November 03, 2004
Curious George: My gas log starter doesn't.
I have no idea how to use my gas log starter - Boy Scouts prepared me for the creation of roaring outdoor blazes, but this "fireplace" device has me bamboozled. Can a benevolent fire-wielding simian help me understand this fiendish thingy?
Somewhere, a chimney sweep is cringing. All the resources I can find say I should be able to just turn on the starter, sip my cocoa for a moment, and then turn it off again. No such luck on this the first cold night of November. The starter's been on for about two hours now (which can't be good for either the starter or my gas bill), and all I've got is a charred log. What am I doing wrong? Outdoor fires require preparation - twigs, kindling, smaller pieces, logs, small trees; do the same rules apply with a starter?
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You need to use Bush/Cheney campaign signs as an accelerant. But seriously. You said "log". As in singular. The rules of combustion don't change with the method of ignition. You still need to build a proper fire, and use good fuel. As always, use kindling to start, and then add dry logs; slowly increasing them in size.
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I see - so the starter just takes the place of a half-litre of kerosene and singed eyebrows. I figured as much and was just lazy. Time to go pull up all those candidate signs; with a week of drying those stakes should produce a nice flame.