with the small insert I have and both the wife and i now working i dont bother reloading it in the mornings anymore, So yes i do a cold start with a 1/8 chunk of supercedar and kindling when I get home from work ( keep the NG furnace T Stat at 63 while gone) I can do a hot start with coals if i reload with hard wood around 10ish and I get up early enough
Once each year or two, I grap a p/u-load of skids from nearby equipment dealer, and saw them up with sawzall into 6-inchers. Fill up shopping bags and store in warm dry place. Take a few fistfuls a/r to near the stove and split them fine with wee hatchet. Some are oak, others are pine/spruce. My new 1-y.o. Morso doesn't need starting much (except with this year's crazy weather), but when I do: I keep an inch or so of ash in the firebox to cover the slots in the firebox bottom; this keeps creosote from condensing down there by the ash-drawer. I place 4-5 small (1") splits N-S in the center of the firebox, then some oak kindling E-W on top of that. Then some pine (or other small stuff) on top. Typically, a dish-detergent bottle with kerosene from cleaning chains & stuff is used to wet the top with a tablespoon or so. Match-light and leave door cracked for maybe 15 minutes. Few more small splits. Every half-hour or so, a batch of progressively larger splits. (Right now 3-y.o. red oak from "Sandy") Discharged pollutants are kept to a minimum. Neighbor to the north notices when I feed the stove some black cherry or shagbark, and we have a southerly breeze. Other than that, no clue as to wood fire to folks outside. No rush here making the stove glow. Once stack thermometer above stove indicates 250F, door closes. Hot flue works great for draft. Hot firebox makes for complete/clean combustion. Re-kindling stove: no accelerant, just progressively larger batches of splits.
I've used firestarters and they work fine. But, for me, one of the attractions of heating with wood is the sense of independence. With a yard full of pine trees, I don't have any need for them any more. A bit of fatwood and/or a handful of pine cones, some small dry wood, some bigger small dry wood, etc in front of a pile of small pine splits and she's off and running. I will say that more kindling seems to work better than less. I've tried to figure out how little I can get away with but life is a lot easier if I'm generous with the kindling.
I was intrigued. Curious of your method, but I poured maybe half cup of kerosene in a bucket. Added enough ash tingle soak it up, make damp ashes. Grabbed a handful with a sheet of news paper and crumbled the paper around the ash. A quick light with the torch and it's very effective. I never would have thought.
Talking about corn cobs , if you dont have any you can make a home made one by folding and rolling up 2 or 3 sheets of paper towels and since they absorb and hold well makes for like a super corn cob. Couple sheets of paper towel is cheap. Keep this in mind if your in a pinch.
What about using the no-scent kero sold for those heaters? just wondering as I have around 55 gallons of saw dust( not chainsaw type ) at present in the dust collector. Going to have to empty it fairly soon -twin unit 30 gal /side. I awhile back I had made a press rig for compressing wet noodles - just to much trouble for return still have the die though could use it on the splitter- I was using it on a 12 ton press. so thinking kero + sawdust in die ? Saw dust really does not compress much if at all , got to really be up there in the pressure to get anything approaching blocks or an extrusion preferably heated to get it to hang together well with out some sort of binder. wax would have to purchased I know it possible to use corn starch as a binder which I think is cheaper than wax but lacks the volatility that is needed for a starter. ( this is what happens when I read some these posts- brain starts on these wild excursions - mostly fruitless)
X2, I use a 1/4 or 1/8th to start a fire with full size splits and a box lasts me multiple years. I have zero interest in dealing with newspaper that gets my hands dirty, stinky fuels or messy saw dust. I didn't realize people still got news papers delivered.
There are some videos on super cedars site... They use one to cook on...you can get a pretty good idea how well they burn.
Ah yes, kerosene, diesel or #2 fuel oil (K1, K2- D1, D2).... the original 'liquid paper'. The key with this stuff is that it is a very light oil rather than a solvent so will not usually make fumes or burst into flames. Heavier oils work too but they can take a lot of heat to light them. One thing to be very wary of though us using this stuff in either a warm stove or a stove with ANY hot embers. If the kerosene is heated, it will vaporize and act like gasoline; when actually setting it on fire, it will result is either a big surprise or a needed visit by the folks with the water in them there pumper trucks. Also, if pouring any type of liquid fire starter, even including the commercial stuff, into a wood stove, be careful not to use so much that it can / will puddle, especially if you have a grate and ash pan; the stuff will collect, become heated as the fire above burns and can really start to burn pretty violently. By the way, that kerosene soaked piece of pumice (or similar porous stone) used as a fireplace lighter can be replaced with a piece of firebrick- just soak the firebrick in a container of kerosene or diesel fuel about 1/2" deep for at least a few hours, then put it in the stove and light it. The porous firebrick performs the same way pumice or any volcanic rock does and doles out the fuel fairly slowly. Brian
Here ya go! Ask and you shall receive! I just took a piece of Super Cedar a bit smaller than 1/4, placed it in my cold stove (since it's almost 70 degrees out!!), lit it, and video taped it burning. I edited down the video... and added some time captions along the way... it burned for 16 minutes! Video is only 2 minutes long. Turn your speakers up for some nice Pink Floyd "Fearless" background music.
The fire brick is a good idea, and forever reusable. I think I'll try that. Nothing wrong with super cedars, I've used them and liked them. I like to play with my fire.
Just want to point out that the sawdust has worked much better for me than noodles. In fact, sawdust is the best I have tried . I use lamp oil.
