Me, 2 times per year, burn 5 cords per year.. save the ashes for summer and spread on the lawn for moss control.. I notice some of the newer stoves have the lower fire brick almost even with the bottom of the door, what a mistake, I'm sure those would have to be cleaned every week.. My stove can hold almost 6 inches deep of ash....
How often do you clean out your stove ashes?
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I am sure some other stoves are different, but on every blaze king i have owned ( 3 now in different houses) they just do not work correctly without a nice bed of ash and coals.
A few times i shoveled it out too well by accident, and its not right for a day or 2 of burning again.
My parents got a new wood heater about 8 years ago, and it sucked for the first week, and then started to work well.
After about 2 weeks they cleaned it right out, and back to poor burning, once the ash got deeper it was fine again to.
I forget the brand name of theirs, but they learned to only clean out about half the ashes, or pay the price.
A few times i shoveled it out too well by accident, and its not right for a day or 2 of burning again.
My parents got a new wood heater about 8 years ago, and it sucked for the first week, and then started to work well.
After about 2 weeks they cleaned it right out, and back to poor burning, once the ash got deeper it was fine again to.
I forget the brand name of theirs, but they learned to only clean out about half the ashes, or pay the price.
Ashes, clean out a shovel full daily or more when 7/24s but my stove is a tool and I take care of my tools. I shut her down ,let burn down and give her a real cleaning, showroom floor clean, just like it was a shinny new red sportscar, heck I can make ashes quick.
jotul8e2 said:
Where are the two stoves installed? I have a Dutchwest Large Cat 2461 is that the same model as yours? I'm very keen on the Jotuls though. How do the two compare?
My LOPI Endeavor burns so completely that I don't think a get a lot of ashes. I'm heating about 1850 Sq Ft and hardly ever turn on the LP furnace, and end up emptying the ashes about once a week. Although I'm a newbie at wood burning, it does seem like 1" to 2 1/2" of ash holds the heat much better and for darn sure holds red embers for many hours. Although it's a lot more work than I thought it would be, I love wood burning.
I only clean some of the ashes out and that is when there is too little room for wood.. I rarely clean it all out as the stove runs better with 1-2" of ash in it plus it helps protect the stove bottom.. You will have to see what works best for you..
Ray
Ray
Backwoods Savage said:The poll is pointless as there are not enough choices.
I also find it hard to believe that folks empty their ashes daily!! Even every other day. That seems to go against the grain of wood burning. Leave a good ash bed in the stove and things will go much better.
Nate asked what folks are using to separate coals and ash. We simply use a poker and it is easy to do; but then, we never clean out all the ashes either. That should not be done.
+1 I couldn't say that any better! Some think I am crazy that I never empty my ashbin but my stove runs better that way and the ash does no harm..
Ray
I voted "once a week" but in reality it's usually 1-2 times each week . . . I always leave some ash and coals in the firebox.
I'm wondering myself. Haven't done it yet this year, the ash is at the door lip of my summit and I have been burning everyday for about a month, Thinking maybe tomorrow I will have too. The past few days I have been getting awesome restarts in the morning though. I stir it around with the poker and have been unearthing a plethora of red hot coals better than previous.
I'd hate to lose that by prematurely removing the ash
I'd hate to lose that by prematurely removing the ash
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I'd say once every two weeks. It's amazing how low the ash bed gets when the coals burn all the way down. Not always practical, but still amazing.
I clean out the ash every 4 years. I like to build up a nice bed of ash about 5 ft deep.
Depends on how hard I'm driving the stove, but on average, I'll take out a full bucket of ash about every five to seven days. I don't time it, I just do it when either ash is spilling out when I open the doors, or it's piled up so much that I can't get as much wood in there as I'd like.
I clean out the firebox on my Alderlea T5 about once per week. I never empty the built in ash pan. I empty the stove first thing in the morning using a metal bucket and the fireplace shovel. I dig into the bottom of the stove and lightly shake the shovel to knock off any large glowing pieces. Doing it at this time of the day the stove still has some draw left with the damper wide open and the dust seems to get pulled back into the stove so it does not make a lot of mess. I know I lose some heat into the bucket but not a whole lot.
I put the can outside out of the wind and clean up the area around the stove immediately afterwards. I have used this method since I got the stove, three years ago, and it seems to work well for me.
I put the can outside out of the wind and clean up the area around the stove immediately afterwards. I have used this method since I got the stove, three years ago, and it seems to work well for me.
Manitoulin Maples
Member
I have a PE Super 27 and use the ash dump feature every day in 24/7 burning. I have to empty the built in ash drawer once a week. Most of the time I burn splits north-south in my stove so it's nice for ash removal because most of the coals are at the back of the firebox. I do move any live coals that are hanging around the front to the back, then I open the ash dump door and scrap the loose ash at the front of the stove lip into the drawer, being careful not to scrap live coals in there. Then I rake the coals to the front of the stove, and sometimes let them burn down a bit if needed before re-loading. I do this every morning and the stove runs way better. If I leave the ash it builds up too much and logs get smothered and the air flow to the back is not as good. I keep a 1" layer of ash in the bottom at all times but removing the excess each day really helps.
Personally I don't understand why more people don't like the PE ash dump feature? IMO it's just so much easier than using a shovel and metal bucket. I've tried it both ways and the ash dump feature takes about 5 seconds. The other other way is not nearly as simple...you go get your bucket outside, get your shovel ready, empty the stove carefully without ash going everywhere, take the bucket back outside etc. I pull a lever and scrap some ash to the hole and then it sits in the drawer inside the stove until I empty it. Maybe I'm missing something or maybe other stoves don't have a great ash dump feature? Of course everyone has their own personal preference...for me it's the ash dump all the way
We actually have a driveway with a steep incline so I most of the ash on the driveway instead of sand all winter.
Personally I don't understand why more people don't like the PE ash dump feature? IMO it's just so much easier than using a shovel and metal bucket. I've tried it both ways and the ash dump feature takes about 5 seconds. The other other way is not nearly as simple...you go get your bucket outside, get your shovel ready, empty the stove carefully without ash going everywhere, take the bucket back outside etc. I pull a lever and scrap some ash to the hole and then it sits in the drawer inside the stove until I empty it. Maybe I'm missing something or maybe other stoves don't have a great ash dump feature? Of course everyone has their own personal preference...for me it's the ash dump all the way
We actually have a driveway with a steep incline so I most of the ash on the driveway instead of sand all winter.
jimdrea
New Member
I have a Napoleon 1402 and have been using it steady now for two months. I empty every 4-5 days. When the ash builds up to the point of falling out when I open the door to load. I always leave an inch on the bottom.
I have a PE Super 27 and use the ash dump feature every day in 24/7 burning. I have to empty the built in ash drawer once a week. Most of the time I burn splits north-south in my stove so it's nice for ash removal because most of the coals are at the back of the firebox. I do move any live coals that are hanging around the front to the back, then I open the ash dump door and scrap the loose ash at the front of the stove lip into the drawer, being careful not to scrap live coals in there. Then I rake the coals to the front of the stove, and sometimes let them burn down a bit if needed before re-loading. I do this every morning and the stove runs way better. If I leave the ash it builds up too much and logs get smothered and the air flow to the back is not as good. I keep a 1" layer of ash in the bottom at all times but removing the excess each day really helps.
Personally I don't understand why more people don't like the PE ash dump feature? IMO it's just so much easier than using a shovel and metal bucket. I've tried it both ways and the ash dump feature takes about 5 seconds. The other other way is not nearly as simple...you go get your bucket outside, get your shovel ready, empty the stove carefully without ash going everywhere, take the bucket back outside etc. I pull a lever and scrap some ash to the hole and then it sits in the drawer inside the stove until I empty it. Maybe I'm missing something or maybe other stoves don't have a great ash dump feature? Of course everyone has their own personal preference...for me it's the ash dump all the way
We actually have a driveway with a steep incline so I most of the ash on the driveway instead of sand all winter.
I will admit that I have only tried twice to empty the stove via your method using the ash pan. Both times I had difficulty trying to get the pan to seal again, I was getting draw up through it. Was a doing something wrong, probably, but I did not feel comfortable emptying the stove in this manner. Glad it works for you.
From just a bit east of you in Haliburton, Ontario. Snowing hard here this morning.
I've been burning doug fir all season and have not emptied my BK. In fact, the ash accumulation is so low that the little hook on the ash plug is still sticking up into the firebox. Doug fir doesn't leave much ash or coal.
R'Lee
Member
With my BKK, burning 8% rock maple, normally (99% of the time) on "idle," I scoop out about a gallon and a half of ash once every two or three weeks.
Manitoulin Maples
Member
Beautiful region of Ontario! Spent some time there long ago. First I should say that my Super 27 is about 10 years old so perhaps the mechanism is different on new stoves...what model do you have and how old is it? The lever on mine does require a decent amount of force to engage the spring all the way and then it needs to be held open by holding the lever out. Sometimes I have to open and close the flap a few times if it doesn't close completely because ash can stick around in there and the flap won't seat properly when you close it. Try opening and closing a few times and then pack the hole full of ash again.
Jonathan Corcoran
New Member
I am burning Doug Fir also and I was wondering why I had so little ash. I have a Homestead and have been burning since early Nov. I've not had much ash at all
When I had my Fireview (1976 vintage) non-EPA, I emptied ashes about 3 times a season for about 2 cords of wood. The fire was built right on top of the fire brick, there was no grate. I recently purchased a Vermont Castings Resolute Acclaim 2490 and the ashes have to be emptyed at least once a week. On this stove the fire is built on a grate and ashes fall into an ashpan. I think by building the fire on the ashes over and over again, helps to reduce the ashes even further,
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How often ashes need to be emptied must be dictated by so many factors,including the size of the stove. If my wee Jotul F3 cb was emptied less than twice a week, when burning all day, I'd be struggling to fit any wood on top of the ashes pretty quickly!
I love the ash box and grate in the f3. Maybe because the ash doesn't all fall through, much of it stays the box. So what happens is that, if I don't disturb the ash bed much, about half of what's there falls thru the grate and into the ash box, which I empty about once a week, and that seems to leave a pretty stable amount ash/coals that forms bed about an inch or two deep.... That's with burning mixed hardwoods; oak, ash and birch mostly just now.
Every now and then I'll rake some ash from out of the corners, where it can build up if I let it, but I mostly only use my rake when preparing the bed for a reload.
I find it so easy to empty the ash from the pan... Mess free and takes one minute. Last winter (my first winter as a stover) I experimented for a while not using the ash pan at all, just letting it fill up to the grate and shovelling out the ash from the top. That was too much work for me... and I couldn't see any advantage to it, not with this stove anyway....
I love the ash box and grate in the f3. Maybe because the ash doesn't all fall through, much of it stays the box. So what happens is that, if I don't disturb the ash bed much, about half of what's there falls thru the grate and into the ash box, which I empty about once a week, and that seems to leave a pretty stable amount ash/coals that forms bed about an inch or two deep.... That's with burning mixed hardwoods; oak, ash and birch mostly just now.
Every now and then I'll rake some ash from out of the corners, where it can build up if I let it, but I mostly only use my rake when preparing the bed for a reload.
I find it so easy to empty the ash from the pan... Mess free and takes one minute. Last winter (my first winter as a stover) I experimented for a while not using the ash pan at all, just letting it fill up to the grate and shovelling out the ash from the top. That was too much work for me... and I couldn't see any advantage to it, not with this stove anyway....
edyit
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