Posted on 12/27/2006 4:12:16 PM PST by AnalogReigns
Ever wondered how to make a real wood fire in your fireplace, with beautiful tall flames, which draws nicely, and warms the room up too? Do the fires which you have made not look like those in the movies, photographs or in cozy paintings and such?
It's an easy task with this method I learned in a book written by a man who grew up in early 19th Century Loudoun County, Virginia. Joseph Janney, in his 90s in the 1890s wrote a little text for his children and grandchildren to read about his life as a child in frontier America. One of the things he detailed is exactly how they built wood fires in their shallow fireplaces--which kept them warm all winter--their only source of heat.
It's very simple and requires a minimum of fuss. First you need something to support the wood--NOT modern cast iron "coal grate" log holders, nor the worse iron grates which cause the logs to roll together....these just don't work well making a lasting fire. Old fashioned "andirons" (those things with tall posts, sometimes brass, in front and flat rails a few inches off the fireplace floor extending to the back) or even a couple of bricks will work fine. I repeat, get rid of the typical home's fireplace grate--great fires cannot be made using them.
Next it's best to have a layer of ash on the floor of the fireplace and inch or so thick...acts as an insulator, and is called an ash-bed.
Be sure (of course!) to make sure your flu is OPEN!!! Also that your fireplace and chimney are clean and in good shape. (writer bears no responsibility for smoky or dangerous fireplaces!)
Then you need 3 sizes of logs. A large diameter (8" + depending on the size of your fireplace) should be placed horizontally in the back, leaning, if it has to, against the back wall of the fireplace. This is your backlog, and protects the brick back there, as well as projecting the heat forward. It will burn from its frontside back. I have also used 2 medium sized logs stacked for the same effect.
Next you need a medium sized log (4" to 6" diameter) up in front, up against the vertical log holder of your andirons. In between the backlog and the front-log you should have an area of 6" to 10" or so. This is why standard grates typically won't work...as these logs will roll together, something you do not want. Traditional andirons work perfectly (even though they are hard to find these days).
Finally you need small kindling sticks in the middle. The easiest way to make these usually, (if you don't have sticks available) is to simply split some of your other logs into smaller pieces and inch or so in diameter. Place a loose handful of these in that area between the back-log and the front-log. Of course pieces of pine or other softwood are ideal for kindling, as they burn fast...but be careful, as pine-pitch can also throw lots of sparks.
Then you use crumpled newspaper, or whatever fire-starter you like to light up under the middle kindling pieces. These should be roaring in no time after lighting the paper...and after 15 minutes or so you can place normal sized logs (like the front-log) in the middle...and your fire is buring from the middle on out. You keep adding wood to the middle of the fire--keeping the backlog and front-log where they are.
Such a fire made this way will kick out plenty of reflective heat (the main way a fireplace heats) and if the backlog is big enough, can keep burning all night and more. The front-log will burn from its back forward, protecting you from sparks flying out from the center burn area...and the back-log will burn from its front back, keeping the hottest part of the fire from cracking bricks in the back of the fireplace.
Such a fire makes for the perfect beautiful winter fireplace, adding grace and beauty to the season. This method is how our great-great-great-great-grandparents heated their homes.
A classic fireplace fire, burning from the inside out, showing the andirons and the front-log and backlog.
Wonder if anyone in 2016 will read this.....
I have gas pipes in my fireplaces.
Throw some wood on, fire up the gas for 5-10 minutes and you are good to go.
I know it’s cheating, but the older I get, the lazier I am.
Had to light a fire tonight...still cold out there.
I had a bonfire Friday night. It was LOVELY! Hit 80, today. Short-lived, but I’ll take it! :)
Well, folks, It still works, after 10 and 200 years!!!
If a fireplace is built wrong, then of course that is a problem. I actually have the book in your photograph, about Count Rumford’s ideal fireplace design. Most 20th & 21st Century fireplaces vary from Rumford’s design, but do so conservatively—that is their draw is still fine, but they just don’t reflect the heat in the room as well as a true Rumford will.
For example, a typical modern fireplace is at least as deep as half it’s width, if not deeper. Rumford’s design allows a shallower fireplace 1/3 as deep as it is wide. Building codes with built in smoke-shelves do make a fireplace draw (assuming the chimney is tall enough above the roof) OK, but the fire just won’t add as much heat into the room as a true Rumford design will.
Most important, is to get a good draw going before the fire itself is lit. I do that by newspaper stuffed up the flue, beyond the fire-shelf. Light it....let it flare up for a minute or so, and only then light down below. Doing that, with an adequate fireplace, will ensure no smoke goes into the room.
If there are problems with a smoking fireplace—get the advice of a chimney sweep—they are specialists in keeping things safe, and smoke free.
Excellent. The book was written by Vrest Orton who founded the Vermont Country Store in Weston, VT. Several FReepers mentioned on the thread that they shop there.
Another of his books I treasure is the *Forgotten Art of building a Stone Wall*. I’m not positive, but they may be out of print [but still available online]
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