How to Build a Fire in a Wood Stove

I've been heating my house with wood for most of my adult life, so I never really think twice about starting a fire.  For me, it's like tying my shoes.  But it occurred to me that some people might not know how.  Perhaps you're thinking of getting a wood stove to heat your house someday?  It can be a little intimidating to start a fire for the first time, so this tutorial is for you.  I have a Jøtul stove and it's the largest one they make because I don't just use a stove for ambiance, I use it to heat my entire home.  This stove has two front doors that open and a side door on the right.  We'll be using the front and side doors for this tutorial, although some stoves only have one door.

Some people think that heating with wood pollutes the air, but I ask you to consider the alternatives.  Wood is a local product, and when grown in a respectful and sustainable manner, it is an indefinite product.  Getting your wood locally puts local people to work and improves your local economy.  If you cut your own, it's cheap or free if you own the land on which the wood is growing.  It doesn't have to be transported over large distances, so you don't have to worry about using fossil fuel, although you may use a tiny amount of fuel for the saw.  And you know what?  Nobody ever fought a war over getting wood to heat their home.  So let's get started!

You're looking through the front doors of my stove.  Clear the stove of ash.  You can see the grates on the left where I can just shovel the ash down into.  Every so often, I have to empty the box that catches the ashes.  Not all stoves have these grates.  If yours doesn't, you'll have to scoop the ashes out into a bucket.  It's okay if some old coals remain.  In the right picture, you can see that I have balled up several sheets of newspaper.  This will act as our tinder.

Start adding small, thin pieces of wood in a crisscross pattern over the newspaper.  Then add somewhat larger pieces on top of the smaller ones, keeping the crisscross pattern.  This is our kindling.

I've shut the front doors now and I've opened the side door on the right of the stove.  Light a match and hold it to a few places on the newspaper.  Then close the door but leave it open about an inch or so.  This acts as a bellows and forces air across the tinder and kindling and up the chimney.  What a big help!  If you've ever had to use a bellows in lighting a fire in a chimney (as I had to in the old days), you'll know just nice this is.  So leave this open for a bit and let it light the fire for you.

Now you can see on the left that the fire is starting to grow.  There's still some newspaper on the left bottom, but it will catch soon.  The picture on the right shows the fire starting to gain momentum.

Now that fire is looking pretty good to me, so I closed the side door.  Watch the fire for a bit.  If it stays lit well, then you're good to go.  If it starts to dwindle, it didn't catch enough and you have to open the door a bit longer until it catches better.  In the picture on the right, I was satisfied with my fire so I turned the damper down.  You can see a "plus" sign on the right and a "minus" sign on the left.  Going toward the minus sign more as I have allows less air into the stove.  This will keep the fire burning, but not too much.  It is only October and I don't need a rip-roaring blaze right now.  Come January though, I will.  The damper allows you to control the amount of air that enters the stove, and this allows you to control how fast the wood burns, which can be very helpful in keeping the heat down a bit or if you don't have a lot of wood.

The fire on the left is going well.  It's in its initial stage of fury and will die down some, which is what I want.  But this is a good fire.  As it burns on and on, a nice coal bed will develop, and this is what keeps you warm.  The coal bed heats the stove itself, which radiates out a lot of heat.  On the right you can see the top of my stove.  It's a good idea to get a stove with a nice flat surface like that.  Many is the day that I have lost power and have had to cook my breakfast, lunch, and dinner on this stove.  It can be a real lifesaver!

And that's all there is to it, really.  It's quite easy.  Wood heat is the warmest heat you will ever feel.  You will NEVER be warmer in your home than you will be with wood heat.  I do not suffer in the winter at all.  In fact, it's often quite balmy in my home, and I even walk around with a short-sleeved shirt sometimes!  Yes, there is ash to clean up, wood to haul, and sometimes dirty hands and splinters.  It can be a pain going out to the wood pile when it's snowing, but you just can't beat the comfort and security of wood heat.  I never have to worry about someone not delivering fuel to me.  I never have to worry about a wood shortage because I live in the most densely forested state in the nation--Maine.  Ah....it's going to be a good winter!