Ash insulating bottom of insert cooling blower air?

[fortydegnorth]

With the warm temps we just had I took advantage of it, like many did, to sweep the chimney and clean everything up. I typically only remove enough ash from the bottom of my Clydesdale to keep it from falling out and making a mess. I have found that even after 12-15 hours I can still have decent coals in the ash. That being said, since I cleaned all the ash from the stove and started my 24/7 burning again, it seems the house is much warmer. The stove top temps haven't changed and the outside temps are cold again, with last night getting down to 17. I'm wondering if the insulating properties of the ash works to also keep the heat off the floor of my insert where the air chambers begin for the blowers. The Clydesdale draws air from the bottom front and pushes it up the back and out the top. Do you think I'm seeing hotter air since the bottom of the insert isn't so insulated? I'm thinking I will try to keep the ash to just over an inch instead of the 2-3", or more, that I've been leaving. I like the coal retention but the heat is nice too.

 

[Troutchaser]

I agree with your assessment. Our posts are very similar. With my stove, the ash was keeping the heat from getting out the bottom of the stove and keeping the firebox hot and secondary combustion consistant.
I cleaned the ash pan for once and couldn't get the stove to act right. Not until tonight when the ash had finally built back up.