[Moorf]

As winter is definitely upon us I thought we could all share our woodburning / firewood tips. Even after quite a few winters we're still learning so it might be handy to share...

1. Woodburners run best at maximum capacity. Running a woodburner "damped down" or at low heats (with smoke out chimney) will quickly block your flue.

2. Wood burns best placed north/south in the firebox. It burns longer east/west.

3. Top down is, imho, the easiest and fastest way to start a fire. I was skeptical until I tried it and now it's the only way we do it... easy peasy.

4. Knotted newspaper makes excellent firelighters.

5. Never, ever burn wet wood - that includes rain-wet. It's the fast-track way to a chimney fire.

6. If your woodburner glass goes black, you're not burning the fire hot enough. The fire should clear the glass at the optimum temperature.

7. The easiest and cheapest way to keep your woodburner glass clean is to use the cold grey ashes on a piece of dampened tissue - dip damp tissue in the ashes in the firebox and rub glass with it - wipe off - voila!

8. Clean the flue/chimney regularly - especially if you haven't been using totally dry/seasoned firewood or have been damping it down. Before you use it and after are best times, and if the draw lessens on the fire you should also have it checked. Get a receipt from the sweep - this helps for any insurance claims you may need to make in the case of a chimney fire.

There must be heaps more! :nice1

Moorf

[Familyofmonkeys]

Paying lots of attention......woodburners are a different kettle of fish to the open fireplaces I grew up with :)

[Kanga]

WRT point 1 Moorf- what about getting a fire to keep in? Do you have any magic tips for this- I know it's discouraged for environmental reasons but, otoh, it makes such a difference if you can wake to some warmth and getting the fire going only requires a handful of pine cones and a log. Tricky one isn't it?

[Moorf]

It is a tricky one for a couple of reasons.

The newer woodburners are built so that they can't be damped down, this is to address smoke emission problems. In some South Island towns, during winter, smoke pollution can be a problem, hence the changes. There are ways of *cough* modifying them, I know many rural folk who do this but I wouldn't recommend it - it will make any building consent you had done void, as well as your insurance if you have a problem with flue fires.

You also have the problem of creosote build up during damping down sessions - flue fire danger unless cleaned v. regularly. We've just been ripped off with some wet wood and in just THREE WEEKS the flue was starting to clog - enough to interrupt the draw... be warned.

But, if you want to keep a fire in, then it's a case of loading up the firebox and shutting off the airflow and hoping there are coals left to rebuild from in the morning. And yes, pine cones are brill :)

We've just replaced our faithful coal stove with a Pyroclassic (http://www.pyroclassic.co.nz)- it's a woodburner but with a ceramic "kiln" design and it has amazing heat-store abilities so that the place is still warm in the morning. It's also very low emission and a wetback.

[Sam B]

We have a Masport Grand View, with a rural slide (because we live on a property with over a certain number of hectares we are allowed this) so we can keep it going over night. like Moorf says, we build it up, mainly with one GIANT log, then cut off the air flow. in the morning it is warm with glowing embers and fairly easy to start again. it is a brilliant log burner, we are roasted most nights, and it is heating a very large area, including lounge, dining room and kitchen.

Wood needs to be managed very carefully. We are starting a gum plantation. You need 25 trees per year if you let them grow to 7 years old apparently. once cut, they need splitting immediately, otherwise it's like splitting concrete 9we are discovering to our cost) and they also dry quicker. They should then be left in the sun until the end of summer, then stored somewhere dry until they are seasoned (2 years). Dry wood is so important.

Don't overclean the burner, leave a layer of ash in the bottom about an inch deep.

[benandclare]

The fire in our new build is a multi fuel and termed a "dirty Fire " , as we're over the 2 ha's easily ;)

Back in the UK with the woodburners/multifuels, 3 different houses over 20 years, I had I used to give the flue a good razz every week ,i.e let the fire roar for 20 mins, to burn off the tar.

Not so sure I'll do this in NZ as we're timber framed as opposed to brick built, so will be watching carefully when the flue goes in to see how close it is to any framing, trusses.

But as mentioned above DRY wood is the key, Will be building large wood shed :nice1

[aberdian]

We are starting a gum plantation. You need 25 trees per year if you let them grow to 7 years old apparently.
We have about 800 trees on our property, around 8 years old (pines, not gums) and they appear to have been pretty well managed so far, about 30cm diameter and so tall they block the view. The shame is that we have a diesel boiler and no wood burner, something which will have to be remedied soon methinks :)

1670

[Moorf]

We are starting a gum plantation. You need 25 trees per year if you let them grow to 7 years old apparently.

Interesting - we are slowly having the pines in our paddock felled - about 25-30 20yr old pines and we want to replace them with gum. What spacing have you used? And did you get a cut and come again gum - we're just looking into what to plant for firewood stocks.

Also, are there any size restrictions to what you can plant for your own use? And what about the carbon credit stuff - I haven't had a chance to look into that yet... does that affect those growing their own firewood?

[Sam B]

Here's a link to one of the sites we got info from -
http://www.southernwoods.co.nz/documents/FirewoodPlantations.pdf

I can't imagine there are any size restrictions where we are, we have just taken down 80 huge gums, that were approximately 13 years old, and the new plantation is going in roughly the same place. Our local tree nursery which suppleas trees for plantations mainly was able to advise on the specific gums best suited for firewood, but I can't remember the one we're going with. All gums burn well I think. The ones we took down are all growing back again, we may try to coppice them. (If that's the right term). Gum twigs and leaves make scarily good kindling - like throwing petrol on a fire.

[aberdian]

Scarily, my wife's been looking at Southerwoods nurserys for other trees, so that's a good coincidence. What a great little guide - I think we'll cut down the runts and the non-straight trees in the forest this winter, get them drying out for next year. Hopefully that'll free up some planting space that we can infill with eucalpts (I collected seeds down in Te Anau in the summer and will try and grow them once they've had some coolness over the winter). As to the rest of the forest, I think it was planted as a combo shelter/timber belt as the trees have mostly been managed pretty well, all with the bottom branches taken off and nice straight trunks........we'll see, they may turn in to firewood in the fullness of time :)

[Gyroman]

Thanks for all the tips, we are hoping to be in NZ by next winter and have had wodburners in the UK for years so looking forward to having similar when we arrive. I have always gone for hard woods mainly ash as it splits easily and burns well, is there an equivalent in NZ or is it just softwood?
Thanks
Chris

[Moorf]

Around these parts (Canterbury) the woods you are most likely to get are a radiata pine, old man pine (a 30+ yr old pine, burns better than younger pine), macrocarpa (burns longer and hotter than pine), blue gum (best burn time and heat, nice coals) and sometimes beech (not quite as good as gum).

We've also just got a load of Oregon Pine (which I think is Douglas Fir) which seems to us to burn a wee bit hotter and longer than old man pine.

[Tanya]

3. Top down is, imho, the easiest and fastest way to start a fire. I was skeptical until I tried it and now it's the only way we do it... easy peasy.

Would that be your top down Moorf??:laugh




7. The easiest and cheapest way to keep your woodburner glass clean is to use the cold grey ashes on a piece of dampened tissue - dip damp tissue in the ashes in the firebox and rub glass with it - wipe off - voila!

Just dry newspaper works wonders too!! :nice1

Tanya

[Moorf]

LOL - that's really not a nice image :laugh:laugh

So, anyone tried top down yet? It's amazing!

[miep]

I might if I knew what you meant with top down? (I kinda had the same mental image as tanya:laugh)
We've changed our open fire to an insert woodburner which isn't nearly as much fun but less draughty, way more efficient and much easier to light.
I save wine corks as they're great fire starters BTW, a couple of sheets of newspaper, a cork and some kindling in a teepee (sp) shape seems to do the trick most days. All the same please explain the top down approach:nice1

[Moorf]

We've changed our open fire to an insert woodburner which isn't nearly as much fun but less draughty, way more efficient and much easier to light.

Snap!

Right, top down fire.. I'll see if I can explain it well enough... now I know you'll be thinking "that won't work" .. but it does!

1. Fill bottom of firebox with your logs.

2. Take five sheets of newspaper - roll each one diagonally into tube and tie a knot in it.

3. Put the newspaper knots on top of the logs.

4. Put your kindling on top of the newspaper.

5. Light newspaper in two places - one each side.

6. Shut door.

7. Watch in amazement.

And no, you don't need firelighters!

The beauty behind this fire is it is self starting and you don't need to load logs on after lighting etc as the logs at the bottom will burn very well leaving you with nice hot bed to load up again - that's because it's getting the firebox and flue to a hot temp v. quickly - the best way to start a fire.

Let me know how you get on - I've not known it to fail yet... ;)

[Tanya]

Found this on a woodburner website - slightly different to yours with the kindling Moorf?

2. Top-down. While this method takes a little getting used to, it is absolutely reliable, and when it is done properly there is almost no smoke right from the start. Just place three or four full-sized split logs on the firebox floor or on the ground. Place several pieces of medium kindling across them and then maybe another layer of smaller pieces at right angles to those. Then put 10 or so pieces of fine kindling on top. Now take four or five full sheets of newspaper and roll each one up corner-to-corner and tie a sloppy knot in it. Knotting the paper helps to keep it from rolling around as it burns. Place the knots on top of the fine kindling. Light the paper and watch as the fire burns down through the light kindling, the heavy kindling and into the bottom logs. Using the top-down method, you can light the paper and watch the fire burn on its own for up to two hours.

Tanya

[miep]

OK, I'll try that tomorrow! Thanks.

[Moorf]

Hah! That's how Woz does his - we've had some great 'discussions' on the topic but both work equally well :)

[benandclare]

Anybody tried lighting one with Cabbage tree leaves? I'm told they make good kindling and I've a fair pile now :nice1

[Moorf]

Ohh yes, they're great, too - grab 4 together in a bunch and tie a knot in it and shove it in - burns longer than if putting individual ones on... pine cones also fab!

[benandclare]

Excellent :nice1 All I need now is a woodburner :D

[PeteS]

I use a peice of 4x2 8" long soaked in deisel. Lob it in, pile stuff on top, light it. Works every time......

[Moorf]

No-one tried it yet? :uhoh

[miep]

Patience, patience! It's another beautiful day here in Welly and the sun warms the house so much we don't need to light a fire until sunset. Then I have to beat OH to the fire because he's a bit of a pyromaniac as well. If I make it I'll let you all know:yes

[miep]

Snap!

Right, top down fire.. I'll see if I can explain it well enough... now I know you'll be thinking "that won't work" .. but it does!

1. Fill bottom of firebox with your logs.
<snip>

7. Watch in amazement.



Well I did watch in amazement as this method really works!:clap I think I'm converted!

I also use cabbage tree leaves and I've got some flax leaves drying, haven't tried them yet but imagine that they'll work too.

I did 2 trips into the bush behind our house to forage for pine cones - got a large bag full - and fallen Manuka trees and got 2 good long bits with a nice girth. The neighbours own a ridiculous amount of land and don't mind me getting bits out, in fact they encourage it! Yay for good neighbours!:nice1
I like adding a bit of Manuka to my usual pine mix.

[Moorf]

Well I did watch in amazement as this method really works! I think I'm converted!

Hehe :nice1

Anyone else having a go?! :D

[enb]

Ooohhh, I can't wait to try the top down method. But first I need to get a wood burner! Currently heating a house with a 2kW heather. Now that's cold especially as it's been around 1c at night and yesterday it never went up above 5c during the day.

[YouMeAndThree]

Thought it appropriate to post this (http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/5636017/dirty-chimneys-major-player-house-fires/) here.

[Kanga]

Especially an issue in rural areas as the fire might not be spotted as soon and the fire service can take a good while to get there. The community I lived in had one total burnt to the ground house fire while I was there (poor family- lost EVERYTHING and is sadly common had NO insurance) and then last month I heard that another house in the community had also been completely lost. I was really anxious about house fires- we had three smoke alarms but had a fire started in the day it would have been all over Rover because noone was there and there were no neighbours. The two times we could smell smoke in the playground (once from the fire that caused total devastation and the other from a smaller fire) it was a huge cause of concern to everyone.

[GeordieLass]

Ooh thanks Moorf for posting the top down method. I had a go last night and found it worked a treat but I did sneak a firelighter in there too. For some reason in our first winter I found it really difficult to get the fire lit. Maybe our wood wasn't all that dry. But now it's dead easy! Pre-cut kindling from a recent kitchen renovation and neighbour's old fence helps mind.

[mikey and tor]

geordielass, dont take the next doors fence, they may get upset!

[anothertrekker]

Hi,

Does anyone here use this?

http://www.mitre10.co.nz/home/rutland_chimney_cleaner_powder_1lb_172846.cfm?dept =0&subdept=0&sid=6

[Moorf]

Ooh thanks Moorf for posting the top down method. I had a go last night and found it worked a treat but I did sneak a firelighter in there too. For some reason in our first winter I found it really difficult to get the fire lit. Maybe our wood wasn't all that dry. But now it's dead easy! Pre-cut kindling from a recent kitchen renovation and neighbour's old fence helps mind.

We had our sweep round yesterday and he was spitting blood over the amount of wet wood he's seen being sold. He's been called out constantly at the moment for blocked flues. I reckon there should be a "bring a log" service where you can take a log to the local fire service or something and be told "yes, you can burn this" or "don't burn this, it'll give off little heat and clog up your chimney".

Tap your blocks of firewood together - do they sound hollow? Good.

Do they feel cold/clammy? Bad

Can't stress this enough.

[Moorf]

Hi,

Does anyone here use this?

http://www.mitre10.co.nz/home/rutland_chimney_cleaner_powder_1lb_172846.cfm?dept =0&subdept=0&sid=6

Quite honestly, if you're burning the right wood at the right (i.e. HIGH) temps you don't need this. All you need is a long chain or set of brushes and a trip on the roof every few months or when the draw weakens.

[Familyofmonkeys]

I reckon there should be a "bring a log" service where you can take a log to the local fire service or something and be told "yes, you can burn this" or "don't burn this, it'll give off little heat and clog up your chimney".



These services do already exist with Evironment Canterbury although they are not well advertised. We found this service in Christchurch area recently when we were reading up on the clear air zone rules. Aparently you can take a sample of your firewood along and they'll measure the moisture content for free.....

http://www.ecan.govt.nz/Our+Environment/Air/HomeHeating/FirewoodTesting.htm

(the whole ecan website is down at the moment....just checked, but it does normally work)

[Familyofmonkeys]

Now that the Environment Canterbury website is back up and running, here is a list of places you can get your firewood tested. Hopefully this will be useful to a few people :)



You can get the moisture content of your firewood tested for free at the following locations:

* Environment Canterbury, Christchurch, phone 353 9007 or 0800 324 636 for an appointment
* Environment Canterbury, Timaru, phone 684 0500 or 0800 324 636 for an appointment
* Ashburton District Council, 5 Baring Sq West
* Waimakariri District Council, 215 High St, Rangiora (winter only)
* Kaiapoi Service Centre (in the public library), 125 Raven Quay, Kaiapoi (winter only)





http://www.ecan.govt.nz/Our+Environment/Air/HomeHeating/Wood+Burning+Techniques.htm

[anothertrekker]

Some more questions. Had the chimney swept, air flow tube, top baffie(?) & top cap lid replaced in April but still have difficulty starting fire early in the morning or on very cold days. One problem may be wet wood. Possibility of chimney clogged up again?

Tried the top down method yesterday without a firestarter. Fire started slow & had to open the door marginally to draw air from the living a few times (have to do the latter often regardless of the method used to start fire).

[Moorf]

Certainly sounds like you need your flue looking at again. Lack of draw is a sure sign there's some clogging going on. If you have been burning wet wood since having it swept last it has had plenty of time to re-coat.

Another problem could be a breach in the flue lining - again, you need this checked.

[anothertrekker]

Certainly sounds like you need your flue looking at again. Lack of draw is a sure sign there's some clogging going on. If you have been burning wet wood since having it swept last it has had plenty of time to re-coat.

Another problem could be a breach in the flue lining - again, you need this checked.

Thanks for the advice!

Stay warm!
AT

[Nienke]

I've tried the topdown method tonight, and thanks Moorf for the tip!! :nice1

[NikT]

Top down.
Sweet as!:D

I'm a convert to top down.:nice1

Nick.:cheers

[Mamee & Co]

THis thread is making me desperate to get my PR and get out there. For the last three winters I have been in a modern UK house with gas central heating. Prior to that when living in the North of Scotland for over a decade I had an open fire with back boiler and then a multi-fuel stove..though I admit with the alter to burning a mix of grade B and anthracite as I could keep it in for up to six weeks at a time that way if I was lucky.

I am desperate for the cosy glow of flames again in the winter. There is something so peaceful and calm about them...and the thought of a house with less than perfect insulation....drafts and air flow again...yippee!!

Mamee

[Sam B]

Harummph. Top down method did not work for me. Tried twice. Each time, the paper burnt vigorously in 20 seconds flat, leaving a perfectly untouched pile of sticks and logs beneath it. Have returned to old method.

[Nienke]

Did you put the sticks on top of the newspaper?

[Sam B]

Um .... no.


Was I meant to?

[Nienke]

4. Put your kindling on top of the newspaper

:D

[Sam B]

Oh yeah ... I did that method that Tanya copied in, that had the paper on top. Might try Moorf's method tomorrow.

[Tanya]

Oh yeah ... I did that method that Tanya copied in, that had the paper on top. Might try Moorf's method tomorrow.

Oh - I just copied that from a woodburning site to show Moorf that was one way they were describing - Soooooo sorry. I dont use the method myself!:o

Tanya

[Sam B]

No worries Tanya, I knew it wasn't your method.

[anothertrekker]

Been successful with the top down method describe by Moorf. Happy that I am using less/not using any fire starters.

Am also glad that I installed a ceiling fan with summer/winter option too. Use less wood to heat up the house.

:cheers

[Sam B]

Top down method (Moorf style) worked just fine.

[vixxann]

I am a top-down convert now - thanks Helen :D:D

[Bobbysox]

Top down method works for us too, thanks Moorf.