Didn't know where to put this, a fire...

[spottedbike]

I have a working fire place. I back onto a woods and have part of that woods within my boundary too.
How can I learn how on earth I make the fireplace work. If I Google it I'm just so scared I'm going to muck up, also I have no idea how I get wood, does it have to be dried first and any particular type of can I hack down a tree and go for it.

I am feeling particularly stupid about it all and don't know who to ask that can help but I know we won't be able to afford heating bills this year and our salaries have not gone up just dreading it.

You can gather any fallen wood in your own quarter acre and that may well be enough to get you started. Bigger logs keep you warmer than small bits but anything is better than nothing and small ones take a lot less time to dry out.

Go in the woods and collect all the wood on the floor , there will be lots of dead/dry bits lying around and it will be ok to burn this winter.I love how people say you cant take it because it belongs to someone. Around have the council and forestry people cut any trees they take down into smaller lengths so people will take them, saves them more work in removing them. Skips and people having building work done are also good sources of wood. One year I had a roof off a neighbours house as they where having a loft conversion. 70 year old pitch pine , the house was toasty all winter.

if you cut freshly cut down trees ( green ) into smaller pieces ,it will dry faster. But as said above a year is a good amount of time to let it dry (season).

@spottedbike We have used open fires for most of my life, so I hope the following helps!

If the chimney has been swept and smoke tested this year, which from previous posts it has, then it's fine to use.

I am assuming it is a smallish opening with a grate (metal rack thing) and ash pan underneath. See picture although the surround will be different.

You will need a fire guard that has fine mesh to stop sparks.

To light the fires crumple up sheets of paper (glossy paper isn't as good) and make a wigwam of thin dry sticks or twigs over it. As the sticks start to burn , add a few bit thicker ones, then a few more until it's burning well. Keep an eye on the fire as wood fires can use wood surprisingly quickly!

What wood to burn: It needs to be dry. Freshly cut "green" wood can take several years to dry out (season). Dead branches picked up off the floor are fine, gather them up and store them under cover. You can't just cut or take wood from anywhere- it all belongs to someone!
Other good sources of fuel: check out local wood yards/ joinery places, they often sell bags of off cuts at a reasonable price. Old pallets burn well too. Keep an eye on Facebook marketplace for people getting rid of old wood. You will need a saw and a small ax for chopping it up.
Coal burns hotter, start the fire in the same way, but add lumps of coal a few at a time. But check the rules on smokeless fuel in your area.

Empty the ash pan when it is full (don't hover it as there might still be hot bits!) and make sure you have a carbon monoxide detector and check it regularly.

Good luck!

Forgot pic!

Diyextension - I love how people say you cant take it because it belongs to someone. Around have the council and forestry people cut any trees they take down into smaller lengths so people will take them, saves them more work in removing them.

In our local wood there are signs saying you will be prosecuted for removing any wood. Council owned. Obviously dependent on the council.

@overitall1 they definitely leave nice logs around in our woods backing into our house that makes complete sense! There are no signs saying don't take it.

@averylongtimeago very nice. Mine is not that pretty!

It absolutely will heat your house but you may need coal as well as wood.
Years ago we rented a cottage from a farmer. The only heat source was an open fire. Because the place was so small that fire heated the living room and bedroom above as well as the hot water.

Chimney swept in June - fine to light it.
Big shed - perfect for storing wood.
If you look on local FB for seasoned logs you should pay around £60 for a massive bag.
Check your local coal merchant who will deliver.

As others have said wood needs a year or so to "season" which means dry out the sap. So any you "find" can't be burnt yet or you risk a chimney fire.
How to light a fire
Crumple up some paper first.
Pile a few dry sticks or twigs on top. Use a firelighter until you are expert. Light that then put small logs on bit by bit and a little coal.
There is usually a lever at the bottom of the grate to allow more or less draught. You need more to start with and less once it's burning.
Find out if the fire has a back boiler as it will heat water as well

You can also try heat logs - something like these
www.homefire.co.uk/heat-logs.html
You can buy them all over the place. Some last longer than others and they burn very strongly.

I’m not sure that you should expect people to put signs saying “ don’t steal this” on their property. We fell trees and leave the wood to season. I’d be mightily pissed off if people stole it. Sometimes we leave it in situ because it’s good for biodiversity. In no instances do we leave logs stacked somewhere so that people can nick it.

I’m actually now going to walk the dog up to the road later to check whether people have been taking our wood. It hadn’t even occurred to me that people would assume they could help themselves!

We heat our sitting room with an open fire and don't use the central heating, but we burn coal. We don't get enough heat from wood.

If there's any holly trees about, root about underneath for old dry holly leaves, these make smashing tinder to light the fire with as they burn well and will light the fire easily.

They are loads of felled trees around were I live , the last storms we had blew so many down. I’ve been picking wood up ( free ) for 20 years and nobody has ever said a word. It gets left because it cost so much to pay people to remove it , which makes it basically worthless. Logs are heavy and hard work to move so anyone who is up to the task is welcome to them. They don’t stack them at the side of the road neatly for you , you have to put in the hard work if you want them .
@Lemonblossom

logs = money/ heat. I’m not sure why you would leave yours lying about in this day and age , It’s just like leaving money on the ground ?

Good tip.
Also real Christmas trees in January.
You'll never have one in the house again once you have seen what cracking firelighters they make.

@Lemonblossom

logs = money/ heat. I’m not sure why you would leave yours lying about in this day and age , It’s just like leaving money on the ground ?

My ground!!! I should be able to leave my property on my ground without people thinking they can take it just because it’s wooded and they want it!

Unfortunately that’s not the case nowdays……….. with the price of energy going the way it is you need to get them close to home 👍

Realistically you probably need to order a load of wood for this winter as you won't have time to season it.

You could buy a damp metre to check fallen stock on your own ground

Of course I won't steal anything, the woods is council owned. I might ask one of the men who come to cut the trees in there (seems they do it all the time)!! It's a boring woods where no one really goes into the back of my house as the path is very overgrown but they do have piles of perfectly neat length logs left there.

If its swept every year its prob fine to use, you'll soon know if its not as the smoke will back fill into the house.

Wood generally needs a minimum of 12 months to dry out before you use it depending on what type of wood it is. You need a moisture probe that tells you if it's dry enough to use.

If you need wood delivered just Google, there will be someone in your area that does it. When we first moved in we paid £120 for a trailer load and lasted us the winter. Since then we've taken down some fairly large trees in our garden and now have a good 3yr supply.

If the fire is efficient it will be great in winter. Our one when we first moved in was large and we thought great.... Then the chimney sweep told us that the kind we had were crap so we installed a new one and the heat it kicks out is so much better.

You need to stack logs and sticks under cover in a wood pile with some sort of roof over it, so they can dry out. Apple wood is good for open fires.

And don't burn anything like old fence panels or decking, the fumes from the wood preserver can be horrible, especially creosote which is toxic. A neighbour of ours does this sometimes and it absolutely stinks to high heaven.

You can either use the logs to keep you and your family warm this winter or you can leave them in the woods to rot away ! The same amount of c02 will be released, it’s just burning them does it quicker.

just think of it as getting something back from the council for all the council tax you pay 😀

Can guarantee they will be lifted for further if they are neatly stacked lol

Technically you need a scavenging license to lift wood outside your property but if Noone goes there I would def take a wheelbarrow and pick up whatever you can find (but not the pretty stacks) you will need a load of smaller wood, sticks are great to use as kindling to get the fire started before chucking logs on it.

Also Google coal, we rotate between wood and coal when we have it.

Is it a stove ie a fire with doors or a completely open fire?

Oh god yes, as with a PP, don't burn anything with paint or varnish I. E. Old skirting boards etc.....

I wonder if it's worth you trying out these fire logs (Poundland sell them too) As long as no one pokes at it it'll burn for a couple of hours and you can see how warm your room feels before investing in tools/ a load of wood or coal etc.

Chopping down trees to use for firewood is not something to be done by amateurs with no experience.
We have a wooded garden and use a chain saw, grappling ropes and full body protection to cut down or seriously prune our own small trees that have outgrown the space. Anything with a trunk large enough to provide wood to burn over a winter, we would leave to an expert tree feller.
It’s a dangerous activity, please don’t attempt it yourself.