How to Make a Fire in the Fireplace

Lighting a fireplace is usually not difficult, but because of that, some people can forget a few important steps that should help them enjoy the fire more comfortably. A pleasant night by the fireplace could easily be ruined by a room filled with smoke. Here’s a method that can help you create a warm fire from the get go.

Table of Contents

Make a fire on the grate

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Check to make sure the air valve is open. The air valve is a device that controls the flow of air through the chimney. A chimney is a pipe that carries smoke to the outside. You can feel the inside of the chimney or poke your head into the fireplace and shine a flashlight to find the air valve. There will be a lever that you can move to one side or the other – one way to close the air valve, the other way to open the air valve. Check if the air valve is open, otherwise, smoke will back into the room. In addition, you also need to make sure there are no obstructions inside. ^{[1] X Research Source}

This step will be easier when you do it before the fire. Once you’ve determined that the air valve is open, you can start building a fire.

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Ventilate the fireplace before lighting a fire. If the fireplace has a glass door, you should open the oven door 15-20 minutes before starting the fire. This will bring the temperature inside the heater to room temperature. Cold air is heavier than hot air, so if it’s too cold outside, the cold air will flow down the chimney into the fireplace and stay there if the oven door is closed. By opening the door and allowing the warm air in the room to move up the chimney, you can help the airflow in the furnace to move upward. ^{[2] X Research Source}

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Check the airflow in the oven. Light a match near the top of the chimney to see if the airflow in the furnace goes up or down. If the wind is still going down, you have to find a way to reverse the wind up. You will never make a fire if the wind blows down the furnace. One method is to use a spark plug (you can use a StarterLogg brand – break ¼ of the stick) or use a lighter wax (such as Duraflame or Pine Mountain). These materials will burn and sustain the flame, emitting warmth in the fireplace and helping the air move higher with less smoke: ^{[3] X Research Source}

Close the air valve. This step will prevent the air from going down and entering the room.
Put the fireflies in the shovel to shovel the fireplace coals, light it up, and place it near the top of the chimney in the fireplace. Your aim is to heat the upper air in the fireplace.
Initially, leave the air valve in the closed position so that the air in the heater reaches room temperature.

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Spread newspaper or tinfoil underneath. Newspaper or tinder will burn and form multiple flames in the first place.

Crumple 4-5 sheets of newspaper and place on the griddle as a base layer. Don’t use too much newspaper, lest you create a lot of unwanted smoke.
If you don’t have newspaper, you can use another material as a tinder. Tinder is a light and dry material such as dried moss, straw, small twigs, or newspaper that catches fire. You can use fireflies that contain resin, such as bark or pine cones, or use them as tinder. Tinder will catch fire first and burn very quickly. It is important to spread enough tinder underneath the spark plug for the tinder to ignite and burn.
Never use catalysts such as lighter gasoline, car gasoline or diesel when building a fire in your home.

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The substance is applied to the layer of tincture in a mesh pattern. This is an important step in creating a stable base for larger logs. Firesticks are easier to catch fire than large logs, so they will help to make the fire big at the beginning and maintain the fire for a while.

Remember to place the fireflies horizontally instead of upright. In addition, you also need to leave gaps for air to flow through. Air is the fuel for fire.
The substance is divided into several layers that are crisscrossed. Place 2 or 3 larger fireflies on top of the newspaper, then place 2-3 more horizontally on top to form a mesh. Continue to place the smaller firesticks on top, the upper layer is perpendicular to the lower layer.

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Place 1-2 larger logs on the layer of fireflies. Depending on the area of the layer below, you can safely load a few large logs on top. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

In general, you should choose small firewood instead of big firewood. Large logs are more pleasing to the eye and fun to burn, but they have a large surface area that makes it harder to ignite. Two small logs are better than one big log.
Load firewood up to half the height of the fireplace. You certainly don’t want the fire to get out of control when you’re burning wood, but if you need to, you can add more firewood at any time.

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Light the newspaper in advance. The spark plugs will catch fire from the newspaper. Carefully watch for smoke for the first half hour. You will barely see smoke if the airflow is straight up the chimney. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

If smoke comes back from the chimney, it means that the fire is not getting enough oxygen. You can use a spade to pick up a pile of firewood; just pull up a little like a car lever. Be careful – your goal is to let air get under the wood. If the layer of coal under the grate is too high, you need to use a spatula to level it under the fire, leaving a few centimeters of space.
If the smoke is gray, it is likely that most of the combustible material is coming out of the chimney rather than burning out.
- You can barely start a fire from the top down.
- Perhaps you are using wet firewood.
- The fire received too much oxygen. Yes, this is a little tricky – fire is the balance between air and fuel. When there is too much oxygen, the flame will have a hard time sticking to the fuel and may emit more smoke than usual.

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Open the window. If you still don’t know how to properly ventilate the oven and the smoke keeps coming back into the room, try opening the window by 2-3 cm. This works best if the window is facing the fireplace and there are few obstructions – don’t let anyone sit between the window and the fireplace. Sometimes this will circumvent a phenomenon called “vapor lock” in the room and push the smoke up the chimney. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

If someone sits between the window and the fireplace, they will get cold because the fireplace will start drawing in air. The air will be strongly drawn from the window and create a cold draft from the window to the fireplace.
Get out and let the air flow – sometimes, if the chimney isn’t high enough, this is the only way to get good air circulation and get smoke out of the room. The rest of the room will remain warm, except in the slightly chilly range of airflow.

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Add large logs to the fireplace. If you want to enjoy a warm evening, you can make sure the fire stays burning without needing to be watched by lighting it properly. Once the fire has settled down, you’ll begin to see red embers underneath the bonfire.

When the small sticks catch fire and burn, load a thigh-sized log on top, being careful that the pile doesn’t tip over.
Large logs take longer to ignite, but once burned, they will burn for a long time without you having to get up and turn the fire or move the wood. The bottom layer of embers will keep the heat in the oven, and that will keep you warm for up to several hours.
Make sure the logs don’t roll out of the oven. The fireplace should have a heavy iron grating or other barrier in front of the oven door. You should also never light a fire unattended, just in case.

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Cut down the firewood at least half an hour before you want to put out the fire in the fireplace. Use a spade to smash the charcoal and try to spread it out as wide as possible. The thinner the layer of charcoal, the quicker it will burn out and turn off the fire. Check carefully after the fire has gone out to make sure the coals are no longer smoldering. When the fire is completely out, you should close the air valve so that the precious heat source in the house does not escape through the chimney during the day.

Make a fire when there is no grate

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Choose two large logs – the bigger the better – parallel and about 40 cm apart. Remember that the two logs should be placed perpendicular to the fireplace door. These two large logs will serve as the background and provide embers for the fire.

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Place another log across the two large logs. You should choose a log about the size of your forearm and place it parallel to the fireplace door. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

This horizontal log will support the other sticks and create a ventilation slot so that the fire can draw outside air into the fire.

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Crumple newspaper (do not use glossy paper) spread on the bottom of the fireplace. You can also use other igniting materials like dried twigs or shavings as a base.

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Place a few dowels on top of the newspaper. Do not load large logs or fuel on top. If you can fit the slats in a mesh pattern, you should leave plenty of space in between for air to circulate.

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Ignite newspaper or tinder. Make sure the spark plugs start burning – you should hear a crackling sound.

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Load more firewood between the large logs above the horizontal log. You should use sticks about half the diameter of your forearm and parallel to the horizontal log. Always stack firewood in this way: two large logs on the bottom, one horizontal log above to support the other logs.

Make sure the firewood doesn’t roll out of the fireplace.

Advice

Firewood must be dry before burning. You should also choose soft woods like pine, fir, hemlock, spruce, and cedar. These woods are more flammable.
Remember to use dry wood for the fire. Wet firewood is harder to burn (it will burn, though, so you can still burn wet wood in an emergency.)
Check the wind speed. If the wind speed exceeds 32km/h, you should close the oven door. Cold air will enter the chimney, causing the hot and cold air to rotate, preventing the fire from burning.
If you are still having problems with ventilation in your furnace, perhaps the chimney isn’t tall enough, or the heater size isn’t right. If the chimney is short, you may want to add an extension pipe – usually available at any fireplace or building supply store. Use roof patching material to attach to existing chimney. You can also remove the spark shield – sometimes the top cap attaches too close to the tube. You can use a tight-fitting mesh over the top of the chimney to prevent sparks and embers from shooting up, but do not cover the lid. This can help with better ventilation.
If cold air gets in, you can treat it with a hair dryer. Open the chimney and direct the hot air of the hair dryer up the chimney to reverse the cold air. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

Warning

Keep combustibles away from the heater, such as carpets, clothing, socks, gloves, newspapers, lighters, tinder, and firewood.
Do not leave a fire in the fireplace unattended. Anything unexpected can happen – maybe a piece of wood explodes from moisture or sap when heated. If it shoots out of the net and lands on carpet or furniture instead of on the fireplace floor, you’ll be in for an unexpected surprise when you wake up.
Buy a pair of fireproof gloves (welder’s gloves are also good) just in case a piece of burning wood falls out and you need to get in it right away. Place next to the fireplace tools such as a poker, coal tongs, small coal shovel and iron bucket to store hot coal. In addition, you also need to have a fire extinguisher nearby.
Make sure the fireplace is well ventilated before starting a fire.
Chimneys and fireplaces need cleaning and maintenance. Check for cracks once a year to make sure the fire doesn’t escape the chimney and into the frame. That’s not good at all. Scrape off soot inside the chimney to prevent chimney fires – this is terrible because it is difficult to put out and the destructive power is so great.

Things you need

Tiny (like newspaper)
Ignite the fire
Firewood
Fire tools (such as matches, non-flame, etc.)
Fireplace kit (stove, shovel, tongs …)

Steps

Make a fire on the grate

Make a fire when there is no grate

Advice

Warning

Things you need

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