How do you light a fireplace without smoke?

In anticipation of the heating season, we thought we’d give you step-by-step instructions on how to properly light a freestanding fireplace with a tightly sealed door! For the most part, our tips work on any other kind of fireplace as well.

This article will be more helpful to beginners who are just encountering fireplaces for the first time.

So many fireplace users can’t beat the smokiness and our article will completely cover all the nuances of lighting a smoke-free fireplace!

Lighting a fireplace in newer homes with forced air systems can be problematic due to possible vacuuming in the room. Therefore, the smoke can go inside the room instead of down the chimney.

In homes with a natural ventilation system, these problems usually do not arise.

What’s required?

Check the traction. It’s done simply: take a lighter, open the fireplace door a little and the fire should deflect to the inside of the fireplace. Or light a small piece of paper and throw it in the fireplace. If the smoke is not going down the chimney, there could be several problems:

– the ventilation system creates a vacuum in the room,

– the chimney’s very cold, it needs to be warmed up,

– lack of oxygen in the room

– or faulty chimney considering open plugs and chimney flush.

If all is well, turn off the venting system, light the fireplace and when the fireplace has a good flame – turn the venting system back on. There are rare occasions when there is a very strong wind outside and instead of improving the draft, the opposite happens. Don’t forget that fire burns when oxygen is supplied, so you need to ensure you have a supply of air.

Every modern fireplace is sure to have a damper on the chimney for the smoke to escape to the outside and an adjustable damper for the air supply. It is imperative that both valves are open.

Buy the right firewood. The humidity should not exceed 20%. If the moisture content is higher, with experience you will immediately feel that it is very difficult to kindle such firewood. Dry firewood is very easy to ignite. Also, “wet” firewood smokes a lot. If you have a fireplace with glass walls, they will be covered with black soot in the first few minutes.

It is recommended to use birch wood or alder for the fireplace. Oak is a very wonderful fuel, but expensive. Birch has a heat output of about 1900 kWh/m3, alder has a heat output of 1500 kWh/m3. Use either or both at the same time. They will differ in combustion pattern and odor. Alder leaves less soot and ash, birch has a higher heat output. You can burn it separately or mix it up.

Use special pressed wood briquettes for kindling. They burn evenly for about 7-10 minutes. Never use ignition liquids. Briquettes will make lighting the fireplace easier. Optional. You can kindle with paper as well.

Use turbo lighters or gas burners for ignition. This will make lighting the fireplace easier, especially with briquette ignition. Optional.

When lighting the fireplace, the door should be left slightly ajar for a couple of minutes. Modern fireplaces with doors have this feature from the factory. If this function is absent, you should make a gap of about 1-2 centimeters with the help of improvised means, putting something that will not allow the door to close. When everything is well heated, then the door can be closed.

All that remains is to enjoy the beautiful view of the fire in the fireplace and, if necessary, to adjust the height, strength and speed of burning wood with the regulator of the fireplace air supply system. Also, some users advise regulating the flame by closing the chimney flap, but this is not the best technique because of the increased risk of smoke. In general, regulate with a supply and don’t restrict the chimney.

When the firewood and coals are completely burned through, the flaps can be closed. This action has quite a few risks, as users falsely determine that everything is burned, close the dampers, and smoke begins to enter the room.

Don’t neglect safety. Be sure to install a smoke and carbon monoxide detector, and clean your chimney in a timely manner.

Have a cozy winter!