How to Keep Wood Lit in a Fireplace Insert

If you own a fireplace insert and want to use it to heat your home, you may have discovered there are some tricks to getting a fire lit and keeping it lit. Obviously, if you cannot keep a fire lit in your fireplace insert, then you cannot keep your home warm. Look for reasons why you may not be able to keep a fire going in your fireplace insert. You need to check your wood, start a fire properly, make sure there is plenty of air and you need to make sure your insert is clean.

Things You'll Need

• Fire starters
• Kindling
• Wood

Instructions

1. Start a fire in your fireplace insert much like you would start a fire outdoors, only on a smaller scale. Build up a little tepee, starting with a fire starter and some kindling.

2. Allow the kindling to burn for just a minute or two and then add wood that is a little bit larger and then finally add your regular burning wood.

3. Vent your fireplace insert by leaving one of the doors open and closing the other one, if you have more than one door. Leave the door ajar about 4 inches, if you have only one door, to allow plenty of oxygen to enter the fireplace insert and help the fire to keep burning.

4. Close the doors of the fireplace insert once the fire is burning well. Make sure to open the vents on the insert doors to allow oxygen to continue getting to the fire; if you keep the vents completely closed, the fire will burn out.

5. Keep adding more wood to the fire every hour or so, depending on the size of your fireplace insert, the dryness of the wood and how open the vents are.

6. Take note of any time your fire seems to be dwindling or looking like it could burn out. Open one of the doors to the insert if this happens and allow it to get more oxygen or open the vents, if your particular style of doors has them, to let more oxygen get to the flames.

Tips & Warnings

• Use only seasoned wood in your fireplace insert. Wood that has not been seasoned and is not properly dried will not burn and will not put off as much heat. Dry wood burns hotter, allowing you to close the vents somewhat and burn the wood longer.

• Hardwoods are better to burn in your fireplace insert than softer woods. Hardwoods burn hotter and make less mess. Some woods, such as poplar, leave a lot of ash, and pine leaves a sticky creosote buildup on the walls of your insert.

• Another reason you may be having trouble keeping your fires lit is that there is too much ash in the bottom of your insert. Allow the fire to cool completely and then remove the ash, using the fireplace shovel and a metal bucket. Remember to set the bucket outside and pour a good dose of water over it to make sure there are no live coals that could cause a fire outside.

References

• Firepit and Grilling Guru: Fire Starting