Oh man, I hear you. I did mine from kindling and newspaper last year, but those little fire starter blocks you can buy are much easier. I think they're wax and sawdust. Something else that's supposed to work is a cotton ball soaked in vaseline.

Yep. The worst was that it would get started nicely, then go out as soon as I closed the doors, meanwhile filling the place with smoke. I kvetched about this earlier. I finally got some daylight time when the roof wasn't wet today, and the creosote up there was completely out of hand. I cleared as much as I could by banging on it, but a) I obviously need to borrow my neighbour's chimney brush, and b) I'll be needing him to show me how to clean that mess out properly. I understand now why he looked so amused when I said, "Don't worry--I'm pretty sure I can do it myself. I went online..." Heh. That pipe isn't as easy to take apart as I'd thought.

My uncle did a huge cedar shingle roof this summer and gave me a truckload of off-cuts, so I've got a ridiculous amount of kindling that I may as well use. Why roofing material should be so flammable is a mystery to me, but so it is. My summer houseguest also left me with a gigashitload of newspapers. Thanks, dano. I added 'load' on the end for extra emphasis. Hope you don't mind. If the sweeping doesn't help, I'll be trying those fire starter blocks, though.

Holy cow - careful with that cedar. Conifers make horrible kindling and firewood because they generate so dang much creosote and other nasties that will gunk up your flue. If you can, stick to hardwoods like oak, maple, or birch for firewood.

I was given a pack of "fat wood" for fire starters, as well as some wax-coated pine cones, and all I can say is STAY AWAY. They function, but they crapped up my fireplace and flue.


I start fires thusly (in a fireplace).

Make sure I have three hours handy, because a burning fire made this way lasts about three hours before it will go out on its own.

Open the flue.

Place under the log rest five sheets of crumpled up newspaper. Place on the fire rest a good 8-12 12" sticks of kindling (I have a wood working shop, so I've using oak cutoffs). Put the smallest stuff on the bottom, thickest stuff on the top. I will also pile up wood that wasn't fully burned from last time, if any. On top of that place three split logs in a pyramid with as much air space between logs. On top of that place one sheet of crumbled then spread-out piece of news paper.

Light everything that is made of paper. Close the grille (I have a mesh curtain). Wait for the logs to catch. Close the outer doors/door (I have folding glass doors).

Thanks for the info, plinth. That might explain the creosote--the firewood is spruce. I go through a cord every 2 months in winter (it's how I heat the cabin), so I can't afford to go with something like arbutus, which is just about the only hardwood available here. I know I'll use less because it burns longer, but there's so little around most years so it's brutally expensive.

This is the stove:

≡ Click to see image ≡

It's ancient and has voided my tenant's insurance, but it can be left unattended for-evah, and when damped down will burn for about 6-8 hours and throw off heat for another hour or so. It has no flue and is tiny (it takes pieces about 14" long, and is about a foot deep). The pipe is only single-walled, so once it leaves the house it's pretty cold inside, which is another part of the problem. Still, I've been assured that there's no way on god's green earth it should need sweeping again if it was just done in February. I'm beginning to suspect that the wood I'm getting may not be as well cured as I've been told.

I've been putting a narrow chunk of wood against the back, crumpled paper in front of that, and about 5 pieces of the cedar off-cut kindling over top (leaning against the back chunk), closing the doors most of the way and opening the dampers (those dials on the front). Once it's going I add slightly larger pieces, then a regular split piece, then when that's caught I close the doors. About 1/2 hour later, if all goes well, I add a larger split piece and damp it down. Then I only have to check it every hour or so, filling it when I go to bed. I find that if I add too much at once the whole thing goes out and I have to start again. Otherwise this procedure works pretty well. When it's working properly and the fucking wood isn't wet. We'll see in an hour or so whether the pipe-banging helped for now.

aaaaand it worked! (for now) But yeah, woodguy and his loyal customers may be mistaken about the dryness of the wood (or at least the one or two I talked to who were loyal, as opposed to the one who wasn't).

Oh, plinth--I meant to mention that I don't have a log rest as such, but it came with a couple of 8" lengths of railway track that I've turned on their sides and use as firedogs, so at least there's some space under the wood.

The last time I cleaned out my chimney pipe I found that it was easier to just remove the pipe from inside the house and brush UP than it was to get on the roof and brush down. You have my sympathies, in any case.

Awesome post title- may I borrow it for personal use?

Thanks for the tip, jessamyn. I was worried about the mess.

s_r, absolutely. It's the main reason I made the post. Tee hee.

Just a thought, from looking at your picture, but if it's in proportion to the real items, that stovepipe is probably way too big for your stove, elizard, even given that it may be a double pipe, with an insulating layer between the actual stovepipe inside, and the cover pipe, outside. Proper draft through a chimney/stovepipe is a complex function of diameter, chimney/stovepipe height, height above prevailing roof line, prevailing wind, and effective pressure differentials between the house/firebox environment (or the combustion air supply, if separately supplied), and the outside air.

But a stovepipe/chimney that is too big a diameter for the average fire it is used with, won't easily develop or maintain the stack velocity to draw the stove/fireplace properly, leading to inefficient combustion in the stove/fireplace. That results in excessive creosote buildup in the chimney/stovepipe, and difficult fire starting with lots of smoke in the living space, as the upward venting action of the chimney/stovepipe isn't fast enough, or great enough in volume, to prevent the exhaust stream from condensing cresote and smoke vapors onto the interior of the chimney/stovepipe, or to start fires smartly from small kindling blazes. A properly constructed wood heat system isn't nearly as sensitive to wood type as many believe, presuming normal fires are built (you don't try to burn wet or badly decayed woods normally, or use petroleum treated woods as firewood, etc.), and the usual level of annual inspection/maintenance is done.

As I say, there's an art to selecting and installing chimneys/stovepipes, that considers a lot of factors. Before I went too far in any one direction, if I were you, I would thoroughly peruse WoodHeat.org, which is a large collection of practical knowledge, and advice regarding wood heat systems. As a renter, you might not want to get involved in fixing a badly designed and installed system, even if it is your main heat source. But then again, you might. And even if you don't deign to fix obvious problems, you might learn enough about the problems you have with the house your renting, to avoid making matters worse, or operating your system dangerously.

A chimney creosote fire, for the level of creosote build up you describe, can be a truly horrific event, well beyond the abilities of even volunteer fire departments, standing by with equipment and a good water supply, to handle. Please be careful in operating a wood heat system in the condition you describe! Stack creosote fires can be incredibly hot, and even explosive, if there's as much build up as you describe...

Wow, paulsc, thanks for all the information and for the link (bookmarked). The stovepipe is indeed single-walled, about 6" diameter, which is what the fitting on the stove requires. The procedure I described above yielded about 1/3 - 1/2 a bucket of creosote, which is now filling the pothole in my driveway.

Fond as I am of this old burn hazard, I would love to get a new, more efficient one. I hate not having insurance, for one thing. But my landlord is appallingly cheap, which means I'd have to pay for it myself (he won't fix the deck even though he said he would and there are growing safety issues with it and I offered to provide free labour just so I wouldn't fall through the damned thing). Because he's being a dick and because of the ludicrous (by island standards) rent I'm paying I refuse to do anything that will increase his property value, especially something that expensive. I can't afford it, anyway. It's one more thing to add to the list, though.