Woodburner

[FriendofDorothy]

I am after some advice.

We have just moved into our house and have a woodburner. We are having trouble getting it hot and keeping it alight.

Does anyone have any useful hints or am I forever going to regret not installing a multi-fuel burner?!

Is the wood you're using dry enough? You need to be sure it's been seasoned (dried) for at least a year before burning - this should help a lot with burn efficiency.

Does it have a damper (it's a knob at the bottom of ours below the door)? If so check that it's fully open by pulling it towards you.

Does the ash tray need emptying?

Could there be a blockage in the chimney? Do you have any idea when it was last swept? They are supposed to be swept every year.

Is the wood you're burning properly seasoned? We had trouble with variable loads of wood and have switched to bricks made from sawdust and now have reliable easy fires that give out loads of heat.

We use a piece of firestarter and some kindling to get the fire started then add a smallish log, once that's going we add more/bigger pieces and it just goes from there. Wood and kindling have to be nice and dry, seasoned over the previous year as daimbardiva says.
www.zipfires.com/ca/winter-warmth/zip-natural-firestarters/