I know the way of starting stoves with kindling, let it burn to get coals, then load the stove scenario... I do it different and I think easier. Depending if you have good wood and great draft of course... I load my stove with regular splits or rounds. Usually medium to low density wood, all of which is dry. I then take fire starter brick and break it in half and place it at the air intake, one on each side. Open the draft, light, and shut the door. After about 20 minutes i can back the draft down, flue temp is good and stove temp is rising. A few short minutes after i can adjust to the final setting and it cruises away. I know every stove is different, but this one seems to take off just lighting the firewood. I have zero kindling wood, never have! Anyone else have a similiar startup procedure?
The way I start a cold stove... what do you think?
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I have the Super insert and can attest it is really easy to get a fire going in there. If you have good dry wood and long burning firestarters your method sounds just fine. People with SuperCedars may do it relatively similar. Nevertheless, instead if placing the firestarters at the boost air manifold I would try a top down fire by placing them on top of the splits. That will consume the early smoke and give you less creosote. That is actually the only problem that may arise with your method. You don't give the stove and especially the flue much time to warm up. The portion above the stove may be hot but higher up the chimney may need more time. However, if you don't have creosote problems just keep doing what works for you.
I usually do old-fashioned bottom-up but again tried some top-down recently as my wood is now well seasoned - a requirement for top-down. I had no problem getting the fire established even with just newspaper balls instead of Supercedars or likewise. The advantage is you get a really clean burn early on. Visibly less smoke going up the flue. However, it just takes more time until all the wood is engulfed and the fire really takes off. As I have to do frequent cold starts but don't want to wait 30 minutes or more until the stove is cruising (more or less) I went back to bottom-up. I want the stove up to temp more quickly and the ability to put the air control into a setting where I can leave the stove alone.
Thanks for the info! Like I said I am going to do some experimenting. Part of me just wants to prove I can do it. I've had so much outdoor campfire experience which is just about all bottom up and you can just keep adding bigger and bigger fuel as you go. So this will be fun to learn.
Actually, even with a bottom-up I don't add wood for quite a while. I load my stove N-S. Two larger splits on each side. Paperballs in the center, small kindling on top. Then criss-crossing smaller and medium splits over the kindling using the larger splits at the side as support. Some more small to medium splits in any free space on the side. Firebox will be about half full at the end (wood to air). Light the paper and fire will be going strong within 5 minutes; often less. I close the door then, wait another 5 minutes and then start dialing down the air. Usually I leave it open maybe 1/5th when I do a cold start to get a hotter fire to warm up the stove and the flue. After about 2 hours, I reload the stove with full splits and let it cruise for 5 to 6 hours.
Tried the top down with my PE Summit. Problem is the sweet spot for quick starts is right behind the doghouse on the bottom. To get a top down going I have to keep the door open and stay with it until it catches, versus being able to close the door much sooner and walk away from it.
Sprinter
Minister of Fire
Like a lot of us here, I'm experimenting with different methods. So far, it seems to me that each method has merit depending on:
1. The size and duration of the fire you want that day.
2. How you feel that morning.
3. If you're in a hurry to get to work.
4. If you've had your coffee yet.
5. If you have any kindling left from yesterday.
6.. If you want to save your Super Cedars and burn yesterday's newspaper instead.
All that is tongue in cheek, but they all get the job done and it ends up being whatever works. Personally, I kind of like the top-down or the "get a bunch of kindling burning then put the main load on top" method. But the experimentation goes on and that's half the fun.
1. The size and duration of the fire you want that day.
2. How you feel that morning.
3. If you're in a hurry to get to work.
4. If you've had your coffee yet.
5. If you have any kindling left from yesterday.
6.. If you want to save your Super Cedars and burn yesterday's newspaper instead.
All that is tongue in cheek, but they all get the job done and it ends up being whatever works. Personally, I kind of like the top-down or the "get a bunch of kindling burning then put the main load on top" method. But the experimentation goes on and that's half the fun.
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My Spectrum gets loaded up with a firestarter on top, between a couple of small splits. I'm usually cutting the air back in less than ten minutes. It seems to breathe really well, even with only 13' of pipe.
The BK doesn't work so well top down, for me anyway. I start with a couple of spilts on the bottom, and some kindling and firestarter on top of them. I add more splits as the fire gets established. The reason is I want the whole load ripping when I start turning the air down, and it takes forever with a top down start. Can't burn most stoves that way, but that's what I found best for me. I think. I haven't started a fire in it for a quite a while
The BK doesn't work so well top down, for me anyway. I start with a couple of spilts on the bottom, and some kindling and firestarter on top of them. I add more splits as the fire gets established. The reason is I want the whole load ripping when I start turning the air down, and it takes forever with a top down start. Can't burn most stoves that way, but that's what I found best for me. I think. I haven't started a fire in it for a quite a while
From an entirely cold stove I use 2 matches. The first lights a bunch of newspaper or scrap copy paper that the little one draws all over and quickly heats up the firebox and charges the flue. I have good draft with ~25 feet of insulated 5.5", but I find it easier to get the rest of the fire going after this charge. The 2nd match lights the regular charge with 1/4 of a super cedar. Matches are cheap. I don't see the point of an errant wind gust putting smoke in the house if I don't have to have it in the house.
This is just my way. Every stove setup is a bit different.
Matt
This is just my way. Every stove setup is a bit different.
Matt
"I know the way of starting stoves with kindling, let it burn to get coals, then load the stove scenario"
Huh? Not sure I even understand what you are saying, you let the kindling burn to coals, how do you define kindling?
I start a lot of fires from a cold stove through the winter and I build a small normal fire to begin with.
Huh? Not sure I even understand what you are saying, you let the kindling burn to coals, how do you define kindling?
I start a lot of fires from a cold stove through the winter and I build a small normal fire to begin with.
Kindling= Small pieces of wood that ignite easily to establish draft and warm things up, then load splits on that. Those of which i don't use any of, as what was described in my post. I'm sure as posted it depends on the set-up and stove, what works for some may not work for others.
Well I know what kindling is and now I know why I did not understand, I have never heard of anyone starting a fire that way, its always a small fire like you said you do.
Sprinter
Minister of Fire
That's my goal too.
In the past, I'd always just put kindling on the bottom,stacked the main stuff on top and lit the bottom with SuperCedars. Lately I've been trying the top down approach. But it hadn't occurred to me to just do a very small fire with kindling or small splits and it let get well established, secondaries and flue get hot quickly, and then put the main load in. But I've done it a few times and I like it.
That's why I started the thread, just to see who does. Looks like some do, either bottom up, or top down starting. Do you have good draft on the PE oldspark?
That's how I have been doing it for 30 years, and it has worked perfect every time. I did try the top down for a while after reading it here, but at least for my stoves criss cross works better. Newspaper is free, so I have never seen the need for a fire starter even though they do get things going faster with less kindling.
Here we always toss the bottomup-topdown methods back and forth. Campers have a similar debate over TeePee vs CrissCross. We camped a lot, and I was taught crisscross, so that's what I taught. A few years ago my daughter called me and said she was at a 'bonfire" with a big group of her friends. The boys tried several times to get their teepee going with no luck...wood was a little damp, teepee would fall over and smoulder. So she walked over and told them she would show them how to build a proper campfire....there were some snickering, but about a half an hour later the crisscross won the night with a roaring fire. It was nice to have my daughter tell me " thanks Dad!".
I have a medium draft I believe, top down was not fast enough for me (need to try it again) I do what the forum members here call the tunnel of love, 2 splits north south with kindlng on top and 2 more splits on top east west.
The type of wood (besides draft) has a lot to do with how quick the fire gets going.
I've heard of the tunnel of love, I havent tried it out yet. I agree the type of wood is very important, I use a lot of gray and white birch to get things started. The bark ignites instantly and really gets things going.
Quoting myself here because I just started a new fire with the upside down method and wow did that go nice! Put a couple large splits on the bottom, 3 smaller ones on top of that and then some small kindling pieces and a couple balls of newspaper... it took off really nice.
I burn in a CAT stove and I think having the heat in the top of the firebox so quick got my cat ready much quicker than the bottom up fires I had been building.
Sprinter
Minister of Fire
That top-down method works well on non-cats, too. Gets the flue temps up and the secondaries burning quickly and rest of the load catches nicely.
Just so you know, I typed in felines.... I didn't need it to sensor the word I was thinking which rhymes with wussies of course......
Admit it. You love making newspaper bows. We know you do.
Me, I put a chunk of Super Cedar on top these days. Google News is hard to light.
Me, I put a chunk of Super Cedar on top these days. Google News is hard to light.
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