Best way to light a woodburner with down draft?

[pancakedan]

A candle or hairdryer should work, have you also tried opening a window when lighting the stove?

[will562]

Hi

 

I have this sometimes. I scrunch up LOTS of newspaper, maybe 10 sheets, then build several layers of kindling on top in a grid, with a small log on top of the kindling.

 

Open all vents, light it and close the door. The wood burner will probably fill with smoke, and you may get a little smoke out the vent, but as soon as enough paper is burning and it generates enough heat, the heat will force up the chimney and switch direction of the air flow, then you can open the door a little if you need to give it some more air.

 

Works every time for me, good luck!

 

 

[Tom D]

One thought is...is there enough air coming into the room? Some modern double glazed houses are almost air tight, have you tried opening a window whilst lighting?

[sandspider]

Cheers all. Opening a window doesn't help, can make it worse in fact. House is not close to air tight! One stove has a direct air feed from outside anyway.

Could try even more paper. Trouble is, that's even more smoke if it doesn't light. Tried your suggestion will, but even with the vents open the paper won't burn hot enough to overcome the draught. Stove just fills with smoke, which leaks out, then gushes out when I eventually have to open the door! I can juggle the door opening and vents to get the draught going the right way as the paper burns but it doesn't always go smoothly, and my wife can't light it with our baby...

Hairdryer is the next attempt.

[billpierce]

Do your chimneys def stick up high enough? I extended mine by a few meters as it was lower than the highest point of my roof. It still isn't higher but it is close enough to never cause a down draft.

Also worth checking the spec of the stove. Some are funny. I had a Waterford fion which had a 5inch flue outlet on the stove bit the spec was 6inch so required an immediate adapter after the stove. Wtf?

[Paul in the woods]

Have you tired lighting a small fire and then feeding it once it gets going? I tend to place a small log at the back and then build a small pile of thin kindling, get that going and then add some larger bits and then some small logs (only takes a couple of mins).

 

Also have you tried just using dry shavings and very dry kindling, i.e. no paper? I sometimes find you get a fair bit of smoke with paper and when I have some wood shavings handy that works better.

[Stubby]

The flue is cold and the air flow is in the wrong direction . This is possibly compounded by not enough height on the stack . You try to heat the flue with paper etc which would normally work but the shorter stack works against you . As others have said my be worth adding some height to the stack .  I dont know if the " flue cube " thing is bollox or not but I have heard it helps . ( I have no connection whats so ever with flue cube and have never tried one )

[david lawrence]

there used to be electric pokers with a fan which would light the fire from scratch

 

bit like a super power hair dryer on legs 

 

perhaps you could find one of these to try ?

 

just run it with no wood in to start with 

 

 

[Mick Dempsey]

If you can get to the pipe behind the burner heat it with a gas burner flame.

 

Switches the draw (and open a door or window for a couple of minutes)

Edited November 25, 2017 by Mick Dempsey

[mickdundee]

I’ve got a pretty rubbish draw on my flue. I always build my fire, open a window wide, then I light a piece of paper rolled up lengthways and shove it up the flue. If the smoke comes back at me I blow hard and that’s normally enough to switch the draught the right way