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Firing up the wood burning stove

There are lots of techniques for starting fires and like BBQ's I'm sure you will find a dozen blokes who know the right way to do it with a dozen different opinions. However you choose to light your fire? start with decent wood! Preparation is key. Buy it as early as you can. We bought ours a bit later in the year as we hadn't moved so wood was the last thing on our mind. We were also limited to what was available so late in the year but we managed to get 6 cubic meters of oak!. Our wood in total cost around 200 BGN which isn't’t bad for a whole winter. With properly seasoned wood and kindling you should be able to get a fire going in no time.

If it's a newly installed wood burner there are a few things to check. First, it's worth having a look round the house with a small fire burning to see that the smoke is going the right way and not coming out of anywhere it shouldn't? and it won't hurt to check the spare room isn't filling with smoke? This is also a good time to check your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms are working if you have them fitted.

A lot of people are a bit shocked the first time they make a fire that some smoke seems to go the wrong way! Assuming you have cleaned your chimney, a common cause of smoke coming into the house from a wood burning stove is that the hot air pressure pushing the smoke out of the house is not as strong as the cold air pressure in the chimney pushing down. its a good idea to open a window in the room with the stove alight which will encourage a draught through the room and up the chimney. doesn't sound good if it's cold outside which it is or you wouldn't be lighting a fire but it is better than a room full of smoke. Getting the fire hot fast with as little smoldering as possible will help push the air up so it's worth burning some smaller wood and kindling to get things roaring before you get the bigger logs.

Another question is "
why is the top of my stove smoking?"
If it's a new wood burning stove then usually this is fairly innocent, just the paint and oil on the outside of the burner which basically burning off . This can happen the first few times you get the stove lit but if it keeps happening then you may need to talk to the people you bought it from because something isn't’t right! If you have an old stove that's giving off smoke then you could have a problem with some of the welds? or the door seal/glass seal may have deteriorated. It could be worth repairing the stove but look at the price for parts, there maybe wood burning stoves which are more efficient and inexpensive.

Another thing is to get the fire on was a set of fire place accessories-poker, ash shovel etc. which are a must! , you may need to put a guard around your stove to make sure no one gets burnt- children and pets.

Alfie wrote:

Good idea Tony, it's worth getting a carbon monoxide detector too.
Here's a link to some usefull info regarding wood burners/burning:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ... rning.html

A search on google about woodburners, flues, chimneys, etc. will quickly give you a lot of usefull information.

Excellent link alfie

Alfie wrote:

Good idea Tony, it's worth getting a carbon monoxide detector too.
Here's a link to some usefull info regarding wood burners/burning:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ... rning.html

A search on google about woodburners, flues, chimneys, etc. will quickly give you a lot of usefull information.

Good information Alfie I have placed your site on my desktop for future use, especially when we move into our property in late January and I am feebly attempting to light the wood burner.

tonyb60 wrote:

How this is so true. Our flue was blocked to such an extent that I have built a complete new flue and the difference in heat is amazing. Not sure about the saving in wood yet but time will tell. The one thing that I also think is advisable is to get a CO2 detector they cost from 20 ish pounds and have a life span of about 5 years.

Excellent advice Tony We had to use our wood burner on this visit as it was rather cold in the evenings. We noticed how black the ceiling was around the fire place so there must be smoke escaping this is another job for next year.

Sorry if my fire-lighting suggestion led to potential danger for anybody! The stove on which I used this technique is of the very heavy solid type, once hot they stay hot even on a slow overnight burn, with no likelihood of the flue gasses reversing direction. I see that a lot of Bulgarian stoves are much lighter built - even movable - and realise that these can potentially cool down fairly quickly. One measure to promote safety until the chimney defects are cured is to install a chimney fan, and keep it running under any conditions where the fumes might otherwise escape into the room.

Quote :

Excellent advice Tony We had to use our wood burner on this visit as it was rather cold in the evenings. We noticed how black the ceiling was around the fire place so there must be smoke escaping this is another job for next year.

We have a friend who had a wood burner in her lounge with a white leather 3 piece suite, she was washing soot off the suite every other day. Lovely things, but in the right place.

Thank you for the information Alfie its a brilliant site with loads of useful information

We will be arriving in the VT area to live in late January, will it still be possible to buy some wood for the wood burner. Can't stand the thought of having to go to bed with my thermals on, oh . . . and a wooly hat.

You shouldn't have any problems go and see the mayor or speak to your neighbors.

Andy wrote:

You shouldn't have any problems go and see the mayor or speak to your neighbors.

Thanks for the info Andy we haven't met our neighbours yet, have been too busy arranging to put the house in some order so we can live in it. It hasn't been lived in for some time and of course there is no bathroom at the moment, it will be fun getting it how we want it!! I hope!! Will look for the mayor as well, I believe he pops into the local bar occasionally. I feel a steep learning curve coming our way.

We will be arriving in BG at the end of February and at the moment there is no wood at our house, apart from what is laying in the garden. We will attempt to buy some wood, but don't hold out much hope on that score. I guess any wood that is available will not be dry wood either so we thought about buying coal as a last resort, but don't know whether we can burn coal on a woodburner. Has anyone any advice on what we could do?

I have not used wood since 2007, I have a combination of heating using gas heaters, warm air radiators and oil filled radiators at night. I dont find this arrangement anymore expensive than any other system. my last electric bill was 85 lev. you will never beat gas central heating such a shame they do not have it in bulgaria.

Bulgaria being a land of trees wood is the way they do it here. However, have to say I have an excellent woodchopper who loves chopping. Well what do you do in the winter??? Ha ha. Each to their own. Before I get shouted down about cutting down trees there is a regeneration plan in operation although there will always be those who abuse it! Wouldn't be without my woodburner. Electic bill? 45levs but who's counting? I do also have a simple gas ring and electric ring.
No-one answered Itchyfeet about buying wood in February. Speak to the Kmet (Mayor) of your village or some locals. Its possible that you might be able to get a delivery of older wood ready chopped (which will cost a bit extra). Even if its wet wood get it ready for next winter and make do with gas heaters. You can use damper wood but it might be smoky and not give out so much heat.

Depending on what type of boiler you have you can burn coal or brickets. But they do tend to get hotter and are quite expensive.Wood is always available at a cost at the mo about 60 -65 Lev per cubic meter.

tonyb60 wrote:

Depending on what type of boiler you have you can burn coal or brickets. But they do tend to get hotter and are quite expensive.Wood is always available at a cost at the mo about 60 -65 Lev per cubic meter.

Thanks Tony for the info. I will walk around our village with two of my dogs and make enquiries, will make sure I leave the chain saw at home of course, I don't want them thinking a massacre is about to start!! I find here in Turkey that whilst walking the dogs I meet lots of people and end up talking so much Annette wonders where I have disappeared to! I am sure that someone will know of some wood that can be purchased at a reasonable cost.

Also if you have renovations done, keep any old wood that is pulled down and chop for firewood. It will be excellent for kindling anyway if chopped into sticks.