Do you blow on your fire?!?

[claybe]

...when you have coals to relight your fire? I have a great coal base and then load the stove up and leave the door cracked. I get impatient and then blow on the coals until I get light headed and until I get the flame going. Should I be more patient or is there another secret method I am missing???

 

[DexterDay]

Add wood, close door (all the way), wait a few minutes to start turning down air.

Depending on the wood and how big of a coal base, the wood will be on fire before I close the door. If its not? It's only a minute before it does?

What type of wood? How long C/S/S??

 

[Prof]

I usually open the door, stirr the coals/ash around a bit to expose the coals. Before I put wood on, I just give the coals a few minutes to come to life--the extra air from the open door does this. I load it up and in a few minutes (or less) I have flames. I suspect that blowing on the coals may get old.

 

[rdust]

No blowing, no keeping the door cracked. I find with my BK if I close the door with the air on max it lights faster. My old stove would light better with the door cracked, I find the opposite to be true with this one. Usually there will be some sort of flame in the stove before it's completely loaded.

I don't think there is a right or wrong with the door cracked/not cracked. I don't think many burners are blowing on the fire though.

 

[pen]

If there aren't many coals left, and I'm looking to speed things up and ignite the kindling that I'd use on them, with the larger splits above, I have an old aluminum arrow shaft that I use to blow on the coals. This puts the air where I want it without having to put my head so close to the action, keeps from blowing ashes all around, and lets me use less wind.

pen

 

[begreen]

Yes, I have done this when the coals left are minimal. If the fire doesn't ignite quickly I will go for a quarter SuperCedar.

 

[KaptJaq]

I have an old set of bellows from my parents house. If coals are minimal and I am in a hurry I will use the bellows to get the reload started. You can just make out the bellows in the lower right corner of the avatar image. Beats blowing & singeing what is left of the hair off my forehead...

KaptJaq

 

[ArsenalDon]

bellows

yup...that is what they were made for

 

[BrianK]

Harbor Freight sells cheap cans of compressed air which are great for starting a fire with kindling on minimum coals.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I open the ashpan door for a few seconds to let in more air. If you have to "blow" on the fire.

 

[PapaDave]

No.
Open door, pull ashes to front, reload. Usually have flame before I'm done loading, even with 4-6" rounds of Oak.
I guess dry wood is gooder.
I don't do any artificial air injection...I've seen the results of that in my stove and it wasn't pretty (previous owner).

 

[Mitch Newton]

If there aren't many coals left, and I'm looking to speed things up and ignite the kindling that I'd use on them, with the larger splits above, I have an old aluminum arrow shaft that I use to blow on the coals. This puts the air where I want it without having to put my head so close to the action, keeps from blowing ashes all around, and lets me use less wind.

pen

Good idea.

 

[BobUrban]

rarely needed but if necessary I use the aluminum arrow trick. Crimp the outgoing end a bit to get better air concentration.

 

[schlot]

I use a bellows when the coals are really minimal or the wood is not as dry as I would like it.

 

[Burn-1]

I do, when needed. I use a 2 1/2 foot section of 1/2" copper pipe and put some pine stump splinters on the coals.

 

[firebroad]

I use this tool called a Blow Poke (go ahead, laugh). Keeps your eyebrows intact, concentrates the air where you want it, and has a handy little fork at the end for raking coals and such. The most useful tool I have.

 

[maverick06]

I've heard if you blow it will get bigger. so that sounds like a good idea.

in a totally unrelated note, yes, i use bellows to get the fire going when putting logs on a limited coal bed.

 

[Grisu]

I just rake the coals forward, put the wood on, maybe a little bit of kindling on the coals, and then close the door. The air wash will give me a strong air stream right onto the coals that will usually ignite the wood in less than 10 seconds. Granted,I have a strong draft so that method may not work for everyone.

 

[pgmr]

Harbor Freight sells cheap cans of compressed air which are great for starting a fire with kindling on minimum coals.

Be careful with these "canned air" products. While the Harbor Freight Duster claims to be "compressed air", if it has a liquid inside it's not air. It's likely a fluoroethane of some type. While not extremely flammable, it is somewhat. They've also added a bitterant to most (all?) of these products to deter people from huffing the gas to get high.

 

[BrianK]

They've also added a bitterant to most (all?) of these products to deter people from huffing the gas to get high.

Yep. I picked up two cans at WalMart the other day. They keep it behind the counter in electronics and you have to show a driver's license to purchase it.

 

[firebroad]

Yep. I picked up two cans at WalMart the other day. They keep it behind the counter in electronics and you have to show a driver's license to purchase it.

Oh, for pity's sake...

 

[Lumber-Jack]

If I still have warm coals in my stove then I still have a good draft going in the chimney, raking coals forward and placing a little cardboard or tinder is all that is necessary. Although I do remember when back when I was a kid living in a house with an old fireplace and using a bellows to try and get fires going with green wood and poor draft.

The ironic thing is, if I was to be extremely boastful about my dry wood and the strong draft in my stove, and the fact that I don't have to get down on my knees and blow on my fire to get it going, I might be considered a Blowhard, and yet those who humbly admit that they do have to get down on their knees because of their poor draft and not so dry wood, and have to blow hard to get their fire going, would not.

 

[Highbeam]

Absolutely I blow if for some reason the remaining coals do not cause ignition before I'm done loading. I would rather not wait any longer than necessary to get a good fire rolling. When I see that cold smoke rising I think of it gunking up my window and the flue and spewing out the chimney. I want that to become heat ASAP.

The kids and I also get quite a kick out of blowing on a small ember until the logs poof into fire. We do it the old fashioned way, on our knees with faces down close.

 

[pgmr]

I was given an Air Grill blower a few years ago. Works well to revive just a few glowing coals. Most times on a reload, I just leave the door cracked and there is plenty of draft.

 

[BrotherBart]

Reach into the can I keep the Super Cedar pieces in, pick up a handful of the pixie dust in the bottom, toss it on the coals and close the door. Off to the races.