by Tom

Share

by Tom

Share

You don’t have to be an Eagle Scout to start a fire in your fireplace. You just have to use a tried and trusted method.

How to Start a Fire – Step by Step

  • Make sure the damper is open. It may be located inside the firebox or at the top of the chimney.
  • Crumple 2-3 sheets of black and white (not color) newspaper and place them on the fireplace grate.
  • Put a handful of tinder on top of the newspaper. Slivers of pine wood, or fatwood make the best tinder.
  • Criss-cross 6 or 8 pieces of kindling–dry hardwood, about 1 inch square by 1 foot long, on top of the tinder.
  • Twist together two sheets of newspaper, light them and hold them up inside the fireplace to get an upward flow of warm air started.
  • Light the newspaper under the kindling in 2-3 places with fatwood, a fireplace lighter, or fireplace matches.
  • When the kindling is burning well, add 2-3 pieces of split, seasoned firewood. (Later, add more firewood as needed.)
  • Let your fire breathe: leave space between the logs for air to flow.
    How to Start a Fire in Fireplace: Let the fire breathe with spaces between the logs

Since the beginning of time, people have found lighting the communal fire a rewarding experience. As you start a fire in your fireplace, seeing those first flickers of flame grow into a sustainable fire will, no doubt, be rewarding for you, too.

Related Posts

View all

2 Comments

  1. […] Now build a welcoming fire in your fireplace.  Nothing says “welcome” to holidays guests like an inviting fire in the fireplace. Read fire-building tips here. […]

  2. Lisa Renn December 1, 2013 at 1:20 PM - Reply

    Thanks! This worked wonderfully.
    I tried to add a photo of the roaring beauty, but I wasn’t successful.
    My husband will be in awe……

Leave A Comment

By submitting your comment, you agree your name and comment may be published. Your email address will never be published. In accordance with our Privacy Policy, it will only be used to notify you when there is a response to your comment. It is never shared with or sold to others..

  • Traditionally, knowledge based on teachings and experiences about selecting and burning firewood was passed along verbally. Often such information was put into a rhyming format to make it easier to remember. Thus were born firewood poems and firewood songs to address the question, “Which Firewood Burns Best?” As with most things passed from generation to generation, […]

    Continue reading
  • Have firewood in your life? If you have a wood stove or a wood-burning fireplace, fire pit or fire bowl, you have probably heard some common sayings, sometimes found in rhymes and songs, about firewood. Some call them firewood Old Wives Tales or Old Husband Tales. How can you tell which one is a firewood fact or myth? Which […]

    Continue reading
  • Usually when we think of a fireplace, we think of sharing it with friends and family. There is one type of fireplace, however, that is designed to enjoyed alone, in privacy: the bathroom fireplace. A bathroom fireplace is a personal and elegant indulgence. It is the ultimate for creating a spa-like retreat from the cares of the […]

    Continue reading
  • If you burn wood in your fire pit, you have the makings of DIY fire pit log stump stool – the firewood logs themselves. From the most basic to the most clever, fire pit log stump stools capture the essence and simplicity of gathering around a fire. Here are directions for making a variety of DIY fire pit log […]

    Continue reading