newspaper, put it on top of the splits and light it at the same time I light the Supercedar. Last year when I was using the smaller Geo Bricks (Bio Brick size) I'd put the splits in the back of the firebox E-W and build a teepee with the Geo Bricks in front and a quarter Supercedar underneath them. Since the the Eco Bricks are larger and just fit in the firebox N-S, I've adopted this revised method. I've tried the pure top down method and it just didn't work for me.

Top-down always. A handful of these (pic), on five 1-inchers north-south, on 4 one-inchers east-west. On 3 full splits east-west.
It starts with one (a single!) sheet of newspaper rolled corner-to-corner, knotted (on top). A few splitter droppings sprinkled
about. It starts every single time and nothing to buy, no chemicals.
http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php?ACT=24&fid=2&aid=65072_QJLzW6nLfPAMcF12S2FR&board_id=1', '384', '640'
Um, sorry, that didn't quite work out as it seemed it should...

I put my splits in the stove and the tuck a quarter of a super cedar fire starter in the middle down low and light it off.

45 minutes later, I'm cruising along and dampered down.

I don't worry about kindling, newspaper,top down,etc...

-SF

some small dry birch splits with lots of lose bark. (bark up) bottom layer
some birch bark middle layer & light it
medium & large splits of dry birch to fill the stove, (bark down) & crack the door a bit to get it burning well.
Close the door & get ready to reduce the inlet air, she's gonna get hot quick, you want to let the stove warm up slowly

I took the top down method and turned it on its side. Big splits in the back, smaller in front of them, a few pieces of kin'lin in front and 1/4 of a Super Cedar.

I do it about like the previous post - larger stuff in back and on bottom, smaller splits on top and in front. I use a bunch of kindling and a 1/4 super cedar. This always works, sometimes really well, other times i don't load it as well and it takes a while to get roaring. Generally I don't have to do much of anything for a couple of hours except maybe turn the air down.

+1 on this. 2 splits medium size N/S with 3 newspaper knots, some small kindling (I cut a bunch of 1/4" strips from 1x stock scraps when I have my table saw out) and a few sticks of medium kindling. One match, crack the door and away she goes. 100% of the time. Can't say as I ever have any issues with getting the draft started either.

+ 1

Same here, but E/W by necessity with this very small stove. But because I work from a home office, I'm not rushing to get out the door to go to a workplace elsewhere and can afford the time to start with less than a full load. I very much doubt I could get a good fire going with the box loaded to the gills from the get-go, though I've never tried. I make a small fire, wait a bit until it's going good, add some more wood, get that going good, turn down the air and add the rest of a full load, walk away.

Send 'em to me? With this small stove, I have to start from scratch every morning. I usually have a scattering of small hot coals left nestled in the ashes, but they're not enough to light off even ordinary kindling. If I want to avoid using up a quarter of a super-cedar to get started, I use a handful of splitter debris to get fire from those small hot coals, then gradually add larger pieces. I hate using something I have to buy if I can use stuff I have for free instead.

I doubt any non-neurotic is "worried" about the specifics here.

The reason for doing it top-down is that doing so can greatly reduce or eliminate totally the dense smoke generated by most of the beloved methods described here.
Besides depositing much less poo in the pipe, I'm sure the neighbors downwind appreciate the improved air quality.

Yes, the difference can be that dramatic.