Top Down Wood Fires, the new normal?

I live in a totally wood-heated new cottage. I'm in a village with good neighbours and have adopted Top-Down fires as my 'new normal'. It still feels odd after a lifetime of traditional wood fires - but this new fire starting technique really works. As someone who lives with wood fires, I feel a responsibility to burn as cleanly and efficiently as possible. I want us wood-fire people to feel good when using this most ancient and environmentally positive heating fuel, and now we can!
Dry logs burn hotter and cleaner, this is becoming more important as attention on emissions grows - especially of smoke and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from wood and coal, open fires and stoves. This is not just important in smoke controlled areas - it is for all of us. Wood is a true renewable, one we should be proud to use - as long as it is harvested sustainably and burned efficiently. This wonderful and timeless heating fuel does not release fossilised carbon, nor create radio-active waste!

[GoldenTV]

You could make some serious money recording audio books with that voice

[DP-hyvh]

Tried this in my wood furnace today. It works.

[Wakkawakkaweng]

Vincent I could literally just listen to you talk forever. Would love to see different wood on fire and a commentary on them. Also.loved your BbC podcasts. Cheers

[davidpinnington]

Stumbled on this channel after discovering the top down lighting from last week from a US video - Gets our 6kw stove up and running in 5 mins to 350F and as I only have ash to hand by choosing my splits I’ll get 2-3 hours before reloading - after a week of doing this I am getting longer burns loading the stove and it’s saving maybe 2-3 log rounds per day - enjoying the videos in Early Nov 22 and still to get the gas central heating on !

[davidcoleman]

My Grandparents had a Rayburn exactly like yours, it was brilliant, seeing that brought back so many happy memories. Made really good Yorkshire puddings in there! ❤One day I want to end up with one.

[paulbaird]

Been using top down fires for ever. Never lets me down.

[EFTTappingwithHeatherAmbler]

Great video, filled with beauty and wisdom.

[skimdude]

Your "why" was very thoughtful, and you have a great outlook on life and cant wait to hear what else you think and look forward to your next videos! cheers!

[HartzHomestead]

Glad to hear your emphasis on doing what we can to burn wood as clean as possible. I have neighbors with terribly smoky chimneys, and they don't seem to know what I'm talking about. Unless one has a rocket mass heater or masonry stove, burning wood still produces the most particle pollution of any heat source. On the other hand, just keeping our property clean and safe I generate a lot of quality wood that would go to waste if I didn't heat the house with it.

[hisroyalblueness]

I too have a clear view vision 500, except that mine’s a high top which means that it puts a little bit more heat into the room (larger distribution area) but there’s nowhere to perch my coffee pot 😕damn it!
Anyhow, this begs a question because you’re a wood burning enthusiast but the clear view vision 500 is a multifuel stove with a grate for coal burning built in. Multi-fuel stoves can be very efficient but not as efficient in burning either fuel as a stove specifically designed for one or the other would be.
I’ve read that people who burn nothing except wood often fit a flat plate in the bottom of multi-fuel stoves to blank over the coal grate / shut off the route to the ash pan to convert them into true wood burners and make an efficiency gain. It’s a simple conversion that only requires a flat plate dropping on top of the grate, so quick, easy and cheap to do.
I noted from the way that you adjusted the air intake wheel that feeds air in through the grate for coal burning that you’ve left yours in its original ‘not as efficient for burning wood’ state with an active grate.
Could you help out a fellow clear view vision 500 owner by explaining why you’ve chosen to keep and use a coal grate rather than popping plate in for an easy efficiency gain?
Many thanks😊

[mark]

This was a great video. I didn't expect a firelighting video to have so much philosophy.

[ThemissouriTraveler]

Watched your video. This is the only way I'll start a fire now.

[runeoveras]

Hello from Norway. 😊
Great video, I must practice this.
I have been making my own wood for a few years, great “hobby”.
We mainly have Wood Willow, Spruce, Birch and Rowan Tree on my small Ranch.

[KP-sgfm]

Very relaxing, you should do more fireside conversations/discussions

[eugenekononets]

Great house, interesting video. Thanks!

[judyofthewoods]

It was only this year I tried the top-down fire and never looked back. My stove/chimney don't draw very well, and with the old method I had a hell of a job lighting the fire and there was a lot of smoke blowing back into the room. Then I had to coax it for ages. All that's gone now. It's more or less light, close door when ablaze, sit back and enjoy. A variation I just came across is the V or cradle fire. You lay the bottom layers as before, but then leave a gap in the centre for the top layer and place logs to the side. When using your method with varying wood types there would be conifer wood to the side and some under the gap. Put your kindling in the gap. I guess the advantage would be that the kindling fire is somewhat insulated and can burn hotter.
What I'd like to try next is to make an even more efficient stove taking the best aspects of the rocket mass heater, masonary and TLUD stove to burn all the smoke and keep most of the heat in the house.

[tjasah]

super video as always, would like to see more videos in the near future, as they are so relaxing
greetings from slovenija
cheers

[valeriewood]

Really grateful again for an informative video. Thank you for ratcheting it down just enough for the beginners. It’s our first wood burning winter and it will be quite the learning curve. Today I grabbed the wagon and collected sappy pine cones and birch bark. The wood shed is built and stacked according to your book. The stove should be in place in about two weeks! Excited to put your techniques to work but a bit nervous at the same time. It may even be a bit comical for the first go as I can just picture myself as if I’m in the kitchen with the cookbook in one hand and flour all over the place only your book will be in one hand and the other will be trying to get the pine cone unstuck from my fingers before I catch my hand on fire! Your voice is always so calm and collected. I’m wondering if maybe your drink is a hot toddy? ☺️

[CB-lkpi]

I burn since many years top down! Its the best method to decrease Emissions. Greets!

[falfield]

Thank You - COMPLETELY agree with your ethos as expounded at the end. Usually in life, when you optimise one component of a complex system, it is at the expense of reduced efficiency in another component. But optimising the efficiency of burning wood - stoichiometric combustion, the technical term - gives you ALL GAIN - more heat, less ash, fewer particulates, reduced creosote risk. I too have a Vision 500 and have harvested and prepared my own wood for it since 1993 when it and the larger Clearviews were the first and only 3 stoves to meet DEFRA & the Clean Air Act's requirements. I reckon that the smoke control version (air injection through a hollow stainless baffle) allied to a chimney baffle closed after peak temp passed is a little better.