How to Make the Perfect Cozy Fire

1. Check the damper, prime the flue
You’ll want to clean your chimney at least once a year. If this is not your first fire of the season, hopefully you have completed this important safety step. Check that the fireplace damper is fully open and that the flue is primed. To avoid smoke pouring into your home, ignite a roll of newspaper and hold it up the damper for a few minutes to warm it up.

2. Crack a Window
Perhaps counter-intuitive, fires require oxygen to burn. This air comes from inside the living area and must somehow be replaced. Most modern energy-efficient homes have excellent insulation and weather-stripped to keep out the cold drafts. When building a fire, you actually want somewhere for the air leaving through the chimney to get back in, so crack open a window especially as you initially get the fire roaring.

3. Choose the Right Wood
Choose dense wood such as oak. Wood should be split and stored in a high and dry place for at least six months. Freshly cut logs have more moisture, will be a bit denser and won’t burn as well.

4. Arrange the Logs
How to arrange the logs remains a hot button issue. Some people go with the traditional triangle or teepee approach while others swear by a “Lincoln log” stack. Still others claim the upside-down method for arranging logs is the best way. You don’t have to get crazy with the engineering as long as you have the three fire essentials of fuel, heat and oxygen.

If you’re looking to build a clean-burning fire that lasts for hours, try using the “upside down” fire method. Unlike traditional techniques that require you to put smaller kindling at the bottom and larger fuel logs on the top, the upside down fire lay reverses this order. Start by placing large logs on the bottom with smaller logs on top. Next, add a kindling layer of small twigs on top of this stack and top it all off with bunched up (non-glossy) newspaper balls. Ignite the fire from the top. Because smoke won’t have to pass through the cold logs, the fire will burn cleaner.

5. Stick Around to enjoy it
A fireplace is an ancient and often very mesmerizing source of heat and joy. Responsible wood burners stay close, making sure smoke and flames stay in the fireplace. This shouldn’t be considered a chore, however, more like a relaxing indulgence – especially if you while away the time with loved ones, board games, a good book and your favorite glass of wine.

If you follow these five easy steps, you’ll be roasting chestnuts or marshmallows in no time. Please share an image of your cozy fire or anything else you #injoy this Cabernet Season.