Tips for lighting a cold stove?

So I fired up the stove tonight with my usual top down which has worked very well and all the smoke from the newspaper knots came back into the room. It's just a simple pleasant hearth 1800. That's the first time that's ever happened but it is colder out than any other time I started the stove and it's windy. Any tips? It's going good now 20 minutes later but it stinks in here..lol..

 

I still get some smoke rollout, even in colder temps. I need to revisit the flue height with a visit into the attic and on the roof to get a true reading.
I have a feeling I may have messed up my height calculation.......ran out of fingers, and I forgot about toes until after I was done.

 

Before lighting the newspaper in the kindling mix, I save a piece for above the burn tubes to get the draft started. That and leaving the door open a bit before lighting

 

I also learned the hard way, glad I kicked the family out of the house for a few hours. I ineptly thought my chimney was blocked.

Just a warm day and started the exhaust fan to soon.

 

Can of brake cleaner and a match. Not really.

Might be time for the FHC Super Cedars to show up on your doorstep.

 

Drvn- when I do a cold start, I always light bottom up.
Today at the cottage, the inside temp was 29f. Started with just a little cedar (thinly split-thinner than a pencil), a few splits of oak slabwood (no larger than 1"X2") and a couple half splits of maple branches that were originally 3" diameter. Used one firestarter kinda wax cardboard thing. Left the door cracked slightly and let her go at her own speed. After the wood had some good coals/embers but had not yet broken apart, I added some larger stuff. Again, no larger that 3" solid stuff. Let that catch and burn. Then, after a little longer, I waded up a bit of newspaper and put it in on top of the wood, closed the door tight, and as it caught it increased the draft substantially. From there, it was home free.
I don't think that your "cold start" was as cold as this one, but maybe a bottom up fire would work better for you in this case?

 

It can be real bad down draft on super cold days with a low pressure storm in the area.
Every set up is different, the straight up ones from the stove straight up are the easiest.
Mine has 2 90° angles to go thru, those can be a little tougher to get a draft started.

Get the draft started with some newspaper before starting a fire with wood.
I have an outside stack with a clean-out "T", I pull the clean out plug & light newspaper out there.
& stick it in the chimney. When I see the flakes of burnt newspaper coming out the top,
I go in & do the same in the stove, newspaper to get the draft going & heat up the flu a bit more.

A hair drier will work too. Just takes longer, but save from smoking up the place.
Just gotta warm up the cold air in the pipe so it rises.

Have smoked up the whole house with a loaded stove & trying to start a new fire.
Colder the air, the heavier it is, gotta warm it up to get it drafting.
A 20' stack is full of heavy air, it can push the smoke into the house pretty easy.

Before you start a fire, open the stove door, if you feel the cold air coming out, you have a down draft.
Get the up draft going first.

 

Second the suggestions to use newspaper very loosly crumpled to start a draft.

 

Here is what I do:
Some pallet wood on the bottom, plenty of kindling on top of that.
Place fire starter in middle on left side.
Preheat flue with torch for a minute or two, light fire starter with torch with door open just enough
to fit torch in.
The fire will be blazing in no time.

 

Had a big old nasty smokey mess on a cold start tonight. It was like the chimney was plugged or something. The hair dryer on the flue pipe worked. Lesson learned.

 

I did the hair dryer and broke the hair dryer.. True story.. It started smoking and quit.. My wife was thrilled with me but it worked!

 

From a smoking chimney to a smoking hair dryer....

 

Either way SWMBO not happy!!

 

Some good advice here... I don't think I've ever been in a "downdraft" situation, but ill have a couple things to try now! My stack goes straight up from the stove, not quite as high as the gable of my single story ranch. Maybe 15' tops, and a lot of it is inside the house, so maybe it stays "preheated" enough where I don't run into that.

I do like to use a bit of newspaper to get things started though, even when I'm reloading over a hot coal bed. I can get a pretty clean burn, even in my pre-EPA stove, when it's running right. You don't want the fresh fuel smoldering, so if I don't have a flame in a couple minutes, ill toss in a twist of newspaper, and that gets things going nicely. Sometimes it will take off like you just poured gas on!

 

Shawn, is the top of your chimney 2' higher than anything closer than, 10' to it? Probably, but when you said that it is not quite as high as your gable...

 

It sounds stupid.. but it works... I have a newer lopi insert with the reburn, but no cat. Short chimney (15-16') with two 45 degree bends opposing each other with well insulated liner inside of existing fireplace double insulated pipe.

Because its an insert, I don't get much radiant heat without the blower running, so I keep a box fan by the stove to help draw air out into the room. Anyways, on a cold start, I used the box fan on low pointed at the stove, bottom up lighting the pile and leaving the door cracked. I use 3-5 newspaper sheets that are rolled from corner to corner then tied in a loose knot. not too tightly tied. the knot helps keep the newspaper from instantly going ablaze and the kindling will take right off, the door cracked lets the air from the box fan come in and help start the draft.

 

If you crack a window open on the leeward side of the house to start or reload, can work against ya. If you crack open a window on the windward side of the house is better.

 

Yeah, it probably has at least that much. It's a pretty shallow pitch to the roof as well. Seems to do the trick with my airtight stove, but its going to get looked at when I upgrade to a cat stove.

 

I always put in a crumpled up sheet of newspaper then light that. Once that has burned off, I'll load the stove in normal manner and start it. This method has produced zero smoke in the family room. Which pleases the wife.


Jason from RI