Wanting to upgrade my woodstove...advise

[jorswift]

Ok all. Just as the title states, I would like to upgrade my woodstove. I currently am using an Englander style, Summer's Heat from Lowes. While it has been a great stove I just have one complaint. The mess and lack of ease of cleaning ash. I know you will always have a mess with wood and fire inside. But I am trying to minimize it as much as possible. Especially the "flying" ash. Seems we have to dust ALL the time now while stove is burning.

I would like the new stove to have an ash shaker or grate with pan directly under. Can anyone assist in models of stoves that have such a thing? Other thing I would like is glass viewing area. We like to see the fire.

 

[EbS-P]

How often to you empty ash?

 

[jorswift]

How often to you empty ash?

Really depends on the weather, wood type and how much we are burning. Right now with temps in the teens about 1-2 times per week. When temps were in the negatives it was like every 2 days or more. When temps are in the 20-30s about once a week.

 

[Rickb]

I wasted the money and time of buying and installing the ash tray on my stove. used it a couple times and realized its not needed and really didnt help with anything. Now I just shovel it out into a bucket once every 2-3 weeks.

How much wood you burning that you need to empty it twice a week?

 

[reaperman1]

If there’s a clean and easy way to clean ash it must be a secret. Your house shouldn’t be getting dusty from whatever is happening inside you firebox. If your running a blower fan, yes your moving dust around the house but that doesn’t mean it’s being created by the stove. As far as emptying your ashes frequently, that depends on the species of wood you’re burning. When I burn oak I get way less ashes than when I’m burning Ash, firewood.

 

[stovelark]

Yep, we've all thought the ashpan is the cure all, most will use it for a while, then let is just go and shovel out occasionally. I've found just keep burning, keep the dogshack (air inlet spot of stove) clear and burn baby burn. Take out the ash when its convenient. Yes it will build up and start taking actual firebox room, thats when I'm inclined to take it out. Try to shovel it out carefully, hopeful for less dust flareup. Again I find ashpans mostly overrated. In cast stoves in fact, just another spot for an airleak... Stay warm, embers live longer in ash too.

 

[stoveliker]

Are you taking the ashes out when you still have significant coals glowing?
That helps (for me) with having sufficient draft that sucks ashes up the flue.
Also, when I shovel them out, I tilt my ash bucket so that the shovel is parallel to the wall of the bucket and let the ashes slide off very lightly. Keep the bucket as close to the stove as possible and anything that comes flying out (which is negligible) gets sucked into the open door .

 

[brenndatomu]

I've had a ton of different stoves and wood furnaces and have found that there is only one way to do an ash pan that is worth anything at all...and that is to have a built in open grate in the firebox, and a sealed ash drawer, with gasketed ash pan door.
The stoves that have a plug on the firebox floor that has to be pulled out, ashes chased into the lil hole, and plug reinstalled, in a way that won't leak (possibly causing an overfire) aren't worth diddly.

 

[stoveliker]

The stoves that have a plug on the firebox floor that has to be pulled out, ashes chased into the lil hole, and plug reinstalled, in a way that won't leak (possibly causing an overfire) aren't worth diddly.

I have a stove with that system. I've not heard of my brand of stoves overfiring because of this (yet).

(I don't use the ash drawer though)

 

[brenndatomu]

I have a stove with that system. I've not heard of my brand of stoves overfiring because of this (yet).

(I don't use the ash drawer though)

Is the drawer sealed? If it is then it can't easily cause an air leak...it's the stoves where they just hang a steel pan under the stove for the ashes to fall in (and float all over the house) that have the higher air leak potential

 

[stoveliker]

It's not sealed

 

[shoot-straight]

Yep, I have Same issue, but just have to deal with it . Shoveling it out doesn't send it airborne, it's when you dump it (as gently as possible) into the bucket. I have an ash pan. Don't use it. Not worth it

 

[brenndatomu]

There was a dustless ash scooper someone made a few years ago...don't recall the name now (Ash Dragon maybe?) but it was basically a large enclosed scooper, the front and top opened up by squeezing the handle, you shoved it into the ashes, then dropped the lid and took the whole thing outside to empty. I made one from some old ductwork, but not sure what happened to it...think I sold it with a stove...Kuuma furnace has a built in ash pan (sealed like I mentioned earlier) so really wouldn't have much need for it anymore.

 

[begreen]

I just cleaned out our stove yesterday. We have been burning some maple so there was a fair amount of ash and clinkers. I did it slowly and carefully, easing the shovel to the bottom of the ash can before dropping. There was very little dust from this procedure.

 

[jbart]

To avoid excess ash flying around I use a little ash bucket that I stick right in the stove and scoop it out. If I do this once every week or two I keep ash levels maintained inside the stove and keep the wife happy when she is dusting.

 

[GG Woody]

I made a square ash bucket from sheet metal. It's about 30" tall, a couple inches wider than a square shovel and a couple inches bigger than it filled with ash, it has a handle on the side and I can prop it at about 45° and slide the ash gently off the shovel. It works well but I don't use it often as I burn almost exclusively Douglas Fir.