The cold nights are here, and the last thing anybody wants is a home that provides no warmth. Therefore, heating your home however you can is essential, and we have a range of tasks you should perform before starting a fire for safety and comfort. Let’s look at how you can ensure your home is prepared before assembling a fire.
Table of Contents
Have Enough Storage Space
Buying enough solid fuel is excellent, but do you have a place to store it? You need somewhere to store your wood or coal, but it has to be suitable. For example, to ensure that no moisture creeps back into your kiln-dried logs, you should keep them in an airy but sheltered space, like a garden shed. It’s not a good idea to store the logs next to your fireplace or anywhere with soft furnishings because, unfortunately, bugs may still linger within the wood, and you don’t want to introduce them to your home. Coal is slightly easier to store at home but the bag
Are Your Smoke Alarms and Carbon Monoxide Detectors Working?
Home safety is vital when starting a fire, so you must ensure your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide monitors work beforehand. Any indoor fire requires a working smoke detector and carbon monoxide monitor for the safety of those inside. If you have a wood burner, multi-fuel stove, or a fireplace, and they are working correctly, they should effectively extract most of the smoke from your home.
Cleanliness is Key
Every time you use a fire appliance, it should be cleaned out afterwards because the remnants of the previous fire will take up space where oxygen could flow and lead to a less efficient fire. The more the ash and soot pile up in your fireplace, wood burner, or multi-fuel stove, the harder it will be to clean eventually, and your fire’s performance will likely worsen. Let the combustion chamber cool down after every use, then thoroughly scrub the area with a high-quality cleaning product, ensuring you protect the flooring in your home.
Stock Up on Fuel
Which fuel is best for you? This depends on the type of appliance you have at home. If you have a wood-burning appliance, you should never use any form of coal because the stove wasn’t designed to reach the temperatures that coal can reach. Multi-fuel stoves and fireplaces are more versatile, facilitating wood, coal, and Heat Logs.
If you want to choose coal, we suggest smokeless coal for increased heat, extended performance, and less smoke emitting from the flames. Otherwise, kiln-dried wood has less than 20% moisture for an effective flame and beautiful aromas. Comparatively, smokeless coal will generate better heat for longer than kiln-dried wood, but many love seeing a natural wood fire in their home in wintertime.
