Wood 🪵 Stove Top Down Fire 🔥 Starting Method. My Take On It.👍

[@azimuth4850]

Nice video, I just like watching someone light fires in a wood stove!

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

Thanks for watching 👀 and commenting!! Glad you enjoyed it!!

[@GainsMarathon]

ha ha me too. I thought I was the only one.

[@justsmitty1709]

Wonderful!!! I can't believe the "experts " i see fiddle around with lightning from the bottom. I call it the one match, top down, set it and forget it, method. Good job sir. 👍

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

Thank you! I love this method!

[@spiet7380]

Nice stove.. I want to replace my heatilator fireplace with a woodstove exactly like this!

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

@spiet7380 Thank you! Thanks for Watching 👀 and commenting!! It's been a great stove for me! I see people knock it cuz it's a lower end stove, but it's been great 👍. I think you'll like it!

[@deanclark1646]

Just done this method and will never go back thank you .

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

Thanks for watching 👀 and commenting!!! I'm glad this worked out for you, and you like it!!

[@deanclark1646]

A bit of prep just like you do . Im building your fire just like you aswell I will never go back . Gets up to perfect temp on my thermometer so quick cheers pal . I've got video but can't seem to post it on here thanks again mate .

[@CanoeKayakFishingAdventures]

I love the top down method myself. It’s so much cleaner and easier to get the stove going.

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

Thanks for watching 👀 and commenting!! It's a tad bit extra prep time, but it's so worth it!!

[@gersonduran4451]

Great method

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

Thank you! Thanks for watching 👀 and commenting!!

[@dropshot1967]

A small ash layer does help reduce wear on the firebricks on the bottom in your stove. Direct exposure of the bricks to fire and the temperature changes wear them down and make their top layer brittle. The ash provides an insulation layer against the high temperatures and it isolates the pricks from wear while they are hot of eventual rubbing of woot, coals, and tools. I agree that the top-down method is best for starting a cold stove for the reason you mentioned, it provides fast heat for heating up the flu and getting the draft going. It is even recommended by many of the stove producers in Scandinavian countries where they used to mainly heat with woodstoves.

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

Thank you for your comments! I appreciate the input! I did not really address this in the video fully. There is always some degree of ash in the stove. I never remove everything entirely, say to vacuum it out perfectly clean or anything like that, for example. My stove manufacturer operator's manual also instructs to build directly on the fire brick bottom. I guess I've just always assumed the bricks are a consumable item that are going to wear out at some point and need replaced. I had to replace a few of the fire brick in my last stove at my previous residence after 3 or 4 seasons. Don't remember if it was 3 or 4. Just figured that was the average usable life, which didn't seem unreasonable to me. I guess with all that said, I've honestly really never put a ton of thought towards the brick aspect. Thank you again.

[@KSMO1031]

Thanks for the video. I'm new to woodstoves and was struggling with getting my stove up to temp. I had watched multiple videos and was doing the bottom up fire. It was taking 60-90 minutes for my stove to get up to temp. I used the same kindling, wood, etc. and followed your method including the coals from previous fires. In 20 minutes, I was up to 300 degrees!

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

I'm so glad to see this helped you! Thanks so much for watching and the comment!

[@judyofthewoods]

After I learnt about the top-down fire I never went back. Get it lit and roaring - usually in a few minutes after laying it (a nice little ritual), close the door and walk away for the next hour or so. No more babying and re-lighting it over and over. I make little Kraft packing paper (crumpled filler from parcels) twists and dunk the ends in molten wax from candle stumps and drips. I make a pile of them because of the wax involved. As I'm watching the video I added a knot them ;-)

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

Thanks for Watching 👀 and commenting!!! Thanks for the input!! We'll said!!

[@leet0809]

Loved your video. Agree 100% on your methods.

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

Thank you, sir! I greatly appreciate you watching and commenting!

[@stevepatch1809]

First time wood stove owner and I tried this a couple of weeks ago and I’ll never go back, I never get any smoke blow back into the house. I’m the same way with the glass, best part of a fire is watching the flames. I like the kitty litter scoop, I think I know what my next purchase is.

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

Thanks for mentioning the smoke backup. I failed to point that out. Another perk!

[@johnramsay3009]

I've been starting bass ackwards thanks for info 👍

[@exodeus7959]

Really is a smart method. So to double check. Starting at the top causes a natural updraft of air to fuel the fire and the embers fall through the pile. Correct? Seems like. A much better method than starting from the bottom. Cool little flash over in the beginning too. Nice job. I feel that I actually learned something new/useful/and potentially life saving.

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

Yes sir! The quick hot ignition gets your draft in your chimney going pretty much immediately, and as the stack burns, each smaller layer feeds and ignites the next layer down. Thank you!

[@jameskniskern2261]

The radiant energy of the small fire on the top of the stack is what "cooks off" the layer below it, and that wood gas moves up into the fire and is burned, releasing heat from the smoke that would not usually get burned. So you are actually getting a hotter fire, because the smoke it burning fully.

[@davidallred2947]

Similar to the way I do it, but I put less balled paper UNDER the kindling and use less total kindling. I also just use 1/2" x 3/4" x 6"-10"(approximate) kindling size. 3 levels with 4 or 5 pieces per level. From opening the stove door to leaving the fire to do it's thing (with door ajar slightly)... under 2 minutes. Then check on it in about 5 or 10 minutes and close the door. Set the air intake and see ya in a couple of hours.

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

Thanks for Watching 👀 and commenting!! Love it! It's a great method, and even better with personal tweaks like yours.

[@tedk2166]

I’m definitely going to try the charcoal salvage on my next clean out.

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

Hope you find it valuable! I can't see wasting it myself. Thanks for the comment!

[@jameskniskern2261]

Nice video. I use cut pieces of waxed cardboard. Can be easily found at grocery stores for the asking, as they aren't recycled. Due to the wax. Anyway, I think it is easier than playing with newspaper. Which brings me to the other thing: I've found it more and more challenging to source newspaper due to most Americans now getting our news online. Haha. Happy woodburning!

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

Thanks for the comments! I dont mind playing with the newspaper myself. However, your very valid point about sourcing newspapers will become an issue for me at some point for sure! For now, I have a stock pile of it that I have collected over many years, but it is slowly dwindling now that everything has gone digital. I just don't have the access I used to. With that said, another thing I do is to save tp rolls and nest them together into little logs to use as a starter.

[@judyofthewoods]

I've been collecting the brown packing paper from parcels. Thankfully, many a parcel I get is stuffed with crumpled Kraft paper instead of those awful polystyrene chips. I make little twists with them and dunk the ends in molten wax from candle stumps and drips to aid lighting. Now I will be making knots in them as well. I find that more often than not two twists are enough as long as I use a handful of fine twigs. Birch or conifer twigs burn particularly well. As for the waxed cartons, beware, some of them are also have a plastic layer. I composted some of it once and later found the thin plastic film where the carton had rotted away from it.

[@DP-hy4vh]

You can get paper from junk mail, old catalogs, free sales papers given away at the local store, out of date phone books and paper pet food bags. Even if newspapers go away, there's still sources of paper to be found. Dry leaves will also work if you have no source of paper.

[@Anna-jt3xu]

My fire is a ekol clarity and is much smaller than the last one but there isn’t much room for even one Log and some kindling

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

Thanks for watching 👀 and commenting!! I had to look your stove up online, as I did not know what that brand was. I see there are several sub-models of the "Clarity." Which do you have? I myself have always had large fire boxes, and I can see your challenge. Looks like you'd have to do everything in a "miniature" frame of mind. Smaller logs and splits of wood. I feel like this method could still be done on a smaller scale.

[@Anna-jt3xu]

@@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658ekol clarity 5 I seem to babysit it a lot because I can only put one log on at a time if I squeeze two on which is difficult it goes way up to 700degrees and the installer told me to keep it in the 500 what do you think of the temperature or do you not bother about that

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

@Anna-jt3xu So, several things. To answer one of your questions, I do monitor my stove temperatures 🌡. I have a magnetic thermometer on it to see where it is at all times. I have a pretty large stove, and I can pack quite a bit of wood into it, and usually, my stove will run between 500 and 600. Now, depending on how much heat I want, I will use fewer logs if just to take the chill off. It will run cooler then. Secondly, I downloaded the user manual for your stove and read it. It looks like this is not meant to be a constant heat source. The manual actually says you will have to feed your fire about "every hour." Do you use your 3 air controls? From what I see, once your fire 🔥 is going well, I would try slowly closing your primary and tertiary vents to slow your burn rate. Leave the secondaries open for clean burn. I would experiment using one or the other first (primary or tertiary), then the other, then a combination of the 2 until you find the rate and temp you like. My stove only has one air control on it, so 3 seems like a lot to me... You may have to experiment with the 2 of them a bit. Just make sure you do not close any of them so much that your fire chokes and smolders. Also, the manual recommends no more than 1.4kg (3lbs) of wood per load in any combination of 1 to 4 logs. Definitely not a lot of wood. Typically, 1 larger log would take longer to burn than multiple small logs, as 1 has less surface area. Do you know what type of wood you are using? Wood 🪵 such as oak is denser and will burn longer and hotter. Less dense woods like maple or a soft wood like pine will burn quickly with less heat output. Your wood must be nice and dry also. Wet wood will make any stove run poorly. Hope all this helps!

[@Anna-jt3xu]

@@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658 thanks for your reply yes my wood is kiln dried and I buy kindling dry it’s hard wood that I pay for £162 per pallet. I suppose it’s trial and error think I should have checked out the size before I bought it🇬🇧

[@ridgemeadowhobbyfarm8658]

@@Anna-jt3xu 👍 I spose once you find the "sweet spot" you'll get used to things. I feel like you could squeeze out over an hour between reloads. Good luck!🇺🇸

[@tomskimcdouglegaming806]

That damper control sucks.