Top-Down Fires for Heating

If you use a wood stove to keep your family warm in the winter – particularly if you have a small wood stove with a low ceiling – you may well have gotten used to waking up out of bed during the night to keep the fire going. It’s not as big a deal to wake up to a cold house once the children are older, but babies are less tolerant of extreme temperature changes which means, yes, another source of sleep deprivation for you.

A top-down – sometimes called front-back – fire is a new-ish (depending on who you ask) technique for building fires. The idea is to burn the fire from the top of the pile down to the bottom; rather than burning all of your wood at the same time, this method will burn a single log which will crumble away as the next starts to burn. With a large enough stove and proper home insulation, this can keep your house comfortably warm all night while you stay in bed.

The way I was shown to build fires goes something like this:

1. Place two large logs next to each other with space in the middle for newsprint
2. Crumple as much newsprint as will comfortably fit between the two logs
3. Lay 4-5 pieces of small wood strips across like a grill in order to catch the heat from the newsprint while at allowing for good airflow
4. Place 2-3 smaller logs on top of the whole apparatus to collect heat from the kindling as it warms up; again allowing lots of space all around for airflow so the fire won’t smother
5. Light the newsprint in a few places and watch the whole thing take off; as long as you’ve left a nice amount of room for air to flow around, you can’t miss. The fire will take off quickly
6. Watch everything fall into a smoldering mess – poke and position the embers and put more wood on top – fire will not die until all fuel is extinguished

I still use this method during the day because it keeps the house nice and hot. The only downside is it requires a lot of maintenance with a small wood stove such as mine, and will smoke badly if not given enough air so constant attention to the airflow and flue is needed. At night, I prefer to use the top-down method:

1. Start at the back of the stove and stack large logs in a tight cluster with as little space between as possible
2. Place 2-3 pieces of dry kindling/wood scraps on top
3. Take 3-4 pieces of newsprint, roll each tightly and tie in a knot, place on top of the kindling
4. Light the newsprint, close the door and walk away

The fire will burn steadily all night. I like to tie the newsprint as if I were tying a shoelace, because there is no kindling to hold it down and this technique will prevent it from blowing away or falling off the wood pile.

The most amazing part of top-down fires is the lack of smoke. Most people are accustomed to the idea of bottom-up fires because as the heat from the flame rises it warms up the larger wood and increases the temperature of the fire. The problem is the air around the wood is not heated as quickly, so when the wood catches it will smoke at first. Top-down flames are pure heat and do not smoke; they won’t leave as much creosote in your chimney and they burn the wood much more completely.

The best part about owning a wood stove is the sense of connectivity you experience with the heating in your home. It’s one thing to flip a switch and have a furnace come on; it’s quite another to gain some level of mastery over the ability to make fire for your own comfort. Everyone who burns wood ultimately figures out their own method for best results; with so many different approaches and models of stoves you can literally spend your whole life improving your technique.

The Family Holiday Photograph

As the year-end festivities start to kick into gear my wife and I find ourselves pondering the changes of the last twelve months, the growth of our loved ones, and the new year to come. Part of our tradition is the holiday photograph – that yearly snapshot of our ever-expanding immediate family. In our household photographs and videos are as much a part of the holidays as are turkeys and treats. I have scoured the net to bring together a list of tips for getting the most out of holiday photos.

Have a Good Camera
Obviously the average household is not going to have a professional camera setup on hand. However, there are huge variances between the quality of photographs produced by different camera models, even among similar price points. In the case of digital cameras, a 12 mega pixel camera does not guarantee a better photograph than a 6 mega pixel camera.

In our case we felt it was worth the extra money to get a decent digital SLR. After much research we chose the Nikon D40 and have been very pleased with the results. With an SLR, the photo you see in the viewfinder is exactly the final photo that will appear. The D40 is a little pricier than the more common fixed-lens digital cameras, but considering its construction and the fact you can swap lenses as your skills improved, this camera will be in the family for a long time. The auto-focus is quite solid – we have had this camera for a year now and have yet to take a bad picture.

Soft Light
The sun provides its softest (best) light early in the morning and in the evening. Your family will look their best if you are able to shoot during these times. If not, try to arrange for shade to prevent the harsh light of the sun from glaring off skin in the final photo. Of course if you are in the harsher northern climate this time of year, you may not be taking too many photos outside to begin with!

Talk to Each Other
Don’t have people say “Cheese” or count down – you’ll end up with photos of kids sticking out their tongues at the camera. Instead, keep everyone talking about upcoming activities, new toys, anything of interest. This will lighten the mood and give you a more relaxed photo as your family won’t be thinking of it as posing – they will be less intimidated by the camera and will look more natural.

Heads Together
Arrange it so your loved ones heads are close together. This will cause the final photo to appear warmer, your subjects will look happier. This is an easily overlooked yet simple way to get great family photographs on any occasion.

Clear Up the Background Clutter
Any object in the background will come out in the photo. We are used to perceiving the world around us in three dimensions, but photography is a two-dimensional art. If you don’t want your subject to look like they have a tree growing out of their head, make sure to place them in front of a neutral or solid background.

Wear Bright Colours
This is supposed to be a happy time! Have everyone wear bright, lively colours when taking photographs. This will add a great deal of visual interest to your picture and will make the subjects look more energetic and happy.

Take Lots of Shots
The great hockey player Wayne Gretzky said “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take“. This sentiment applies to photography as well. When you are at your family gathering, take as many photos as you can – don’t always wait for people to pose. The result will be candid, relaxed shots that more accurately portray the character of your family; these are the photos you will most cherish.

Many digital cameras have a “cool-off” period between photos while they save your picture to their internal memory or card. During this time, you cannot take another photo. My advice is to look for a camera that has a large cache memory. A child may only smile for a split second – if you are able to rapid-fire press the shutter button you will be able to capture that smile.

Have Fun
Many people are intimidated by cameras – they may feel they don’t look good in pictures or they may just not want to have their picture taken. Respect your family’s wishes in this regard, but do try have fun with it and encourage everyone to get involved and take part in the photography. The holidays don’t last forever and the time have together won’t come again. Enjoy the gathering and take photographs that can be shared and cherished for years to come.