Top Down Lighting Your Wood Burner Explained

[@fredslade8452]

At last no more smoke, quality kiln dried wood and a superb lighting technique, happy days !

[@gedhuffadine1873]

We have had an Esse for 10 years just tried top down, works a treat! Bless the internet

[@andrewbarrett9277]

Great tip on lighting the wood burner Pete I will definitely give it a go thanks again 👍

[@FrazierMtnCheese]

Brilliant, thank you from your friend from across the pond. I just bought a home in the mountains with a wood stove. Had no idea how to use it. Thanks again. 🇺🇸

[@kathmathews5768]

Brilliant example for getting fire going thank you so much. Tried it & it works.

[@tupp68]

Spot on ! I have to explain this method to all my clients! 👌🏻

[@princeigor5895]

Tried this method a while ago and never looked back..brilliant method..

[@Cazandanna]

Super helpful - thank you!

[@martinjwhitten]

Helpful, thank you

[@fredaewalker2665]

We have two Clearviews which we fitted 30 plus years ago and have no problems lighting those the normal bottom up way. A screw of newspaper and hand full of dry sticks with two or three small logs on top has them roaring in less than a minute. Mind we consider them the Rolls Royce of log burners due to their original design which other manufacturers are now trying to copy

[@neilvee451]

Great advice 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@capbin146]

Great explanation and makes sense. But why does everyone seem to still do it in the traditional way. Does traditional belong in open pit and bonfires?

[@norbertnagy5514]

They simply dont know other methods, dont brother to look up other methods. You know they are other things in life, so they dont want to brother with it.

[@wotthesmeg]

Works perfectly every time

[@JagLite]

Very helpful, thanks!

[@hansmatthia32]

Lernded something new today thanks

[@rogerwilliams2902]

Thars why in places like Siberia , the chimney breast had a small door halfway up where a small fire was started first to warm the flue because the smoke at the bottom would all come into the room.

[@GillianRendles-js1il]

Just bought a new stove...its a parkway aspect 6...when is the best time to add a log to an already burning fire?

[@IornDog91]

Can i just ask once a stoves up to temp should you be closing the secondary the wholeway or leave it open a little bit. I was a bit confused when you said you shouldn't have to touch the air controls again because you had it half open and i want sure if you meant leave it half open or close it? Many thanks and your channels really helped a new enthusiast to wood burners

[@miguelfernandez5769]

I recommend that just before lighting, if the fireplace and flue are cold, blow warm air with a hair dryer into the upper part of the fireplace, the warm air will push out the cold and the combustion will have a good thrust right from the start. The smoke does not return to the room. It works great.

[@obi-wan-cod-obi6692]

Do you fully shut the stove door as soon as the fire is going? Also at what point do you recommend adjusting air flow? My stove has two air controls

[@janrose4358]

Very helpful thanks.

[@mrcrumb4302]

Yep, my chimney is an external wall on the cold, damp side of town. I’ve always set my fire with twisted newspaper and kindling, like we did when I was a kid. Smoke plumes out in to the living room and everything stinks. 1. I need to stop using newspaper as it creates instant, thick smoke. 2. I need to do a top down fire and start it with a smokeless fire starter.

[@siriosstar4789]

having good draft is accomplished by a properly designed and installed chimney. i have a two ton soapstone oven fron finland that lights in less than thirty seconds regardless of where the kindling is placed . the user manual shows bottom down lighting as well as the companies installer saying the same.

[@muso31]

I notice when the demo here showed the stove filled with smoke, the smoke still stayed in the stove. Does anybody else find that the smoke pours out of their stove when this happens?

[@wowandrss]

I start bottom and close the door immediately, no smoke, no nothing. How would you explain that away??

[@argon3329]

Thank you 🙏 bloody legend

[@Himoutdoors]

Cold air is more dense than hot air, and while hot air rises, more dense air sinks, and the very cold air acts like a plug in the chimney. The sooner you can warm up the cold air in the chimney, the sooner it will start to rise and the chimney draw. As the hot air rises, it starts the convection process, chimney draws, air is pulled into the stove, which burns fuel and heats the space above, which rises up the chimney. This will continue until the fuel runs out. The other thing to say is that to get a fire you need three things, the old Fire Pyramid: Air, fuel and heat. Assuming you have good dry fuel in the fire, the quickest way to get your fire going is to create heat, which is this case creates a draw in the chimney and this in turn draws air into the stove. Bottom up lighting, rather than focussing on maximising heat and subsequently airflow, is trying to light the logs sitting above them, focus on getting as much heat as quickly as possible, and you’re away. Fires burn in any direction, not just up! A complicated answer to a somewhat simple to observe phenomenon, but there’s the physics behind it. Cheers!

[@gdfggggg]

Cool

[@miguelfernandez5769]

I recommend that just before lighting, if the fireplace and flue are cold, blow warm air with a hair dryer into the upper part of the fireplace, the warm air will push out the cold and the combustion will have a good thrust right from the start. The smoke does not return to the room. It works great.

[@nicholaspostlethwaite9554]

Well perhaps if you lit the fire properly the old way with newspaper or similar under the kindling, not daft expensive firelighters, it would just work right normally. Never ever used any firelighters. Layer combustibility, paper, cardboard these days everywhere from packaging, kindling, wood.

[@butterfliesandtape]

Sometimes what people fail to do is think for themselves. If your chimney is cold, physics tells us cold air sinksz so simply opening the door of your stove (assumig any dampers are also open) will allow cold air in the chimney to disperse quite naturally. A few pages of a telephone directory, or some Amazon packaging lit in the stove prior to building a fire will also aid in "warming" your chimney. All that cold dense air in your house or boat or caravan will now get sicked back up the chimney once you have a decent dire lit, however you choose to do it. Top down just seems kinda lazy and gimmicky unless you're outdoors burning upright logs or tree stumps. And firelighters... Yes..... Another great invention we simply don't need. Like my prescription windscreen. What a con that was.