The fire: an essential during the winter in the vast majority of our homes. It gives us warmth, hypnotizes us and relaxes us… It can create a romantic atmosphere if we want it or an atmosphere of endless conversations next to the fire with family and friends. It nourishes our soul and gives us life, and that is why today we want to offer you some advice and indispensable recommendations to be able to light the fire without stressing! Sometimes it's hard to light it and keep the fire alive, but following these tips it will be much easier:
1. The firewood

Choose a good quality. The one that is hard burns better, makes less smoke, more flame and the fireplace gets less dirty. Holm oak and oak are the best. They are the ones we use in our homes. It is also important that the firewood is dry and that it is from the previous season, that is firwood cutted the year before as it would have lost a lot of its internal humidity. If it is from the same year it will cost you a lot to light the fire or maybe you will not get it. If you have time and wish to relax for a while, it is almost essential to go to look for small twigs and pine cone to make a stack to put the thick wood on the top.
2. Firewood maintenance

To avoid fire risks with soot, you have to do a good maintenance of your fireplace. In addition, this way you favor a good air intake (so that the smoke duct is clean to facilitate that the smoke leaves easily). If you use it intensively every day it is advisable to do an annual cleaning. If you use it occasionally for the weekends you can clean it once every three or five years. Of course, the ideal is to make a professional chimney sweep. If you look a little, there are professionals not too expensive. It is also important that there are no flammable objects nearby so as not to risk your safety and that there is no ash from previous ignitions so that the oxygen circulates easily.
3. The placement of the firewood

The placement of firewood in the right way is important, since it will make the ignition much easier and faster. If you could go to look for twigs and pine cones, you can make a cushion at the base and then place three logs of firewood on the top of it forming a cabin (like a teepee). Another option is to put a trunk horizontally at the end and two trunks on the top, in the space that is under the two trunks, place the small twigs. If on the other hand you do not have twigs, you can directly place two parallel trunks with a space in the middle and then make cabin with three trunks more on top. In any case the most important thing is that in the middle of the trunks there is space so that the first flame does not drown and for a good air circulation.
4. Burning

We, once we have the cabin made with the trunks, we put in the middle a big ignition tablet. If we have put the twigs we can put it in the middle. We turn it on, we open the air intake to the maximum and, if necessary, we leave the door of the chimney a little open (if there is one) or we open the drawer a little so that the maximum amount of air circulates. If the fire doesnt keep alive, you can use a tool to winnow, or a hair dryer is also very useful.
When the fire is already lit and the flame is alive, you can take advantage to put a fat trunk on the top, this will keep the fire lighted for a long time, and you just have to be attentive to enjoy and relax with the heat that the fireplace will give you well lighted!