If your fire smokes when it is first lit, it could be because the flue is cold. Whether you’re burning wood in a fireplace or woodstove, smoke coming into the house creates dirty air and dust in your home. Also, keep a good supply of fire starters and kindling handy…it can be very aggravating attempting to start a fire without small, dry kindling. It's important that you put out fires in your fireplace properly to avoid a hazard. Light a match to the newspaper under the grate, and the fire starts quickly, heating the chimney flue so that wood smoke flows up the chimney. A fireplace fire operates differently than your typical campfire, so it makes sense that building one should require a few tweaks to your standard procedure. - PR. The puff of smoke from an airtight stove can be solved with air regulation. The most common source of smoke from a woodstove occurs when the door is opened to add wood. Use the Swiss or reverse lighting method. Place the burning paper on top of the kindling. and a lighter block, a warm air flow through the chimney is quickly developed. How can I get the fireplace fire burning without smoking the living room up? A top-down burn, sometimes called an upside-down fire, allows for a cleaner burn, and makes the best use of the fireplace, producing less smoke in the process. By starting the fire with pieces of wood of fast-burning wood types (poplar, pine, willow, alder, etc.) Because air circulates under and around the grate, kindling burns cleaner and faster, heating the cold air in the fireplace and chimney. Fire needs a “critical mass” in order to burn well. With indoor fires, it’s especially important to start with well-seasoned wood that won’t smoke you out of your living room. Fortunately, two effective fire extinguishers, water and baking soda, are easy to find at home. Before you light your fire in a cold fireplace… This makes it hard to light a fire and forces smoke … Just one log sitting in a stove will not ignite or burn. This should create a strong draft that will keep the smoke in the chimney and out of the house. Resources: All the materials Mark used to build the fire in his fireplace were found either around the house or in the backyard. A cold chimney allows outside air to force smoke back into the room. The vaporization of the hydrocarbons under high temperatures in the wood causes the smoke. A: PR – So you start a romantic evening with your lovely wife, a bottle of wine, a comfy blanket by the hearth and then you set the smoke alarm off while trying to start the fire and the kids wake up and blow the whole evening. Uncle George might have failed his merit badge in fire starting, so we’re here to help you with a tip to get your badge. 1.Ensure a fast, hot start to the fire. 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