Fuel Myths

People often make erroneous claims for the properties of certain woods for fuel. Most of these are untrue.

One of these myths is the idea that certain woods produce a sweeter smelling smoke. Bear in mind that 100% of all smoke and combustion products are supposed to go straight up the flue and away. If you can smell smoke, find out what the problem is and fix it AT ONCE. Never tolerate fume leakage. All fuel should be dry and stored sensibly.

Coal is basically divided into smokeless and house coal, with the latter producing more soot. Anthracite is a natural smokeless coal. Most smokeless fuels are formed by taking house coal and baking it in the absence of air, mimicking the natural processes that create anthracite.

Buying Firewood

The only thing that you need to consider when buying wood is its dry weight.

The heavier it is, the longer it will burn, and the better the embers will be. That’s why hardwood logs like oak cost more than soft woods.

Woods that are very light due to the action of rot and fungus are almost worthless as they tend to burn very slowly and dully.

Never accept green or wet wood from a wood seller, as you will need to store it for a long time before it will be suitable.

How to Identify a Well-Seasoned, Dry Log

When a log is cut up for fuel, the water starts to escape from between the fibres of the wood, and those fibres pull apart causing cracks that go from the centre of the log to the bark. These are called radial cracks. A seriously seasoned log develops a grey tinge, and two such logs banged together are said to almost ‘ring like a bell’.

To detect green wood scratch your car keys over the bark. The tissue below the surface should be brown and dry right down to the wood. Any green tissue implies that the wood is green.

Green vs. Seasoned & How to Reduce the Risk of Tarring

Dry is, in my opinion more important than seasoned when choosing your wood. A green log is not hugely different to a wet, seasoned log, and neither should really be used. I have seen people burn what they shouldn’t, and suffer no problems with obstructed flues. On the other hand, I have seen people burn wood that has been seasoned and dried for 8 years, and still tar their chimneys solid.

The worst offenders are those who burn a wood burner almost out, fill it with wood and then shut it down for the night. This turns the stove into a destructive distillation apparatus, which will sweat tars and creosotes into the flue.

The correct technique appears to be as follows:

1) Run the stove hot

2) After filling it for the night, burn it hot to drive off the volatiles, until about a quarter of the wood is gone

3) Shut it down for the night

Lighting the Fire

Lighting fires is another problem area. Traditionally, we use paper, with twigs on top, and then we add larger pieces as we go on.

1) First things first; we need to stop using paper. Being mineralised, paper makes thick fluffy ash flakes, and these can obstruct the flow of air through the fire.

2) Build the fire upside down. Put the coal or larger wood at the bottom so that it forms a reasonably solid mass, and will catch everything that falls onto it. (This enables it to catch all the small embers that form from the burning of the kindling, and which would otherwise fall through the bars of the grate and be lost. By using this method, the embers will fall onto the wood/coal and create a hot heart to help the ignition process along.)

3) Then put the large kindling on base, the smaller kindling on top of that, and on the very top place a small fragment of firelighter (I use only a quarter of the firelighter) plus some very small kindling.

4) Light the piece of firelighter and the fire will burn down faster and cleaner than the conventional technique.

This method has one stunning advantage: We have all, at one time or another lit a fire that has failed to catch light. We then have to demolish the fire and rebuild it from scratch. This is possibly the dirtiest job known to man, and usually results in creating a terrible mess, leaving one black to the elbows. Been there, done that and didn’t like it.

Using the upside down method, if the fire shouldn’t catch, then all is simplicity and cleanliness. Simply add a few more small kindling scraps, another quarter of a firelighter, and off we go again. No mess, no fuss, and no dirty hands.

THIS REALLY WORKS. Trust me, I’m a chimney sweep.