Tips - Wood Stove

Unsure how to build a fire? See beginner's instructions at the end of this doc.

Around the Stove:

• Lighter on mantel above wood stove.
• Wax fire starters, fat wood, kindling. I generally keep one box of kindling sized for side-to-side and the other sized for front-to-back, but that's just me. You can use them however you like.
• A metal poker.
• Leather gloves (can be used to pick up or reposition burning logs).
• The fan sitting on the stove top helps circulate warm air. It is powered by heat - it should come on as the stove starts to warm up. Tell kids not to touch it. If you don't want it there, just take it off and put it in back of the stove before lighting your fire.
• A pot for "smell good" (see below).

Operating the Stove:

• Before you start, push the air flow lever all the way to the right (fully open). See red arrow. Further right - more air - faster and hotter fire. Further left - less air - slower and cooler fire.
• Build and light your kindling
• Close the door completely (push down hard on the handle)
• Add logs as needed
• After stove heats up and is burning well, you can "slow down" the fire by moving the air flow lever to the left a little at a time. (It's very hot - knock it with the poker.)

Where things are (other than around the stove):

• Wood: The wood pile and chopping block are out behind the chicken coop. The "red" distance marked with a 16 in the pic is roughly the length of a log or piece of kindling that will safely fit into the stove door side-to-side. The "blue" distance marked in the pic is roughly the depth of the stove - used if you're cutting kindling pieces to place front-to-back in the stove.
• Axe and Chainsaw: There are 2 axes and a battery powered chainsaw in the garage, as well as a charger for the chainsaw batteries.
• Fire Starters: There are more fire starters and fatwood kindling in the hot tub house in a box labeled "Fire Starting Supplies".
• Door Glass Cleaner: There is a spray bottle of Ruttland Glass and Hearth Cleaner above the toilet in the kitchen bathroom used to clean the inside of the stove door. Works well with paper towels.
• Ash Bucket and Shovel: When you start getting too much ash in the woodstove , the metal ash bucket and shovel are right outside the back door to the right on the deck.


• Kidsafe Kindling Maker: There's a kid-safe kindling maker in the garage (I think) with it's little sledge hammer. It's kid safe in the sense that there's no sharp things flying around. There's Myles making some kindling. You can take it outside to use if you want.
  
• Smell Good: I like to put an old pot on top of the wood stove to a) smell good and b) humidify the air. It's usually on top of the stove or (if not being used) behind the stove. Fill it with water and whatever else you want ... cinnamon sticks, cloves, orange peels, etc. I usually use a pinch of the mulling spices stored in the food pantry.
  

Fire Building For Beginners

• Push the air flow lever all the way to the right. This will give your fire lots of air.
  
• Open the woodstove glass door by lifting the handle (hard) and swinging the door open. If the inside of the glass is dirty, give it a quick clean with the woodstove glass cleaner (which is stored in the cleaning supplies cabinet above the toilet in the kitchen bathroom).
  
• Spread out the remains of the previous fire with the metal poker.
  
• There are two boxes of kindling by the wood stove. One is labeled "stove width", and the other is labeled "stove depth". Lay a "stove width" kindling stick towards the back of the stove. Put a chunk of wax fire starter just in front of the kindling stick. Lay a "fatwood" stick just in front of the wax fire starter. Now light the wax fire starter - it will burn very slowly like a candle.
  
• Lay another "stove width" kindling stick in front of the fatwood stick. Your fire should now look like this:
  
• Now lay four "stove depth" kindling sticks on your two "stove width" kindling sticks. The outer two should be near the ends of the lower sticks, and the inner two should be just on either side of the small flame. Your fire should now look like this:
  
• Lay two more "stove width" kindling sticks across the four "stove depth" kindling sticks. Put them a little closer together than the bottom two "stove width" kindling sticks. Your fire should now look like this:
  
• Finally, lay three "stove depth" kindling sticks fairly close together centered on your top two "stove width" kindling sticks. Your fire should now look like this:
  
• Now close the door and push the handle down hard to feel it "lock". The fire will slowly spread and in 5 or 10 minutes should look something like this:
  
• Eventually the kindling starts to collapse.
  
• With metal poker in hand you can open the door, add a larger log on top of the coals, and shut the door again. And repeat as desired. Logs Added.
  
• Enjoy