Whats the best way to light my channing 3?

As my username suggests I dont like spending 2.50 at my local hearth dealer for a coal starter box and the place I know that sells them for 1.00 is 60 miles away Lighting the little fire works fine but is a little laborious. Can anyone point me in the direction of some cheap easy(maybe my wife would do it) coal starters or some inventive homegrown starter I can make? Any Ideas would be great. If anyone replies I wouldnt mind knowing what they are paying for coal these days too. Thank you in advance.

I just use a little bit of hardwood scraps and get them going good. As soon as you get some coals, start putting some coal on, but not too much. When that gets going add alittle more and you should be good to go. I also have short arms.(I'm cheap) Jimmy

I fired my DVC-500 for the first time today. I had it started in about 2min. Going by the manual, I filled the burn tray with about 1" inch of coal & put a furrow towards the back. In this I put regular barbecue charcoal. ( I just used a pair of pliers ( actually a robogrip) to break the briquettes into quarters) I turned on the power to the stove & lit the charcoal with a propane torch. ( just got the edges going - less than a minute) Closed the door & the beast was lit.

I ran it full bore for about an hour as a stress test / burn in. Ran it on low for another hour.

What I figured was going to be a big project turned out not to be bad at all. Then I found out how long shut down mode took to complete on a 70F day ( 2hrs?) Boy that heat pouring out of the basement felt good though.

I put a wadded up piece of newspaper under the coal starter bag, lay a very small handfull of coal pieces on top, light the paper, plug the stove in and watch it burn for a few minutes and when the fireworks/sparks die down, put a small handfull of coal on top and it takes off from there!

I Started it the other day when it was supposed to get down to freezing, the nights are starting to get into the 40's. getting the first burn in and checking the new seals on the chimney pipe. seems good! We have heat! (Wife if Happy !!

I bought a gel starter fluid at HD. I haven't tried it yet but it looks promising.

I use the matchlite charcoal, works great, its cheap & easy and more of a sure thing than a $2 hooker...

I use the coal mice from the Alaska Dealer. They are a buck a piece and they work excellent.