How to Start a Coal Stove Fire

Starting fire in a coal stove is not as trivial as in a wood stove. Coal is much denser than wood, so it will take much hotter fire to ignite it initially (about 920°F or 500°C). Here is how you can start a coal stove fire:

Use a couple of sheets of paper, loosely crumbled and covered with dry kindling on the top. Have your kindling criss-crossed to let the air in. Have your draft control and the flue damper fully open – more air will help for coal burning. After everything is set, light the paper inside and close the loading door.

After a few minutes, when the fire builds up, start adding small pieces of hardwood. Still keep the draft control fully open to provide good air flow and establish hot fire.

When a decent bed of red wood coals is built up, start adding small amounts of coal. Do not put too much coal at one go, give enough time between loads to let the coal thoroughly ignite. Continue adding small loads of coal until you build a 1" to 2" (3-5 cm) bed of burning coal.

If you have a deep bed of burning coal, you can fully load your stove to the highest level possible. You can turn down the draft control to the proper operating level when all coal is ignited. By this time, you should have nice and hot fire in your stove.

Since now you know how to start a coal stove fire, you might be interesting in looking at some of the coal stoves that are selling now.

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