--- title: A Foolproof Guide to Building a Better Fire description: Oh the weather outside is frightful... here's how to build a fire that'll be so delightful canonical: https://time.com/3632612/build-better-fire/ author: Real Simple article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-12T23:19:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:42:44.674Z og:title: A Foolproof Guide to Building a Better Fire og:description: Oh the weather outside is frightful... here's how to build a fire that'll be so delightful og:url: https://time.com/3632612/build-better-fire/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Foolproof Guide to Building a Better Fire twitter:description: Oh the weather outside is frightful... here's how to build a fire that'll be so delightful twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # A Foolproof Guide to Building a Better Fire > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Real Simple](https://time.com/author/real-simple/) ## Real Simple Dec 12, 2014 11:19 PM UTC by [Real Simple](https://time.com/author/real-simple/) ## Real Simple Dec 12, 2014 11:19 PM UTC Building a wintertime fire doesn’t have to be intimidating—we demystified the process with this simple chart.  Graphic by Katie Field One last tip: The process is the same for a woodstove—except it’s more forgiving. There’s no need to stress about using wood that doesn’t spark or leaving the fire unattended. Reference the stove’s instructions, but in general keep the primary and secondary vents fully open for 10 to 15 minutes. Then leave the primary vent open a crack and the secondary open a third of the way. _This_ [_article_](http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/how-to-build-a-fire) _originally appeared on_ [_RealSimple.com_](http://www.realsimple.com/)_._ _More from Real Simple:_ * [9 Classic Holiday Cocktails Everyone Should Know](http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/seasonal/christmas-cocktails-holiday) * [7 Habits of Thoughtful Gift Givers](http://www.realsimple.com/health/mind-mood/habits-of-thoughtful-gift-givers) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3632612/build-better-fire/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3632612/build-better-fire/"},"headline":"A Foolproof Guide to Building a Better Fire","datePublished":"2014-12-12T23:19:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:42:44.674Z","description":"Oh the weather outside is frightful... here's how to build a fire that'll be so delightful","url":"https://time.com/3632612/build-better-fire/","keywords":["Living","fire","Holidays","advice"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Real Simple","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/real-simple/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3632612/build-better-fire/","name":"A Foolproof Guide to Building a Better Fire"}}]}] ```