22. How I light the wood burning / coal stove on my narrowboat
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- Опубликовано: 13 фев 2016
- #narrowboat #narrowboats #canal #canals #liveaboard #cruisingthecut
After a viewer request I hereby present a (rather long, sorry) video of how I set and light the Villager Puffin stove on my canal boat. I do two examples, one of lighting it from cold and the other of rekindling it from dying embers.
Please leave any tips and tricks in the comments below; anyone saying "you're doing it wrong" will be politely ignored :-)
Villager Puffin stove: geni.us/CtC_PuffinStove
Big box of Zip firelighters: geni.us/CtC_ZipFirelighters
Kindling: geni.us/CtC_Kindling
Matches: geni.us/CtC_Matches
Dustpan and brush: geni.us/CtC_DustpanBrush
Stove fan: geni.us/CtC_StoveFan
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Theme music: "Vespers" by Topher Mohr and Alex Alena, from the RUclips music library
I don't understand why, but I have spent an abundance of my time these last few weeks watching some delightful English bloke living on and driving his longboat through the English water ways. And now I am watching him light a coal stove! Why? What has my life become? And I am just fascinated by this. From the middle of America I say thank you for your wonderful video productions. Or should I say, "Good show, Bloody good show?" Again, thanks mate!
I've asked myself the same thing lol .- Tom From Thayer MO. 65791
Same here. I am in Bangkok Thailand locked down. Got the air conditioning on, its over 90F outside and loving the coziness of the stove on the narrow boat.
And yes thank you for a totally watchable and entertaining set of videos.
@@andyrbush Go and get a ham and cheese toastie from 7-11 ...sounds like your home sick
In South Carolina here and I'm in the same boat with being drawn into the videos. It's like peeking into another world.
I keep feeling like I'm being transported into the novel "The Golden Compass," especially in the part about Lyra's boat ride with the gypsies from London to the fens. I looked it up and the fens are a real place. I wonder if the canal really does connect to them.
I did a little research and found that we do have something like the English canals here in the US with the Erie/New York canal system. They even have narrowboats there. But of course, it isn't as cool as the English system.
I’m laid up for a few days after some minor surgery and I’m binge watching your videos. Really enjoying them, thanks so much for the effort you put into them.
Thank you! Hope the surgery was / is not painful!
Others have labeled me as “OCD” but actually, I am CDO which is the same thing, but in alphabetical order. As I watched you line up your charcoal briquettes, you reminded me of, well, me! I know that you uploaded this 4 years ago, but I have just recently discovered your channel and had to go back and start from the beginning. It’s important to me that I watch them in order! (Another trait for those of us with CDO.) - Phil in Indianapolis USA
Perhaps you have OCD plus dyslexia, hence the CDO!
i am doing the same
You are an absolute treasure....I love the humour and your style of presentation....just great.
What a lovely way of setting the fire: concentious and meticulous like the Japanese Tea Ceremony!
I love that description of it!
You are obviously doing something right with your videos David as I just spent 17 minutes watching a bloke light a fire and enjoyed it! 😉
Hahaha, someone said something similar to me about the one where I put hooks on the doors!!
Watching the “a narrowboat vlog” playlist for about the 6th time, still as enjoyable as the 1st time! 👍
let me note one point here. i love the video. its saturday night here in china. my friends are the pub. i am at home watching a fully grown man light a fire in a stove on a boat in the UK. going into depth about arranging the sticks and briquettes of coal in geometric fashion. right. i suggest that you are a master of capturing ones attention. think about it. just how exciting is making a fire? i dare say HollyWood will be knocking on your boat begging you to come and make full on movies and docu-dramas very soon. of which i will be watching intently. carry on dear sir you wonderful.
I know, he's makes things compelling to watch. Wish my professors had this guy's charisma.
Must be a better way than coal to reduce carbon footprint.
I absolutely love him. So sorry he’s not on untuned so much. I hope he is living a very good life.
Huh?
Thank you for the escape from the absolute horrors besetting my country. While I may never see a UK canal or set foot aboard a narrowboat, I find your videos fascinating... and calming. So very glad there are hundreds yet to watch.
Welp, it's October 2022 and the beginning of nesting season. So, it's time to cozy up to binge-watch videos about wood and coal burning stoves.
I do admire your vocabulary. You enunciate your words in a manner that keeps me watching. I mean no disrespect in this comment. I enjoy listening in bed and it sends me off to sleep lovely. Thanks
Reminds me of when I was a kid - we used to have coal fires... We would bank the fire up last thing at night - and it would be just about still glowing in the morning. Saved a lot of time starting the fire from scratch. Ahhhh memories !
Tip: A sheet of newspaper crunched up is perfect to clean the glass, and you can also use that to light the fire. If the kindle is dry, that's all you'll need. Also, for restarting: Open the ventilation briefly to power up the still glowing rest of the coal, when that glow has become brighter, you will have more than enough heat to just top up with just a little bit of kindle and coal.
A long nose 'Butane match' is not only handy for starting a fire whilst keeping your fingers safe, it can also be used from below the grate to help re-light a finicky fire without letting smoke into the cabin...
I’ve lived on a narrowboat in Cambridge and I’ve become weirdly addicted as well
I've been ripping through your channel on my TV, so it's a pain to like and impossible to comment (although I do let the commercials play after you mentioned that you get no revenue if we skip). Now I"m going through and liking via my laptop. I'm enjoying your channel so much, I don't mind the effort.
If you'd asked me if someday if I'd repeatedly watch a video of a man piling coals into a metal stove I'd have said "Yeah, sounds like my speed" as I'm a pyromaniac and love a real fire. So this is something I've watched a few times, lol. You do you, David. We love you, or we wouldn't be here watching,
at the beginning i thought it would be a short video... but now i need to make a cup of coffee to continue to watch
Formal petition for an asmr video of fire crackling sounds
this video series is brilliant !! I dream of being on a narrow boat in lovely England thank-you for allowing me to enjoy your new boat with you!
Thanks Erik!
as a steam engine enthusiast i have to congratulate you on your fire starting skills. though i cringe at the sight of coke, it burns so cold compared to real coal haha
Enlightening. I am a top down man myself, but am wood only. The glass cleaning tip was a revelation to me when 1st got mine. Am with you re firelighters.... you light them and they go whoosh ...so why the heck not.
Top down?
+CruisingTheCut ..Big logs at bottom, getting gradually smaller with kindling on top , opposite to the trad built up on top of kindling....works brilliantly for wood fires.
Oh how bizarre, if I ever use wood I'll try it. Cheers
This is just funny that I can sit and watch u light a fire 🔥 !! Very good and entertaining thank you 🙏
Anthracite nut coal is by far the longest burning but you do need a shaker grate for it, these briquettes your using are a good idea for your particular stove design. Hopefully soon you will do some more "poking around other peoples boats" videos and I really loved your classic engine videos you did a while back, by far my favorite documentary style video you did recently was the coal finger video about the fuel boat, really enjoyable. Hoping all is well with you 🖐👍
Thanks 👍
You make it look so inviting
After a stressful day, viewing one or two of your vlogs puts me right again...thanks!
This should be a very boring video. A nerdy bloke lighting a fire! However, I have just watched the first 21 of your Vlogs and I am hooked! You are actually quite funny and interesting! I must be getting old
amazing i remember then i was a lad lol ,my mother rolled up the previous days newspaper paper then it was tied in a knot , then placed at the base, with the ends poking to yourself to light then kindling with coal on top we only used firelighters if anything was wet or damp , but as you stated the ways and combinations are countless
Perhaps I'll nick spare copies of Towpath Talk from the moorers' lounge and use them ;-)
So much to learn about living on a narrow boat. I enjoyed watching the Vlog how to light a stove. This is Great to see if and when I make it to the UK.
My work colleagues take the pi$$ out of me due to getting excited about my wood/coal burner. Nothing like setting up a fire and feeling cozy watching it on a damp windy night drinking a cup of tea. Great video
Wood stoves are the best thing ever on a cold night! Cheers
I’m from a family of 10 siblings, before and after school we all had our chores to do (in rotation).
In the winter, when it was my turn, one of the best jobs I had was build fires in our fireplaces so they were ready for use, and if it was cold enough, light them. I think I was at the middle school, (whatever age that was)? You’re not far off with your methods, and at least it didn’t go out! 😂 I remember, my mum teaching me her old world ways! Shame I didn’t get as much time doing my school homework!
If you put the coal and kindling into brown paper bags, that way you can just light the bag, it's clean and quick way to light your fire.
So glad RUclips suggested your channel. Watching in order, so please forgive the questions and comments on older videos. Keep up the good work!
Forgiven! Glad you like them.
How you can manage to light the fire you wanted, not light anything else on fire that you didn't want, and still have people say you did it wrong, is beyond me.
To avoid smoke coming out the front door and setting off the smoke alarm, warm your chimney before lighting the fire by lighting some newspaper or other such fuel and stick it up the chimney for a bit. The heat will draw the air up the chimney and keep the smoke from the initial fire start from leaving the stove through the front door.
A very heart-warming vlog David. Or should that be hearth-warming ??!! 😎😂😃
You know, while I grew up with wood fires and charcoal grills, I don’t think I have ever seen a coal fire in my life. You just don’t get them in the areas where I have lived in the United States. I’ve read about coal fires in British books and now I get to see one. Thank you!
Great vid. Love this series! One tip I have learned over the years of living with a stove - Coal ash, when used to clean the glass will scratch and dull it. This will make it soot up more quickly and more difficult to clean.
OK, useful tip - thank you!
This feels positively witchy, what a ritual
I use balls of newspaper under the kindling. Then I set fire to it with our weedkilling flamethrower. It saves having to buy firelighters, repurposes it over the winter and is generally good fun.
a simple little hand held propane torch will start that coal quicky and easy. i have in the past when building a fire in a stove. when the draft would not start well. i would use the torch to heat up the flue pipe to start the draft.
Those coal lumps look like the King Edwards I left in oven too long. LOL!
It is a fine Art and you explain it very well! What I use on the window is cold tea. Works great! Try it out, do one half with water and the other have with cold tea. Oh, that is without milk btw, as we drink it here in the Netherlands. And tea is a hot drink and not a meal. Learning English is not that hard, understanding the English is a differed cup of tea :-)
Hmm, interesting idea. I shall certainly give that a try. And you have clearly learned English subtleties very well indeed! Although, depending on where you are in England, tea sometimes IS a meal. And let's not forget "afternoon tea" as well which is part meal, part drink ;-)
Dave, if you use newspaper to polish the glass, the print acts like a cutting agent and speeds up the clean. Use the ash also, as you so rightly suggest. Great, thanks
Instead of a commercial fire starter, I use a homemade starter.
Work a small dab of petroleum jelly into a bit of cotton wool, dryer lint, or the like, then fluff up the greased wool and stack on the kindling and fuel (coal, charcoal, wood, etc.)
I travel a lot in an RV and always carry a small container of petroleum jelly and a ball of lint for building campfires. A little goes a very long way.
Any mostly dry resinous wood makes superb kindling.
That ash trick just made this episode worth watching, never ran across it before.
Can I say I’m absolutely hooked by your vlog. We are looking to buy a narrow boat in about 5 years for when we retire. Happy boating and please keep up the excellent vlogs.
Thank you
I have noticed on my stove, when I get it up on the temp for a little while the glass cleans it self. Then I cut back and don't have to worry about cleaning it. It has something with not getting a complete burn with your source of fuel. Like you said its a fine art. Thanks again for your video's.
I’m a bit late to the party, I watch your van vlogs and have now started watching this. Incidentally loving it. I haven’t read the 690 comments to see if anyone else has suggested orange peel as fire lighter. Dry it on top of your stove until the water evaporates out of the peel and you get the orange aroma and you are left with the hard peel containing orange oil which can be used as a fire lighter. Of course this only works if you like eating oranges and the smell of oranges whilst drying them.
Your fire laying from a cold stove was delightful and amusing as you festered about …
Now returning from a few days away on a cold rainy January evening in winter is the test.
You do make me smile😁in a good way..
Excellent method, and very much time-honored
I have to say this is my FAVOURITE video of yours
Here in Australia we can buy brown coal briquettes, funnily enough they actually come from Germany which makes no sense as we have extensive coal deposits here, but they are very cheap, and as a single bloke living in a very big 24 foot caravan, the brown coal burns crazy hot for many hours and gets me right through the night as my heater is similar to yours. Your videos are very inspiring, would love to move to the UK and live the narrow boat life as it's basically the same as caravan life without the major space restrictions of a caravan, maybe one day I will get to try the narrow boat life even if it's just a holiday at first hehe
Glad you enjoy them!
gosh that took me back to my childhood when we had a coal fire with a back boiler ... if you need a tip, if the embers don't light the kindling straight away, chuck a handful of sugar on
I remember my childhood days... mum would 'bank' the coal fire up before we went to bed - and it would still be just about glowing in the morning. Two minutes 'maintenance' and we'd have a roaring inferno at breakast.
Cozy with the view of the fire and heat of the stove. Very nice. Mark Hanna, Esq. Michigan-USA
Absolutely brillants. Grrat tipd.. Best video about the subject ive seen so far!
It's funny how memory works. I've heated with wood for most of my 65 years. Started thousands of fires, though I've never smoked. When you struck the match, I could smell it.
The way you set up a coal fire, have you ever thought of taking up landscaping?
Actually, cotton wool balls dipped in petroleum jelly are far better than firelighters , and open the bottom up 10 mins before reviving a almost dead banked fire gives the old coals a healthy orange glow , and saves wasting kindling the next morning
Flashback --- back in the day I lived in an old type, single mobile-home which had this --- lovely for chestnuts!
This blog is addicting.
This made me chuckle!! That's exactly how I start a fire! Very precise placement of lighters, kindling and coal!!
:-)
Sounds like the ideal starting procedure, as has been said if it works then all's well, I've never lived anywhere that didnt have an open fire and learnt from a very early age how to lay the fire, probabley due to having a father who was an ex LMS loco fireman, although funnily enough the fire starting was usually my mums job!
Yeah, up until I had the boat, every house I'd lived in had gas-fired radiator heating so this was a novelty!
Thank you. I do love your methodical approach. Good luck to you in your travels and thank you for sharing the knowledge you gain.
Excellent, thank you!
Done the "David Way" obviously works. Great video.
Ahh, some rather nice crackling fire (plus a bit of passing-boat-engine bass) ASMR there just after the nine minute mark. Very soothing.
I have two words for you my friend.. "Chimney Fire". Easy on the coal, start your fire and add it as the fire gets more established :) And yes, I did live in a cabin outside Boulder, Colorado that had no water, no heat or electricity. In the winter.
No worries, the stove is cleaned regularly. If you don't get it roaring away to start with, the boat would take forever to warm up.
@@CruisingTheCut as long as chimney is clean that's fine, I live in Ireland and have in the past set the chimney on fire as it was dirty when we moved in, but a lovely little stove and very cosy
Chris Allatt Are chimney fires dangerous, or do they eventually burn themselves out?
@@heli-crewhgs5285 They can, and usually will burn themselves out but the excessive heat can cause unseen damage like small gaps and cracks in the joints or liners that can, and do, lead to the building/boat burning down even in normal use, it only takse a spark. In the case of metal flue pipes, the excessive heat form a roaring fire can cause proplems let alone that of a chimney fire. Real fires are fantastic but the rules and regs ought to be followed for your own saftey. Chimney fires are a very serious issue.
I use a metal single serving coffee diaplay rack INSIDE the stove and instead of coffee cups for the machine I put the coal in, it holds the coal perfect in the shape of a tree !!! WORKS GREAT
Wow, what an amazing idea!
Earlier today I watched a WW2 British instructional video on building steam in a destroyer. Neat video. This reminded me of it because fire. Your video was neat and I continue to watch through your vlogs! We have very few canals in Canada but if I were to take to water there are many large lakes. I live very near Okanagan and Shuswap lakes which have large numbers of house boats on them.
You are absolutely a hoot! A kind and gentlemanly and gracious hoot! I laughed aloud at your comments on the individuality folk have about fire starting. That was almost as funny as how you explained your "swearing and fettering about" while applying the stick-on insulation behind the stove (in another video). I love a good sense of irony. Thanks! Keep vlogging, my dear. So much fun!
Well done on lining things up, I drive my wife crazy :)
I should also add that I am loving your VLOG's! My family rented a 60' narrowboat about 15 years ago and cruised the Trent and Mersey and onward. It was, without a doubt, the most relaxing vacation I've ever had even though I was on the helm throughout. Being an ex-Navy sailor on a submarine, I learned how to handle a single screw monster. :) Keep them coming, my friend!
Hello! I’ve tried your method today, it works really well and I’ve had stoves for over 20 years now. Just shows you can always learn something new. Thank you very much, I’m really enjoying your vlogs!
Thank you :-)
Ive paused the video at 7 mins to write this- very impressive work, its almost a work of art :) x
how interesting....we used the artitic touch when we lit camp fires too ....only no coal!!! very informative. Thanks to you i could probably light up the stove on my boat if i had a boat and stove!!
I was surprised and very impressed with the amount of heat generated by a coal fire during one of our stays in the Lakes district a few years back - coal hasn’t been used here in Australia for domestic heating for at least 30 years- loved the smell and the warmth.
Me thinks in real life you are an architect. Here in the mountains of Western North Carolina, USA, temperatures are dropping, the leaves are turning and your post makes me feel all cozy.
I love "all" your videos, and this is the time to pun that they reignite the fire in my heart to live aboard again! Initially, I jumped around, per the appealing titles, but have now started at the beginning of your vlog. Excellent info for newbies, and for those who may return to life aboard, as well as for those thinking about it. One often only sees the romantic part of living aboard and doesn't realize the work & maintenance that comes along with it.
Thank you, glad you like them.
Best method of cleaning the glass is using OOOO grade wire wool and a bit of water. Will not scratch glass at all.."can be used on car windscreens without issue as well.
Skyterrapin, why spend the money for steel wool when his method works just fine?
To be fair that's an improvement on my collapse technique, thanks.
Stovax glass cleaner is really good at cleaning the glass. Couple of squirts, leave a couple of minutes and wipe off. Don’t use gritty material, it will scratch up the glass over time which in turn will embed more soot and so on.
Was about to say that same thing. Though I just use oven cleaner but definitely dont want micro abrasions in the glass if possible to avoid it.
As there is a rise in Narrow boat sales and general interest in this scene as a way of life and pass time please get a TV series commisioned!! The history of the canals and these tips would be an amazing series of films!!
I'd love to get a TV series commissioned and if any producers with the right connections are reading, just let me know! Sadly my prior employment in TV news never leads to the executives :-(
Thanks for posting this, really enjoying your Vlog, may there be many more to come. :-)
Thank you!
Watched this out of idle curiosity as someone who heats a Victorian Terrace primarily with wood and coal (knackered boiler - long story). Great vid! Really entertaining.
Thank you!
Nice fire starting👍.
I use a single edge razor blade scraper to clean my fire box glass. It is very quick and will not scratch the glass like ash will do over time.
So useful!! I cleaned the glass following your instructions, set up from cold and at the time of writing I'm toasty warm & fiddling with the draught to find that elusive balance between warmth & economy. Thanks & best wishes from "Thermopylae".
Excellent! Glad it was useful. Cheers
When I lived in a caravan I had a stove built from a calor gas bottle on its side with legs and a 10mm plate welded to the top. The opening catch was made from a bicycle break and it used to roar that much it sounded like a little steam engine. The plate on the top permanently had a kettle that provided hot water for washing up etc. It never got hit enough to make tea but nevertheless free hot water. I loved that little homemade stove.
I clean my glass with one of those "Stanley" blade paint remover thingies for windows. It does the job nicely.
Good tip, cheers
What have you done to me?! I’ve lit about a millionty fires, and yet all I can do is sit - transfixed - watching a man I hardly know light a tiny bloody fire. I think I need some kind of professional help.
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha
I love how OCD he got with this, I can totally relate!
I like it "just so"
We light up a Chimenere and how we set it out is on the bottom we lay down some cardboard or paper and then we use kindling and then a little bit of coal and when the wood and cardboard has burned we add more coal
I grew up in Canada's far north... we heated with a wood fire during winter.
One suggestion... run a metal duct from the outside of the boat to just in front of the fire/stove.
Fires consume a tremendous volume of air. If there is no external air source, the fire pulls the air it needs from the surrounding (already warm) air, which is replaced by cold air leaking into the boat. That cold air then needs to be warmed up and you'll get a nasty draft on the back of your neck as you sit watching the TV.
Run a duct from the outside to directly in front of the stove's air intake and the stove will draw cold air from the outside world... leaving the air inside (already heated) available to keep you a wee bit warmer.
Cheers. There's not really a good, unobtrusive route for such a pipe on my boat. Also, narrowboats are required under the safety regulations to have extensive ventilation to outside so the air doesn't so much "leak" in as flow through the open grilles, so the pipe wouldn't make much difference I don't think.
Fair enough... I admit to not having paid much attention to heating while we aboard our hired boat last summer...
Love the way your so precise and careful on setting the coals and wood. I'm the opposite I would chuck and throw it all on and hope for the best. I noticed you mentioned the smoke detector several times so I'll take it you have managed to set it of a couple of times ;)
I've set it off with the fire, I've set it off with toast under the grill... still, at least I know it works :-)
I get Lulu in to 'Relight My Fire'!
A very precisely laid up fire.
Obsessively so, I grant you. But it pleases me to do so.
Doh! I never thought of lighting those individually wrapped firelighters while still in the wrapper! Thanks for the tip!
Have you been taking them out?!! Hilarious
+CruisingTheCut I can teach you how to light a fire without match or lighter, bushcraft and viking style only, with hand forged stuff made by myself.
Interesting - but I find a match works quite well!! :-)
I bet you cut off those annoying strings from tea bags too.
I buy Tesco tea bags, not a string to be seen.
Nice fire work.
There's an art and craft to fire making and tending.
Stay Warm
I grew up with a wood burning heater and cracking the ash pan door is a must
Very nice, I don't know anyplace here in the U.S. where you can by coal, charcoal for bbq grills is the closest thing I know.