How To Complete A Top-Down Burn

Lighting a fire in your fireplace can be a struggle if you have little experience building them. If you find yourself settled in for a cozy evening and want to enhance the atmosphere with a warm fire, then try out the top-down method for a long-lasting, low maintenance burn.

Picking Well-Seasoned Wood

Building a successful fire requires well-seasoned wood. Look out for the following things when picking out your fuel:

• Dark ends
• Split ends
• Lightweight
• Sounds hollow
• Shorter pieces

Purchasing well-seasoned wood is vital in creating an efficient fire. Fresh cut wood contains too much moisture. It uses up a lot of energy and causes your fire to smoke excessively! This means less heat for your home and more creosote build-up in your chimney. Creosote can trigger house fires and is not good for the health of your fireplace, as a whole. Ensure a strong burn by taking the time to find the best logs available. The extra effort will keep smoke away and will ensure your family and home stay as safe as possible.

Step By Step Instructions

There are countless benefits in building a top-down fire. The fire will never fall onto itself, less smoke is created, and re-fueling the fire isn’t necessary. All in all, it is a safer, more efficient, and highly convenient way to use your fireplace.

To build a successful top down fire, follow these steps.

• Step 1: Find you largest pieces of firewood that you can. Place these pieces on the floor of your fireplace, with the ends at the opening and the back. This will ensure better air flow through the wood pile, thus creating a more efficient burn.
• Step 2: Now, continue stacking! Pile more levels on your bottom row, making the pieces smaller and smaller as you go. You should end up with around 5 – 7 levels total and the pile should go no higher than half the height of your fireplace.
• Step 3: When you pile is built, you can add the kindling. Kindling consists of smaller twigs and branches that will easily ignite. Keep adding on smaller and smaller pieces. These are the items you will light first. You may also use crumpled up newspaper if you are looking for a very easy start to your fire.
• Step 4: Light your smallest pieces of kindling, and enjoy! Once your fire is lit, it should move down the wood pile with ease. All that is left for you to do is relax.

If your fireplace is in need of a tune-up, inspection, cleaning, repair, or more, please contact the certified experts at Lords Chimney. We can set you up with all of the appropriate tools, so your fireplace is ready to go for 2017. Start the year off right by investing in us today!