I hate wood fireplaces

[2nd Hand Yank]

Cannot get this one relit.
This is the third day I have no heating and cannot dry laundry in a reasonable amount of time.

I even tried lighting up splinters of the logs that the owner had left me.
After 30 minutes with a lighter and newspaper trying to ignite the splinters
just when it seems like I finally have fire and one chip stays lit for 1 minute
it extinguishes as I try to slowly light another small piece of wood.

I'm dirty, have some burnt fingers
and still it's going to be another very cool night inside this house.

I wonder what kind of wood he picked up.
It's amazing that Australia even has bush fires, as this wood is fire-retardant!

[mud_king91]

Try lightly blowing on it... or diesel

[taza]

Try lightly blowing on it... or diesel

+1

Is the wood dry? Otherwise go and siphon some petrol out of your Subaru

When I read the topic title I thought your house had burnt done due to one

[coupe]

Is the flue open?

[Silverbullet]

Don't have any dry leaves? A big bunch of gum leaves might only burn for 20 seconds, but it burns really hot and helps everything else along.

Also some woods burn really crap, or if it's still "green"

[steptoe]

Someone , please introduce this Canadian to Bear Grylls !! Timber struck by lightning does not burn real well, wonder if you got some of that. WA, get cold ?

[El_Freddo]

I think it's time someone learnt how to light a fire properly.

1st scrunch old newspaper but not tightly

2nd collect sticks/twigs and stack in a tee-pee arrangement on the paper

3rd select thin pieces of wood, stack on top of sticks and twigs

4th grab two or three pieces of wood that aren't huge and also stack.

5th: Light it up in several locations if possible, otherwise just use the one area

Most important: Be patient!!

Another trick is to get two large pieces of wood to lay down first, then build what will be your fire on top of this. Works a treat when you're out bush and the ground is wet! Venom and I worked out this piece of genius last year in Walhulla where we practically lit our fire in a puddle it was that wet!

Australian hardwood throws out some awesome heat once you've got it going!

All the best with it!

Cheers

Bennie

[d_generate]

Never EVER use petrol, it's an explosive not a fire lighter.

[Silverbullet]

Works a treat when you're out bush and the ground is wet! Venom and I worked out this piece of genius last year in Walhulla where we practically lit our fire in a puddle it was that wet!

Just reminded me, years and years ago when I was a scout I got so trained at lighting camp fires I could get one going from nothing, in the rain
Probably a bit rusty now hey

[mud_king91]

Just use diesel burns well it,ll light anything

[steptoe]

Yeah , petrol is a no , no. As a ten year old I knew how to make a mates GI Joe camp more realistic - drained petrol from the fuel line of his parents mower ( a Sunbeam ) into a peanut butter jar, soaked the two inch hgh tee pee rrangement and lit it. As it started to die down poured more on. Well, flame runs up pouring petrol, now got my own camp fire in the jar!! Think I burt my lips trying to blow it out

Was also used as starter for an 18' high bonfire and things did not start from the intending source. It was either a ciggy or someones cave man torch that started things prematurely. My mate disppeared behind a wall of orange flame - 18' high !

No, don't use petrol.

How'd you go this time ??

C'mon.. a pic ??

I do have this CD here on my bench - payless brand "television virtual fireplace" , 19 minutes of continous playback flickering and cackling fireplace

[Alex]

get some fire lighters from the supermarket.

you need to build it up from small stuff to the larger stuff.

its extremely easy! otherwise your wood must be green or you dont have the flue open.

alex

[Corax]

As El Freddo said. Use pine as kindling (not the treated stuff obviously!) as it catches easily compared to the harder timbers. Also check the chimney if you can. In a lot of older houses the chimney can basically be blocked with years of carbon/soot buildup which prevents fresh air from flowing through and thus starves your fire of oxygen.
Lighting a fire is one of those skills, its a bugger when you dont know how but easy when you do. Worse comes to worse get someone who knows how to show you, a practical demo is worth a thousand words.

[Bryan1]

A good test to see if the flue is blocked is keep the door of the wood open until you get a decent burn going then shut the door. If the smokes or just goes out real quick then yes there is a blockage in the flue. We run our fire just about everynight in autum/winter and sometimes until early spring depending on the weather. Sheesh even my 6 year old daughter can make the fire up and ready to light the match in one place but won't do until and adult is around. My 3 year old daughter is also learning very quickly. As far as burning green wood, providing one has a decent bed of coals the green wood will hiss and steam as the hot coals withdraw the moisture out.

I have an old pantec we use as a wood shed and it is painted a very dark red (got the paint cheap) and generally if the wood is cut small enough it will season over summer. We just scored a heap of tasi blackgum in 3-4' rounds upto 8" thick and I found using the manual block splitter it cuts real easy and after a few weekends the pantec will be chock ablock full with this blackgum. After one hot Adelaide summer by the time we need to start the fire I'll bet that wood will be ready to burn. note I did cut the wood to suit the old wood stove I have here which is going to get a total refit with water pipes in the back to heat the concrete slab in the new shed.

Cheers Bryan

[subybrumby]

Didn't read all this so hope i am not repeating anyones method. We live in toowoomba where wood fires are all the go. Use wood that is dry, pine kindling is good as a starter, I use firelighters from woolies, its cheating a bit but takes the work out of it. Clean out the fireplace and it is important that the fire can breath easy. If wood is stacked across the firebox, ours seem to have difficulty breathing properly. Petrol is a big no no and you will have an explosion if you are not careful. Diesel is ok but I tend to use household kerosene.

So prepare the fireplace and put the firelighters under the prepared wood. Put the kerosene over the wood and allow it to soak into the wood for a few minutes. Light it up and away you go. We use good dry seasoned ironbark or box. Gives good heat and last a while. Good luck with it.

[2nd Hand Yank]

Thanks guys.

the wood's pretty dry. I took it inside Saturday night to make sure.

I think the flue is open,
as the smoke rises when newspaper pages ignite and go VERY hot. (not hot enough though, aye )

I was using a Bic lighter so much that it heated up and blew the spring.
Must have had it on for 10 minutes trying to ignite stubborn chip splinters.

I understand that extra paper will obstruct airflow, so I've been scooping out the ashes from failed attempts.

I remembered last night that charcoal BBQ briquettes have fluid on them, made for instant light and last a long time. I picked up some organic ones that are supposed to be good for "very hot cooking temps" on clearance at Coles. Will see how that goes.

I'm down a lighter, so I bought a proper BBQ lighter with a flex head.

I figure the main issue with me getting a fire lit is this is a metal fireplace with small openings and "Smart Burn" gadgets, rather than a fire out in the open like a campsite, where low oxygen is almost impossible.


WA cold?

Actually it's been great weather the last few days.
I think the weather's been reaching 20-22 C with nights around 8-10 C.
My house is 22 C in the daytime and 16 C when I get up, just keeping the windows shut.
It's a minor irritation more than anything else.
BUT... If we get a rainy, sunless day at 17/8 C (typical winter day here)
then the house will really chill, and indoor humidity will be very yucky.
I'd like to be able to have a fire for those days to keep indoor humidity down.

[d_generate]

If it's a box fire with an exposed stainless flue try banging it with your hands either side at the same time, probably blocked with keratin from green wood...........make sure the door is closed and if you can take the baffle plate out first it will make it much easier to get the junk out, I had a Jarradale that I had to belt a couple of times a year & take roughly a bucket full of the burnt tarry stuff out of or it was a pig to light.....It can also catch fire & cause problems. Baffle plate is usually under the flue inside the box.

[MTB92]

the wood's pretty dry. I took it inside Saturday night to make sure.

i think by dry, they mean not green. it doesn't actually have to look green to be unsuitable either. if you pick a twig up off the ground and it will snap with no bending, it is dry. if it flexes before snapping it is green. sometimes it is hard to tell if the big chunks are dry yet, it will take months before they are ready from being cut down.

You shouldn't have paper lighting chips either. go paper, then tiny twigs, slightly less tiny twigs, small twigs, small sticks, chips, small blocks and if it will fit, one decent sized bit on top. kinda work your way up in layers. it will already have to be hot for the big stuff to light.

[LIFTED]

I agree with no to petrol. When I was about 12 yrs old on a 40 degree day, I chucked a cup of petrol into a 40 gallon upright drum to kick start some rubbish in it I was burning. I went into the house to get some matches, during this time the petrol had started to evaporate forming a vapour cloud above the bin. i came back lit a match threw it in the drum. BANG ! a huge orange fire ball knocked me off my feet blew me back on to the ground, burn't off my eyebrows and a bit if fringe hair, Mum came running out as the whole tile roof of the house had shaken. Lesson learned it's not the liquid that ignites but the gas.

[2nd Hand Yank]

^^ That could be why we call it "gas" or "gasoline" back where I'm from.

I was trying to avoid using any accelerants or flammable liquids
both because of the hazard and because of unknown poisons that could be released.