(A Concise Guide To Building A Wood Fire The Chimney Sweep)

Fuel Load Geometry

Avoid loading only one or two pieces of wood on a coal bed most often they will not burn completely because heat is given up faster than it is produced. A minimum of three pieces is needed to form a sheltered pocket of glowing coals which sustains the fire. A loosely-stacked load of wood (in a crisscross arrangement) burns fast; a tightly-packed load of wood burns more slowly.

As the wood is heated in the firebox, this water boi Is off, consuming heat energy in the process. The wetter the wood the more heat energy is consumed That is why wet wood hisses and sizzles while dry wood ignites and burns easily.

Preparing Firewood

Firewood should be split and stacked under cover in the early spring to be ready for burning inthe fall.
After drying in the summer sun and warm winds, the
wood should be below 20% moisture content. A piece
of dry firewood has large cracks or checks in the end grain. Look for these when judging the quality of firewood. Hardwoods and softwoods are chemically similar - the difference is density. Hardwoods, being more dense, produce a longer-lasting fire. However, people who live in Canada's North, where hardwoods
do not grow, are able to heat their homes quite effectively with softwoods. The fireboxes of their wood stoves need to be larger to handle the greater volume of wood.

Starting or Rekindling the Fire

When starting a fire, use plenty of crumpled newspaper and kindling. As a guide, fill the fire box completely with loosely crumpled newspaper and hold it down with at least ten pieces of finely-split dry kindling. Softwoods make the best kindling. Find out where the combustion air enters the firebox of your stove, and light the fire there so that the fire gets plenty of air. Open the air inlets fully. When rekindling, rake the live coals toward the combustion air inlet of the firebox. Make a compact pile of charcoal and place the kindling and small piece of wood on and behind it. Open the air inlets fully to produce rapid combustion.

Each firing cycle should provide between four hours and eight hours of heating. Plan the cycles to match your household routine. For example, if someone is home all day, use four cycles: morning, noon, evening, and before bed. If the house is empty during the day, use three cycles: morning, late afternoon, and before bed. Adjust the amount of wood used for each cycle so that only enough coals are left to ignite the next load. Always load at least an hour before bed so you have time to flash the load before turning the air control down for an overnight burn.

When you follow the suggestions for raking of the coalbed, you will find that ashes accumulate at the front of the firebox. After an overnight fire, the remaining live coals are found at the back of the firebox, furthest from the air inlets. The ash at the front of the firebox can be removed without disturbing the coalbed. After a small amount of ash is removed, the coals can be raked and the stove loaded. Most modern appliances operate best when a small amount of ash is removed each morning before the first fire of the day is built.

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Placing the pieces close together prevents the heat and flame from penetrating the load and saves the buried pieces for later in the burn cycle. Open the air inlets fully and leave them open for between 30 and 45 minutes, depending on the load size. When the outer surface of the pieces has a thick layer of charcoal, reduce the air control setting, but not enough to extinguish the flames.

The flash fire eliminates the smouldering fires that are common in spring and fall. To build a flash fire, rake the charcoal towards the air inlets and load at least three small pieces of wood on and behind it. The pieces should be stacked loosly in a crisscross arrangement. Open the air inlet to produce a bright, hot fire. The air supply can be reduced slightly as the fire progresses, but never enough to extinguish the flames. When only charcoal is left, the air supply can be reduce further to avoid cooling the coal bed.

Don't expect perfectly steady heat output from your stove. Wood burns best in cycles. A firing cycle is the time between the ignition of a fresh load of wood and its consumption to a Coal bed.

As the fire progresses and most of the hydrocarbons have vapourized, charcoal remains. Charcoal is almost 100% carbon and burns with very little flame or smoke.Charcoal is a good fuel that burns easily and cleanly when enough oxygen is present.

Of the total energy content of the wood you burn, about half is in the form of smoke, and half is charcoal. The challenge in burning wood efficiently is to burn off the smoke before it leaves the firebox. The rest of the suggestions in this fact sheet will help you to get more heat from your wood, and reduce creosote deposits and air pollution

The hydrocarbon gases and tars that mke upthe smoke are combustable if the temperature is high enough and oxegen is present. When the smoke burns, it makes the bright flames that are characteristic of wood combustion. If the smoke does not burn in the firebox, it may condense in the chimney, forming creosote.