Think that roaring fire started isn’t it easy as it looks. Rhiannon met up with lifestyle expert Mar Jennings for some tips on how to build a no hassle and a safe fire.
Rhiannon: on this long cold winter days is there anything better than cozying up next to our roaring fire? I don’t think so, it feels great. Mar is here to show us his never fail fire starting system. I’ll have to pressure Mar because I never started a fire so walk us through this.
Mar: So, it’s important to understand that when you’re lighting a fire there’s some responsibility and there are some safety issues so let’s start there. You never want to let a light a fire if you know have that burn it out very quickly. Okay, a fire is a commitment. Also you want to make sure there’s no pets and no children around the fire if it’s not attended. So now that we cut that out the way let’s enjoy a fire and conspire a little shall we.
Okay so you want to make that flow is open. Once you have your firewood in there you want to make sure that it has plenty of air and you’re not stacking the wood. You want to make sure that it has some air flow in between each log.
Rhiannon: I think a lot of people tried to put themselves close together.
Mar: They don’t want that at all. You want to make sure the flow is open and when you’re ready to light your fire go ahead and open a window or door that’s where you get some great air flow. That is a great trick it works every time because you don’t want the fire to blow into the house, you want it to go up the chimney.
Rhiannon: You don’t want your furniture or your clothes smells like smoke.
Mar: You do not. Also you want to make sure that if you are using your fireplace yearly you must have it cleaned. That build up can be rather dangerous and you don’t want any danger in your house. You want to make sure you have it full cleaned. Okay, very important.
Okay, the next thing is that we are all familiar with your flings right.
Rhiannon: Yeah.
Mar: They are very popular and now there’s new and improved but people don’t realize that you can’t put a duraflame and regular wood at the same time. That’s a no no.
Rhiannon: That’s dangerous.
Mar: Okay, very dangerous they’re not made for that. But duraflame has this new product called Stax and what that is that you could put two of these in at the same time. It’s the next generation of fire. And what’s wonderful—I love this product. What’s wonderful about it is that it sounds just like regular wood as well. So it appears and it looks just like the real thing and it’s renewable resources that we’re using.
Rhiannon: which is cheaper? Real wood or—
Mar: well think about this, if you’re burning fire and you’re burning wood that’s a constant flow of putting more wood in. This last several hours so in the long run it benefits the saving environment a little bit and use this type of product because in the long run it is running and it uses itself without any attention required.
Rhiannon: Okay. And when you’re ready for the fire be done is that just let it burn itself out but it will take a few hours.
Mar: Absolutely, you want to make sure that you allow the fire to burn out completely. That way you can walk away from it but until then if it’s too hot to touch it’s still log.
Rhiannon: Okay, and one more thing can I just throw anything in the fire? Can I throw this?
Mar: No. A fireplace is not a place to throw—it’s not a camp ground, it’s not a trash. So you want to make sure whatever you’re putting into your fireplace is just simply going to be wood or again as we mention the duraflame product.
Rhiannon: Okay.
Mar: Those are the best tips to know and keep it clean and enjoy your roaring fire right.
Rhiannon: Okay, let’s enjoy it. I almost forgot, for those of us who don’t have fireplaces , myself included, here’s your alternative. Pop this in the dvd player and you’ve got your roaring fire.
Mar: Roaring fire right. And then you have to just create romance but other than that you have everything you need.
Rhiannon: Alright. Thanks Mar.
Mar: My pleasure, great tip.
Female: And you can get more lifestyle ideas from Mar’s book, life on Mar’s and you can also check out his website. Just head to bettertv.com and click on the link.
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