How crazy is it that it has taken this stubborn mule decades to learn the best way to start a fire?
Having lit well over 3,000 saunas in my day, and probably that many more fires in fireplaces and fire pits and other pyrotechnics best left forgotten, I had been using a method to start a fire that was good enough, but now I use the “upside down fire” method and it feels like returning to Finland after 3 decades: bummed it’s taken me so long, but grateful to be doing it.
The upside down fire is totally the way to go.
What I used to do:
2 pieces of crumpled newspaper on the bottom, then a bunch of kindling on top, then 2-3 pieces of firewood on top of that. Light newspaper.
What I do now:
3-4 pieces of firewood on the bottom, then only 1 piece of crumpled newspaper, then just a small bunch of kindling on top of that. Light newspaper.
Is there a difference?
Huge difference.
- Flames ignite the kindling fast.
- The immediate fire creates a faster draw (air flow) up the chimney.
- The stove pipe heats up quicker.
- More air flow, fans the fire, igniting the wood faster, quicker.
- Coals from ignited kindling drop down and ignite the logs.
- All this action produces a fire faster and with MILES less smoke.
The upside down fire means way less smoke against the glass. I haven’t needed to clean the window in my sauna stove in a long time. Because the firebox heats quicker, with a kick ass stove like the Kuuma, gasification happens quicker. This means a faster fire, a hotter fire, and that much less wood needed because all the smoke is turning to gas that much quicker.
Sauna prep time is reduced 18%.
The upside down fire. Them are good.
19 thoughts on “The upside down fire: right side up thinking for firing up our sauna stoves”
Sounds like a great idea! I will try it.
Thanks Glenn!
Glenn, do you have an ashpan with a separate door underneath the firebox? I grew up with an Ashley wood stove to heat our house and that would seem to make this a bit easier.
I think it may also be a product of what is available. Similar to firewood, I use what is available or firestarting. All of the paper in my house is recycled to start he sauna stove, which is cheap and has no separate ash pan below. I just load it up with crinkled paper, some kindling and fire it up. Sometimes I need to stack it to increase the airflow through the stove, but it works just fine.
Good information though. Always like to see a more efficient way of doing things. Funny how you can do something one way or 30+ years and then learn that there is a easier way.
Whoa. Need to try this tomorrow during my traditional turkey just got put in the oven sauna!
Glenn,
You should start a forum. All of us sauna aficionados could discuss sauna builds, sauna routines, sauna benefits, anything sauna!
Hi Diloyd. The comment section is good for this kind of stuff, but i’m cool with whatever your thinking on the forum front. Please shoot me an email or lemme know what you’re thinking in terms of build out.
Since we’re talking, if there is a better idea than the upside down fire start, i’m sure up for knowing about it.
I am just amazed at how much better it works for starting my wood fired sauna stove.. I thought I had the smoke thing down to the first 10 minutes after ignition, now my neighbors are having trouble knowing when “it’s sauna time” as i’m getting basically no smoke at all.
It’s an example, potentially, for for other things in life as this older dog has learned a new trick.
Matthew: I know, right?
Ashpan with separate door: Absolutely, and it’s totally the way to go. Both my saunas have this stove, with ash pan below with separate door. The upside down fire has also reduced ash 38%,(less paper) and I have to empty the ash pan only one out of a dozen or so fires.
My stove:
https://www.saunatimes.com/product/kuuma-wood-burning-sauna-stove/
30+ years: Totally! The “upside down fire start” has rattled my brain. Now I find myself questioning everything. I mean, why do we pour beer into a glass instead of, say, pouring it into a glass made entirely out of ice? And why do we bother trying to remember to bring a bathing suit to a sauna in the public domain, when we can be wearing a combination boxer short AND swim trunk, and be ready for sauna, anytime? And working for the man, maybe that’s all upside down too, we work and work and then retire and what’s money at that point but a number on a computer screen? Everything is upside down. It’s crazy. Hey, Matthew, you aren’t a psychologist by chance are you? Are you taking new patients?
Hey Glenn,
The fire technique worked awesome. Can’t believe how simple it is. I’ve been doing it wrong my whole life.
My Sauna has been operational now for two weeks. Life is different now, better. Changed because I know I will never be without a sauna from now on.
Love the website
Dloyd… I know, right? Are you now, like me, questioning everything else in life? Like why do we put on our pants right leg first, anyway?
Top-lit, up draft stoves appeared on my perhiphery about 15 years ago, but didn’t click. Then 7 or 8 years ago, went to a seminar on backyard charcoal making with a stacked pair of 55gal drums, fire started tlud style, still didn’t click. Then we visited distant fam who live outback in Norway, and *CLICK*.
Next fall, i tentatively loaded my our soapstove stove upside down, and touched it off, and *wow*!
Exhaust temps come up fast, stack goes clear in about 15min, can engage the cat in 20-30min,
4x faster than the bottom up fires i’d been happily building all of my life.
Bottom up sends so much unburnt combustible woodgas up the stack, we’ve literally been wasting nearly half of the wood we use in the cold firebox burn.
I’ve tentatively explained this, almost apologetically to my wood burning neighbors, and they all think it’s nice that i would share, but clearly, i must be crazy. 🙂
I’ve been tending woodstoves over half a century, and I could kick myself for not figuring this out on my own decades ago. No, the ways we were taught are not necessarily the best. They often are, sure, but they are also often knotheaded too.
🙂
Oh,
PS:
Try putting your tinder on top of your kindling.
Same mechanism applies.
If heated from below, the outgassing goes out the flue unburnt. Combusted from above, as the kindling warms, it outgasses, and in turn is combusted, increasing heat and lowering waste. Kindling burns more efficiently, hence hotter.
Chipper: So well said! I’m right there with you. I too could kick myself for not figuring out the top down fire sooner. Yet, just as they make cars with windshields bigger than rear view mirrors, you and I get to enjoy the better way to start a fire for the rest of our travels.
PS.. on your suggestion, i tried logs, then kindling, then piece of crumpled newspaper on top, and by golly… it keeps getting better and better. The way the this is going, any easier and my cat is going to be firing up my sauna stove before too long.
Hehehehe,
Let’s go gentle on ourselves,
I still find that all those years of tending, tuning, and fiddling with woodstoves
still builds a foundation of grasp on fire that is hard to convey by explanation
The only way i have found to get a really good grasp on making heat with woodstoves
is to make heat with woodstoves. :).
Counterintuitive things I did this winter: built an upside-down fire,(this works great in the Kuuma stove); cut 2″ off the bottom of the sauna door (seemed to freshen the air). Thanks much for the tips!
Right on Joe!
During my trip to Finland, I was browbeaten many times about the importance of a “generous gap along hot room door.”
It’s amazing, every time I light it up, I marvel.
Kuuma + “Upside-down fire” = instant blaze.
Your idea works well with good quality dry wood. If your wood is not so dry, use the ‘old’ method.
Hey Glenn
I’ve been putting Douglas fir bark on top of two dry pieces of fir with some cedar kindling and I’ve been able to achieve 115 Celsius, which is way too hot. I usually like to have it around 90 to 100 Celsius. I’ve got an intake vent down low by the stove and an upper drying vent on the opposite wall really high up to the ceiling. Maybe I should put another vent underneath the benches between the upper and lower bench just to regulate the temperature?
I had same venting as you (down low by the stove, and upper drying vent). When I added a vent between the benches, it just drew more air into the hot room from this vent. I realize that the reason is that my hot room is pretty porous around the door frame. I validated the air leaks this with some Grateful Dead playing and incense trails, and boy does this tell a story!
I’ve been messing around with ventilation a lot the past few weeks. I’ve installed a 6kW electric right against my wood burning sauna stove. One thing i’ve learned is that wood burning is a get out of jail card for many venting ills or idiosyncrasies. (At least my wood burning stove is such).
So, in order to get the consistent lazy river flowing, my suggestion is to first see where air may be “escaping” from your hot room, with the steam vent shut. Then, try to seal that off best you can. THEN install the between the bench vent, opposite corner of the stove.
OR you can do the elephant trunk venting plan: purchase a $12 4″ aluminum 6′ flex vent and stick one end in your steam vent and other end (temporarily) over the front of bench and end between the benches and see if you can get that sucking. If yes, well, then you’re on your way.That’s where i’m at. And if we can get this rocking, then we build a corner chase to house this vent, and drill a hole in the corner of your top bench and do that. That’s my plan. Please type back here with what you end up doing!
Lighting a fire from the top (the top-down method) is better because it is more eco-friendly, efficient, and keeps your chimney cleaner.
Here is why it’s the preferred method:
Lower Emissions: When you light from the top, the gases released from the wood below must pass through the hot flames above. This causes the gases to burn away, significantly reducing smoke and fine particle emissions.
Cleaner Chimney and Glass: Because the combustion is more complete, there is far less soot and tar buildup in your flue and on the glass doors.
Better Draft: The heat from the top starts warming the chimney immediately, creating a quicker “pull” (draft) and preventing smoke from leaking into the room.
Steadier Burn: The fire moves downward gradually, resulting in a more controlled and even heat release.
How to do it:
Place the largest logs at the bottom.
Stack smaller pieces and kindling on top.
Place firestarters at the very top and light them there.