First Fire In New Stove Guidelines Please

I often kindle my fire using the strings of wood that I can strip off regular-sized splits by hand. Growing up we saved old lumber to use as kindling - 3/4" boards that we then split into thin strips using an ax. I like a progression of sizes, with the finest being about the diameter of a match, and on up to 1"x1" pieces.

My wife likes using a Bic barbecue-starter because she doesn't like matches.

 

Agreed brenndatomu .
Just put a little bit of wood in there (fairly vague, again, eh?) with some newspaper. Light it and run like heck...........just kidding, of course.
You'll be fine, but expect some funky smell the first few fires as the paint cures.

 

Like Flamestead said, use one of the long-nose lighters. I get 'em at the local grocery for about a buck and a half, and they last at least a season.

 

Need to see a pic of this new wood stove... on the hearth pad...with flames in it...
Has it happened yet, Kimberly ?

 

Flint, match, lighter, torch, whatever...just fulfill the title of this thread please! Geez, I'm almost as exicited as when I do a first fire on my own stuff!

 

Kim-you really are overthinking this whole process way too much! (especially for being a scientist)

Just build a couple small fires. Use small pieces that will fire up and then go out after a short time.
Resist that urge to add wood to it to keep the fire going.

Once the stove has cooled, do it again but this time, a little longer. Don't get too carried away with the process.

The third fire will be as close to normal as you want.

I hope you have some wood that is seasoned for 3 years, or else you'll be leaving the door cracked open and wondering just why the stove isn't firing up the secondaries. (Ask me how I know!)

When my englander was new, I built a small fire first off and then said the heck with it and added wood and let her go. If you decide to go that route, it will matter not one bit. The stove performs flawlessly and the new burn smell of wood stove was easy to get rid of.

I am wondering why with that stove sitting in your yard for almost two weeks, why didn't you stick a stove pipe into it and build a break-in fire out in your yard??

Good luck on your first fire.

 

Agreed! This is a steel stove...let 'er rip!

 

FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!

 

I did consider that but then I figured I would have more of a mess to clean when I took the firebrick out to be able to move it inside. Plus, I asked about the smell and some said it was not so bad. Bad smells don't bother me that much; maybe because when I was little we use to have farm animals. At any rate I decided to just wait and do the first firing in the house. The other reason was I was unsure about it not being connected to a chimney and I did not want to damage the ceramic baffle boards.

 

OK, I am going to go work on the stove now and will be reporting in later.

 

Pics or it didn't happen!!!

 

I'll drop the thermo in mail today. If I can fit it, I'll put a super cedar in the envelope as well. You can try that out and if you like it (which you will!), you can order a box of those.

Break the super cedar into 4 pieces, and use one qtr at a time.

I posted a nice "how to" light a fire with super cedar really easy on an old site. I'll dig those pics up and post a new thread on her par later. Lots of folks found that helpful.

 

4 pieces!? Crikey, I can make 2 SCs last all winter by using thumbnail sized chunks...'course, I have real dry wood, if it were wet a 1/4 SC would do better.

 

I have photos. However, I don't think the chimney is drafting properly. According to the manual, I had the draft fully open but the fire would not burn without having the door cracked open. Since I could not regulate the fire probably, I did let it get hotter than the 300F on the first firing.

 

Thanks so much. First firing seems to be telling me my chimney isn't working me not so happy.

 

How dry is the wood/ kindling?

Also, some paper in the fire will get the flu/ chimney heated up and allow the smoke to go up the chimney. It's that whole science thing working.

 

Kindling was split from locust that had been dead for years.

 

First Fire​

 

Locust isn't the easiest to get burning. I like to use pine, cedar, or maple for kindling.