BAAAAHHHH!!! Help with fire please!!
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Topic: BAAAAHHHH!!! Help with fire please!!
Posted By: BaAsKa
Subject: BAAAAHHHH!!! Help with fire please!!
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 8:55am
I can never get the darn fire to go!!!!!! so i we always freeze when DH isnt here!!
Im not sure what im doing wrong!!?? I use fire lighters and kindling and dont smother it but still it goes out!! oh please help!!
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Replies:
Posted By: Red
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 8:59am
| What I usually do is twist up some bits of newspaper and lay them along the bottom of fireplace, then put a bit of kindling or something really light on the next layer and then somthing a little bit bigger on the top. Then light the paper, the idea is that the light stuff on the bottom will burn first and then should help the wood to catch. Or if it is not working douse it with Meths! |
Posted By: ginger
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 9:01am
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I make a little nest of kindling and place the firelighters strategically, wait for them to catch a bit on the kindling and then put a bit of wood against it and then when that catches, add another.
Making fire seems to be a good boy thing though, I do have to say. DH's fires are always better than mine! ------------- Cuinn Lachlan 23.1.09 - 22:00 Antonia Helene 4.8.11 - 09:41 |
Posted By: BaAsKa
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 9:11am
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I can get the fire to light and the wood burns but then goes out!!??? ...god im cabbage!!!
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Posted By: fattartsrock
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 9:13am
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You need to make sure there is plenty of air getting in. You need to make sure your paper is balled up tight so it dosen't burnout before kindling catches. You need to have small bits of wood to put on at first, do 't add them till the kindling has caught. Keep the air going in well till it is all well ablaze... if you have a woodburner, keep the handle in (I think? its in on mine, anyhow) if not, you may need to blow!!!! You need to make sure there is a small bed of ashes, when it is completelty empty, it can be harde to start! I am an expert firemaker!!! I will probably get a job stoking the firse in hell one day, lol. (hope not..) ------------- The Honest Un PC Parent of 2, usually stuck in the naughty corner! :P |
Posted By: fattartsrock
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 9:14am
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use heaps of kindling, then small small bits of wood till its well established. Seriously, though, the well scrunched paper is important and firelighters are a waste of $$ ------------- The Honest Un PC Parent of 2, usually stuck in the naughty corner! :P |
Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 9:34am
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its the opposite here. DH THINKS he is a good fire starter but it always goes out and when I come to see whats happened I find every available bit of space crammed with HUGE bits of wood. He does not seem to like kindling.
I scrunchup newspaper and then make a little teepee structure out of my kindling (sometimes I might put a bigger piece at the bottom at the back to lean things on) and then light. as the kindling catches and is really burning I slowly add a bigger piece making sure that the flames will engulf it and that there is still air around it...so not directly on the burning bit but balanced above it. then keep going like that as each bit gets going till you have a good fire,. |
Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 9:44am
| Use a hairdryer on a low setting to help the airflow |
Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 10:01am
or...you could put something over the hairdryer and put it on high! Instant fire 
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tishy wrote:Posted By: WRXnKids
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 10:19am
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what type of fire cos burners have a leaver you have to pull across to open up the chimney for good airflow then when its really roaring you can close it off so it burns slower. It took me awhile to get the hang of it at my first flat but after a while i could get the fire so hot if you turned off the light the chimney would glow red to half way. (I like to be really warm down here in cold invercargill) -------------   
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Posted By: emz
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 10:53am
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cheap firelighters from countdown are great. we get them free from DH's work though!
It also depends on your wood. You need a faster burning wood at the start of the fire (like pine) and then move to a macrocarpa or beech as it burns slower so saves you $$. Sometimes it also pays to open the door a fraction to let more air in. And for a good fire there should always be some ash in the bottom of the fire when you start it - but not too much! And also check that no water has run down the chimney and soaked it all, as the fire will spend most of it energy drying that out instead of warming you up. |
Posted By: AngieBabe
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 11:47am
I was going to chime in with my 2 cents but it's all been said already! 
I must admit though, when we had a fire it was me who started it, DH was hopeless!! Guess being a Girl Guide with all those campfires played a part  also was a bit of a pyro in my younger days, had a fascination with matches and it all - used to start my own little fires down the back of our section  - thankfully I never burnt anything down!------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">  
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Posted By: BaAsKa
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 1:28pm
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Our fire place has 2 handles on it and DH has explained what they are for but do you think i listened!?
We have 2 different types of wood and i can only seem to keep the pine burning! DH manages to keep it all burning im a shameful ex-pippin, browny, girlguide!...i spent too much time being mischeif! to actually listen about fires!
BUT Alas the fire IS going now all-be-it with the pine that DH told me to ONLY use to start it 
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Posted By: fattartsrock
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 2:03pm
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Often with the longer burning wood, you need to keep the air up a bit - the handle in still a bit, so the fire is turned "up" not down low if you get my drift... ------------- The Honest Un PC Parent of 2, usually stuck in the naughty corner! :P |
Posted By: BaAsKa
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 2:14pm
| theres 1 handle on the left that goes side to side and 1 long one on the right that goes in and out??? |
Posted By: MILF
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 3:29pm
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i would try and get some pinecones. they are awesome as kindling to start a fire with. then all you need is paper and pinecones. once the pinecones have caught on fire you put some bigger wood on it. if you cant work out the levers try leaving the door closed but not latched, and that will help air circulate. just make sure you close it when it is established. ------------- Lyla - mum to Xanthe -  my big 4 year old 
and Jordis - 1 year old 
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Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 3:35pm
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Is your wood really really dry? We had terrible fires a few years ago cos our wood was still a bit damp. ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 6:24pm
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Make sure the flue is open when you light it. I use heaps of paper and pinecones once they are going then put some kindling on it and then some wood. ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: emz
Date Posted: 09 May 2008 at 11:50pm
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Bark is also great, better than pinecones IMO.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the sideways lever is the flue (top thing!) and then in-out one is the air coming in from the plate at the bottom? Or maybe the other way around? I know that we've only got a sideways one and that's for our flue as our grate is set. |