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I have the vacuum you are looking at. It has it's advantages; however, I have had separation/breakage in two hoses already - the second is now duct taped, & the hose costs $30.00. In addition, I too bought a mini shop vac this season because it has much more power/suction, particularly for cleaning the duct work, & the shop vac hose is easier to get into the ducting with. With my enviro empress, it only takes at most an hour shut down before all embers are extinguished with the pellets I am using. It may take longer if you are getting a lot of dense buildup or clinkers.
Thanks for the replies folks. My only problem with buying off eBay or directly from a dealer in the US is of course warranty issues and replacement parts. I was at the Love-Less homepage and all the Canadian dealers listed for their products don't show them on their web pages.
I must admit, I like the drywall filter idea. I'll look into that.
I'm using a 5 gallon shop-vac with the drywall filter as well. I just make sure I let the stove cool down sufficently before use (a couple of hours or so) and I've had no problems. Plus, as we have hardwood floors throughout the house, it's doubling as our main vacuum (The Central Vac in this house is horrible).
I just cleaned my stove yesterday and used a 1 gallon shop vac for all the stove cleaning worked great, good suction, very low cost. I used a 5-gallon shop vac for the vent pipe. Both have fine dust filter (dry-wall filters). I am sure the stove vacs are very nice but too much money for me.
Wasn't implying it was "stupid" user error...my bad..lol. Just found it strange you had those problems when I've had the exact opposite experience.
You are right, though. If I wasn't so cheap, I'd have the ashvac as well--No more leaving the shop vac in plain site for a while to make sure it doesn't have an internal melt-down.
Hey Shane no problemo buddy! I was'nt takin anything to heart hey!
I've had my EarthStove for about 10 years now and i think i've mastered the art of woodpelleting 101.......hahahaa....or at least i think i have!!
A buddy of mine had a shop vac and did what you do with his parents wood stove. HE was alittle more careless and while his parents were away on vacation he managed to burn there house down....or as you would call it.......a 'melt-down' ouchies!
i have a small shop vac, i let my insert cool down for 15-20 mins, use a paint brush to move the ash down the little ash holes into the ash pan while the exhaust fan is running to take the loose dust out
then i use the shop vac while the insert is still warm, just to get that extra bit of ash out and clean the seal around the door, havent had a problem yet, and never have the insert down for more than 20 minutes
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