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Tips for Starting a Cold Fireplace

It shouldn’t be a big deal to light a fire in a cold fireplace, but it’s more than you think. Your chimney works by using the draft that hot air provides to push byproducts up the chimney. These vapors include smoke, tar, chemical gases, water vapors, and microscopic particles. These gases can affect the air quality in your home. Your health could be harmed if the gases are allowed into the living area. The best way to prevent a smoky fireplace is to make sure that updraft in the flue is present. If the chimney is cold, the cold air in the flue will not only block the warm air from rising, but will fall into your house. The temperature has to rise in the chimney before it will work properly.

Priming the Chimney

The process of bringing the flue’s temperature up is called priming. The easiest way to prime a cold chimney is to light a newspaper roll and allow it to burn at the base of the chimney. This is usually possible with a fireplace as well as a stove once you locate the opening. When the newspaper roll is burned completely the chimney should be warm enough to support the updraft needed for an efficient burn.

Lighting a Fire in a Cold Chimney

A cold chimney pushes smoke into your house, but it can make the process of fire-building long and bothersome. To make it easier on yourself and your chimney, you can hone your fire-building skills. This means burning only properly seasoned wood, and building a fire that will make some heat. This is because the chimney needs enough heat to create an updraft. After you have primed your chimney, you want to build the best fire possible.

Introducing the Top-Down Burn

The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) recommends the top-down burn to build the best fire possible. The top-down burn contradicts everything we think we know about fire-building, but the industry’s top professionals know its worth. Traditionally you would build a fire with kindling and paper at the base, with bigger sticks, medium logs, and finally the largest logs on top. The top-down burn is built the opposite way, with the larger fuel at the bottom, up to the kindling and small bits of lighting paper at the top. This way the fire and embers burn and fall onto the other fuel. The fire burns more efficiently and fuel burns more completely, decreasing smoke and particulate pollution. It also creates a better-burn faster, which drives the exhaust up the chimney.

There is a lot that goes into an efficient chimney system. Be sure your fire is primed before lighting it, otherwise you may ruin your night with a smoky living room. Your chimney is more likely to be cold if its on the exterior, even if central heat is your main heat source. Don’t let the cold air from your chimney fall into your warm house!

Call a professional if you have bigger concerns about your system.

Build the Best Fire

Once you have a chimney and fireplace installed, it seems lighting the fire should be the easy part. Cave men did it, but there is definitely a learning curve involved, and many factors come to play that can make it extremely difficult to build the best fire.

The Most Efficient Fire

If you depend upon a fireplace, stove, or appliance to heat or supplement heat to your home, you want the fire to start almost as easily as flipping a switch. This convenience is only possible in gas appliances, so if you depend on wood heat, you should learn to build and start the best fire possible.

Most of us learned to build a fire from small to big—kindling on the bottom, logs on the top. While this works fine, there is a better way!

The top-down burn is basically a fire built upside-down, with the logs on bottom, and kindling on top. This allows for the flame and cinders to fall as they burn, igniting the rest of the fuel. Once you have mastered the top-down burn you will better be able to light a fire in a cold fireplace/chimney. You will also be able to start the fire quickly, and with less kindling.

The kind of fire you decide to build is only the start.

Consider these tips to help you build your best fire:

1. Proper fuel
   You should only burn properly seasoned wood in your wood fireplace or stove. Using wood that is seasoned raises the efficiency of your fire and chimney system. Using the proper wood also cuts down on smoke issues, creosote buildup, air pollution, and fire risk.
2.  Never use starter fuel
   Starter fuels like kerosene, gasoline, and lighter fluid are dangerous and should NEVER be used to ignite your fireplace fire. Use of these fuels can be unpredictable and can cause injury, fire, and death.
3. Use the system
   The chimney system is made up of many parts that work together. The damper, for instance, can assist while you light the fire, allowing oxygen to flow through the system. Making sure that these parts work properly is important to building the best fire.
4. Choose proper kindling
   When choosing kindling for your best fire you should avoid using light branches with pine needles or leaves to light your fire. Not only do they create thick smoke, but they’re also very light, so they often rise up the chimney while ignited. When debris rises up the chimney flame, the creosote in the flue can easily ignite.
5. Remember to schedule routine maintenance
   It’s important for homeowners to keep up with routine maintenance in order to build the best fire. It doesn’t matter how well you are at building a top-down burn if your chimney system is damaged. Your fire will lose efficiency, and flue fire risk will increase.

The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA)  recommends annual chimney inspections and regular chimney sweeps. These service appointments are the best safety measures you can take for your chimney system. Schedule today, and get it done before the holidays.

Call Chief Chimney Services today at 631-863-2460 or schedule an appointment online for your convenience.

Starting a cold fireplace

As the cold weather approaches, Chief Chimney Services in Long Island, New York wants to make sure that you are using your fireplace in an efficient and safe manner. We know there is nothing better than the sound, ambiance, and warmth from a crackling fire in your fireplace. And, there is nothing worse than a house full of smoke and toxic fumes caused by improperly starting a cold fireplace.

There are very specific considerations you need to know and specific techniques to successfully light a fire in a cold fireplace:

Before the cold weather approaches, a thorough inspection and cleaning by a CSIA (Chimney Safety Institute of America) certified chimney technician is a must to ensure your chimney, fireplace, and their components are fully operational and clean. If you avoid this step, you are putting your house and family at risk for a fire, explosion, and toxic gas poisoning. CSIA, in accordance with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), urges homeowners to have a yearly inspection and cleaning of their fireplaces and chimneys before using the fireplace for the first time each season. Your skilled CSIA certified chimney technician will identify and repair any potential hazards and remove any blockages from debris or critters so you will be ready for that first fire of the year.

Once you have done your due diligence and had the cleaning and inspection performed and repaired any problems then it’s time to prepare to light your first fire of the season. The first thing to do (and many times overlooked) is OPEN THE DAMPER. The setting for many romantic and utilitarian fires have been ruined as the room filled up with smoke because the damper was not opened before the wood was lit.

The next step is to prime the flue. Here’s why that is so important. Consider that your chimney is located on the outside of your home and surrounded by the cold fall or winter temperatures. Remember, hot air rises and cold air sinks. So when you open the damper, cold air from outside is drawn down your chimney. The cold air forms a barrier as the warm air from inside your home begins to rise. This is called “air sink”. When air sink occurs and the smoke cannot escape out the chimney your house fills up with smoke. The way to avoid air sink is to prime the flue by lighting a rolled up newspaper or piece of seasoned wood and holding it to the damper for 3-4 minutes. You will actually be able to feel the warm and cold air exchange. Once that happens you can proceed to the next step in lighting your fire.

Place your wood atop a bed a couple inches thick of ashes.The ash bed will provide additional insulation to keep your fire burning hotter. Remember the hotter the fire, the more safe and efficient it is.

As the final step is to build what is known as an “upside down” fire:

Stack large or split logs next to one another tightly to form your bottom layer. Place slightly smaller logs/split logs perpendicular to the bottom layer to form the 2nd layer.
Repeat this process using smaller and smaller pieces to a reasonable height – usually 2-5 layers depending on:

• The size of your fireplace
• How much wood you have on hand
• How long you want the fire to burn

At the top add strips or crumpled newspaper and dry kindling.
Light the newspaper/kindling at the top and watch that baby burn itself down.

By following these recommendations when you initially start your cold fireplace, you will be able to truly appreciate and enjoy romantic and utilitarian fires all season long.