Better Burning with a Vertical Fire Grate
I spent years thinking my fireplace was just naturally finicky before I realized a vertical fire grate was the missing piece to a decent fire. For the longest time, I used one of those standard flat grates—the kind you see in every hardware store—and I just assumed that constant poking, prodding, and blowing on embers was part of the "charm" of having a real wood fire. It wasn't. It was actually just a bad setup. Once I switched to a vertical style, everything changed, from how fast the fire started to how much heat actually made it into the room. ...