Building a fire in a wood stove

SailinAway · 03-25-2022, 08:33 PM

I've turned off the the furnace to avoid burning $5-a-gallon oil and am using the wood stove only. This has always stumped me about building a fire in a wood stove: My wood is about 14" long, but my stove is less than 14" deep. Thus I can't build a criss-cross "Boy Scout" fire to let air into the pile. I try to criss-cross the pieces diagonally, but usually they eventually collapse so that they're all lined up lengthwise with insufficient air between the pieces. Although I request shorter wood, wood sellers don't like to take the time to cut it short so a lot of pieces are 16". Any tips for building a fire when the wood is longer than the depth of the stove?

03-25-2022, 08:33 PM	#1
SailinAway Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 991 Thanks: 256 Thanked 280 Times in 169 Posts	Building a fire in a wood stove I've turned off the the furnace to avoid burning $5-a-gallon oil and am using the wood stove only. This has always stumped me about building a fire in a wood stove: My wood is about 14" long, but my stove is less than 14" deep. Thus I can't build a criss-cross "Boy Scout" fire to let air into the pile. I try to criss-cross the pieces diagonally, but usually they eventually collapse so that they're all lined up lengthwise with insufficient air between the pieces. Although I request shorter wood, wood sellers don't like to take the time to cut it short so a lot of pieces are 16". Any tips for building a fire when the wood is longer than the depth of the stove?

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