How to lay your fireplace for the perfect fire

Before you start...
Got a carpet? Small child? Posh floorboards? Put a fireguard in front of your fireplace. Have lots of fuel ready and keep it near the fireplace (but out of reach of sparks)—the last thing you want is to dash out and chop more logs or collect more coal. Keep a fire extinguisher close to your fireplace too.

Wood or coal?
Coal, a fossil fuel made of carbon, is a smokeless fuel: it doesn't release smoke when burning, making it suitable for use in smoke-free zones. Coals release more ash than wood into your fireplace, so you need a grate for them to sit on. Some experts consider wood to be the greener option, since the carbon dioxide given off when it burns is reckoned to be about equal to what the tree would have used during its life.

Which wood to burn in your fireplace?
If you are using wood, try and get a variety of sizes: small for when the fire is just getting going, bigger to maintain the flame when the fireplace is getting nice and hot. Hard wood, such as maple or oak, burns best. Seasoned wood (stored and dried for over a year) burns more quickly and easily than younger (green) wood. Make sure it's dry too—wet wood will send lots of thick smoke out of your fireplace.

Small beginnings
In the fireplace, start small and build up. Use tinder first: birch bark, pine cones, wood shavings. (You can use paper as tinder: scrunch up newspaper into loose balls, dot around the fireplace and add kindling. This doesn't always work so well, as paper tends to burn very fast.) Arrange the tinder at the bottom of the fireplace. Now add kindling: dry twigs and/or cardboard, loosely stacked and with lots of air gaps. Then add a few small logs to the fireplace. Light the fire at the bottom and add logs when the kindling is burning well.

Lighting the fire
Use long-handled matches and keep them in a waterproof box, stored away from the fireplace. Or you could use rolled-up newspaper as a lighting torch. Light the pile underneath, in several spots around the fireplace. Once the fire is established, you can add bigger logs to get it to the size and temperature you want.

Top tip: make a clean sweep
To make sure your fires burn efficiently, have your chimney or flue swept regularly and keep your fireplace clean. Fires cause a build-up in your chimney that can be ignited. Your fire will take more easily in the fireplace if flues are clean, giving a clear passage for air to suck the flames up.