Lighting a fire with smokeless fuel

I’m having more success now. I think bringing the wood in early so it’s room temp has definitely helped. I’ve added in more air and with carful laying of the fire, it’s all combined for better results. Thank you!

Thank you for the various ideas, which I’ll try. I did say to Dh that I think I’ll get a bag of ordinary coal in order to start it off, then use the ovoids.

Marydoll, your mum might not have been entirely wrong about the heat! These ovoids don’t burn as fiercely as regular coal and they glow rather than have flames. It’s a steadier heat.

Could you start the fire with a few cobbles of ordinary coal and then put the ovoids on? Thing is with ovoids, the gas has been removed to render it smokeless thus making it difficult to ignite, or so I was told by a coal man.

You do need the right grate to burn smokeless. A good draught underneath. I always found it best mixed with normal coal, but that was way before Greta et al. Ovals are the hardest to ignite. The more nobbly stuff was easier.

Our gas poker was a great help!

I remember ovoids in the 50's. We used them to bank up the fire once it was lit, but not to start the fire.
Try making some spills if you have any newspaper. Dried orange peel ? Bits of wood ?
The old gas poker was once used to light a fire.

It looked like a hairdryer! Pretty primitive and probably dangerous!

A flame thrower kind of sounds like fun, Marydoll!

My mother insisted it was never as warm as real coal!

We’ve started using ovoids this winter for first time in our open fire. no bother getting them to light but they do take ages before giving off any heat. I just screw up two sheets of newspaper, few bits of kindling with two cheap.firefighters. Light that and at same time place ovoids. Lighting a coal fire is definitely a lot quicker.

I remember when I was young, our town became a smokeless coal zone. Everyone had to stop using ordinary coal or risk a huge fine. The local Council issued everyone with a special heat gun to light the coal, as even with kindling and firefighters, it still wouldn't light.

The wood and coal is in the garage but it’s still pretty cold in there! I’ll try storing some by the fireplace, ready for the next fire.

It’s finally got going and there’s some warmth, two hours and five firelighters after lighting. ?

Do you store some, maybe a day or two supply, in the room the fire is in?
We've had a woodburner in the past, so I've not used your type of fuel, but I always found wood brought in from outside was too cold to burn. Kept at room temperature it was much better.