Issues getting a roaring fire (wood fireplace)

[SmokeyBandit]

Hello,
Sorry if this isn't the best-explained post here but hoping to get some help nonetheless.

I have a wood burning fireplace in a home we bought a few years ago. When I try to start a fire, it seems to take forever to get to the point where I don't have to fiddle with it to keep it going. I'll throw some paper in there under a few logs with some kindling, it will catch but burn every slowly. I'll move the logs around to try to get better airflow, I have a battery-powered billow fan thing I'll use to try and really get them going but it seems like it takes an hour for the fire to get up to temperature where I can just throw another log on and walk away.

It's not the wood because it's around 16% moisture content, I also have brought the wood from the same cord we got up to our cabin home in the Poconos and the fireplace up there seems to just blaze like crazy. I can put 5 logs into that fireplace with a piece of newspaper and 5 minutes later it'll be a roaring fire .

For some reason, however, the fireplace at my home just seems to take forever to get going with the same wood. I'm not getting any smoke in the house so I'd have to imagine the airflow up the flue is good enough. The only thing I can think of is maybe the grate is not very well designed? Is that a thing? Here are a few pictures of the grate, it's hard to tell but it sits about 6" or so off of the bottom of the fireplace. Maybe that's too high up to reflect heat back into the fire to get it up to a decent temp?

Thanks in advance for the advice and sorry for the poor explanation

 

[EatenByLimestone]

How are you measuring the moisture content of the wood? How tall is your chimney? When was it, and the cap last cleaned?

 

[SmokeyBandit]

How are you measuring the moisture content of the wood? How tall is your chimney? When was it, and the cap last cleaned?

Thanks for the reply. I have moisture probe from Amazon. Chimney was cleaned 2 years ago but I don't have fires often, probably only 10 fires a season. Cap is brand new, was replaced 2 years ago with the cleaning.

 

[Rickb]

In order to measure moisture content, you must Let the split come to roomish temperature, re-split the wood, then Insert the pins pushing moderately with the pins inline with the grain.

If you just tested the outside of the split your not really testing it.

 

[SmokeyBandit]

I've used the same wood in another fireplace and it burns extremely well. It's been seasoning for over 2 years now. I don't think it's the wood but I'll test it again.

 

[gthomas785]

Show a pic of how you build the fire. It definitely can be the grate or the fact that you have no ashes built up underneath. The bricks will suck a lot of heat out of the fire initially.

 

[SmokeyBandit]

Ok it is supposed to be cold tomorrow so I'll post a picture

 

[moresnow]

Measurement from the fireplace floor up to the cap?

What size chimney liner?

 

[SmokeyBandit]

Measurement from the fireplace floor up to the cap?

What size chimney liner?

The floor to the chimney cap? It's probably about 25'. As for the liner, I think its 6"

 

[kborndale]

A 6" liner is too small for an open fireplace.

 

[SmokeyBandit]

I'm not actually sure what size the liner is...not sure how to measure that

 

[bholler]

I'm not actually sure what size the liner is...not sure how to measure that

We are going to need more specific info if you want us to help

 

[SmokeyBandit]

We are going to need more specific info if you want us to help

Terra Cotta liner. 8"x12"

 

[bholler]

Terra Cotta liner. 8"x12"

Ok and the fireplace opening?

 

[SmokeyBandit]

Ok and the fireplace opening?

28" wide x 36" tall x 32" deep

 

[bholler]

28" wide x 36" tall x 32" deep

Your liner is way to small for that opening. You could try raising the floor or a smoke shield

 

[SmokeyBandit]

Your liner is way to small for that opening. You could try raising the floor or a smoke shield

Maybe but I don't have $20,000 to build a new one.

Is that pertinent to the issue at hand? Once the fire gets going it burns fine and there is no issue with smoke in the room. It just takes an hour to get rolling for some reason.

 

[bholler]

Maybe but I don't have $20,000 to build a new one.

Is that pertinent to the issue at hand? Once the fire gets going it burns fine and there is no issue with smoke in the room. It just takes an hour to get rolling for some reason.

Im not there so I can only say so much. But the numbers are pretty far off so it's not helping you any. Like I said maybe reducing the opening size would help. It's worth a try. Or the fireplace may just be poorly designed and not very functional. Another thing to try would be to cut up a couple 2x4s to see if it's the wood

 

[SmokeyBandit]

Im not there so I can only say so much. But the numbers are pretty far off so it's not helping you any. Like I said maybe reducing the opening size would help. It's worth a try. Or the fireplace may just be poorly designed and not very functional. Another thing to try would be to cut up a couple 2x4s to see if it's the wood

I'll try that, I guess making the firebox smaller would be alot cheaper than redoing the chimney

 

[bholler]

I'll try that, I guess making the firebox smaller would be alot cheaper than redoing the chimney

Testing it is as cheap as buying a roll of foil tape and running a few strips across the top of the opening to close it down. The proportions of your fireplace are very odd and not typical of any design I know of. So I have to question the knowledge of the mason who built it.

Try the 2x4s though. That's another cheap test

 

[gruesome]

Re: 2x4's: You might actually be able to buy untreated lumberyard cutoffs for firewood by the pallet. Those are usually very dry, unless they have been stored outdoors and it rained on them. Also quite cheap, at least in my neck of the woods. Maybe super dry wood is the way to go with this fireplace. Or start it with the lumber cutoffs, and then feed it your normal firewood once you have a roaring fire going.

 

[30WCF]

If the billow fan helps, but then the fire slows down after you stop, you probably have wet wood or bad draft. Try as others have suggested , then try cracking the closest window, but you have to do one at a time to see which one makes a difference.

 

[BillBurns]

This may not be the best guess, but maybe the flue isnt warmed up before the fire? My stove is a little like yours sometimes, but only 30 mins to a good fire. If its cold out, I use a small space heater at the opening, run it like 5 mins, good to go. Great draft. I would still check the wood.

 

[mikey]

There is a option that may work for you, I have three fireplaces one very small one 14” wide with a traditional grate, and two medium size 32”wide 29”tall 16” deep, one of them has a small wood stove in it and the other is open hearth. I put a great wall of fire grate with a fireback in it, not only does it throw more heat and not smoke but it self feeds and uses less wood. If you follow the lighting instructions it’s pretty much foolproof I also put two thin splints vertically against the fireback to increase the airflow when starting. They are a little bit costly but well worth the money, the have a good website take a look.

 

[FireplaceTreatments]

28" wide x 36" tall x 32" deep is very unusual. Are you sure it's not 36"W x 28" H? That would be more normal.

It seems that bholler's suggestion for testing making the opening height smaller was overlooked. If in fact the opening is 36" tall, you should try reducing by at least 8" or 10" using his method. Also, the 6" tall grate is probably too tall and a contributing factor. I would suggest 3" to 4" from the floor to the bottom of the grate. You could just put a few bricks under and around the grate to test this.

If your test shows the fire starts better with the reduced opening height and grate, then I recommend adding glass doors to your fireplace that have a wide frame on the top and a damper control on the bottom. You can then start the fire with the doors closed and bottom damper open to get much better control. Once the fire gets going, you can open the doors. When you want the fire to die out, close the doors and close the damper. This will stop air from coming down the chimney and keep the warm air in the home during the night.

Here's an example of a fireplace with this sort of treatment: https://www.fireplacetreatments.com/mockups/fireplace-11164