maple1 said:How much carbon monoxide will 3 gallons of ash give off? They are mostly dead ashes when first taken out, except for a few clinkers - and those don't last long. Do dead ashes release CO? (Honest queastion - have a CO detector and it has never gone off). Also, my basement spot is close to the furnace, where the most fresh air flow is - air in thru a vent for outside combustion air and out thru the furnace firebox up the chimney - and secure. There will be no kids or animals knocking things over there - outside might be a different story.
None, and there is a thread around here that explored that very possibility, along with zinc fumes from hot galvanized buckets. The low temperatures and chemistry keep the CO at negligible levels, and hanging your CO detector over the bucket of hot ashes will prove that for you as it did for me.