Once your wood-burning stove is lit it will literally burn for a long as you keep replenishing it with wood. The process of lighting a stove is fairly straightforward although some people do have a little difficulty with the initial process. We will now walk you through a step-by-step guide to the easiest, and safest, way to light a wood-burning stove and ensure that it remains lit.
An easy burn
The easiest way to start your wood-burning stove is to create a number of layers of different materials which take longer to burn. The initial lay should be scrunched up newspaper which is extremely easy to light and will help with the initial burn process. The lair of newspaper should be thick enough for it to burn for a while as it needs to create enough heat and flames to start the whole process.
Add a few rows of kindling
On top of your thick layer of newspaper you should add a few rows of kindling making full use of the length and breadth of the stove body. The kindling will quickly catch alight from the underlying newspaper and once the kindling starts to burn it is all very easy from then. You need to ensure that your kindling is not too large and not too thick because you want it to burn long enough to set alight to the next layer of fuel.
Firewood on top of kindling
You now have the paper on the bottom, then the kindling and now you should add a few small pieces of firewood on top of the kindling. The kindling will not be enough to create the heat required to heat your room but it will be more than enough to burn the firewood on top of the kindling. Once your firewood appears to be burning well you should close the door of your stove and let the process take hold.
Replenishing firewood
Once you can see that the firewood is burning you should continually replenish this with new firewood to keep the stove going. You can vary the air intake on many wood-burning stoves which will control the flame and the amount of heat created. The beauty of the modern day wood-burning stove is the fact that the wood will burn at a constant slow rate. This helps to build up more and more heat within the combustion chamber which is then circulated around the stove body and eventually radiated into your room.
Never use liquid fuel
You should never use liquid fuel to light your stove because this can be extremely dangerous. We have seen instances where people have used liquid fuel only for the flame to shoot up back into the container in which the liquid fuel is held, in some cases causing serious injury. Many people forget that the fumes from a liquid fuel container can catch fire as easily as the liquid itself. It may seem like a shortcut, it may seem fairly easy but you should never ever use liquid fuel to light your stove. Instead, we strongly recommend using the process above which allows you to watch the burning embers flicker and mesmerise you.