Ash Pan/No Ash Pan? To Scoop or Let Drop?

I've got some unnamed hunk of iron stove that came with my house, I moved in last summer and I'm looking to replace it for next season. Anyhow, that's a different thread. This question is about the ash pan. The piece I have now has no pan, I just shovel the ashes out when I feel like it, or when it just gets too full. When I was a kid, we had a wonderful, antiquated Royal that had a huge ashpan. It seems like it would be every three days that my grandfather would balance it against his hip and tote it out to the field to dump. Huge capacity, never any hurry to empty it. Without an ashpan, I have to let the fire get down pretty low, or go out in order to remove the ashes. Sure, I can scrape around and leave some coals to fire it back up, but it's nothing like the convenience of that big ashpan we had when I was a kid.
In my contemplations of a new stove, I've noticed all the ashpans look so dainty and small in the online pics. Are they a demanding inconvenience? Do they insist upon being emptied daily during the dead of winter with hardcore burning going on? Do they have to be carried to the dumpsite, or do they empty into an ashcan easy enough? I've so far heavily considered (but no committments until July or Sept) the Pleasant Hearth 1800 and 2200 sq ft, and the Englander 13s and 30s. Should I go for the pan, or opt to scoop? What if the stove I want has an ashpan? There's no way to bypass that in favor of scooping, is there?

I'm for the ash pan, and I only empty it about once a week during the full burn season.
Personal preference.
To each his own.

Incorrect. Remove some ash, as needed, in the morning when you are down to coals before you reload. Do not remove the coals, just the ash.

I've owned five stoves in a relatively short period of time (four years) and will be purchasing a sixth stove in a few months (a 30NC). Of the five I have used, four have had ash pans. Of those four, two were worth using (Encore and Defiant). With the Encore and the Defiant, I can go one to three weeks without emptying the ash pan, but that has more to do with how well the ash burns down than it does having a good sized ash pan. The Heritage I will scope out some ash once a day or once every other day.

Ash pans should not be a deciding factor in purchasing a stove. A well designed ash pan is a bit convenient, but not a life changer. If you have an ash pan and just want to scope, just let the ash pan fill up and scope out from the firebox as needed.

My first stove did not have an ash pan, the next 3 did.
I would never go back to one without an ash pan again.
On a hot stove, no matter how careful you are, you can not shovel the ash out without it flying all over the place and dust settling everywhere.
You can reduce it somewhat by letting the stove cool down, but why shut a stove down just to remove ashes?
Bottom line-get the ash pan! It's a thousand times cleaner and more convenient.

I think ash pan vs. no-ash pan often comes down to two deciding factors: if you've used them in the past and if the ones you've used in the past or present is a decent sized one.

I personally like the ash pan in my Oslo . . . when I'm burning 24/7 in the winter I dump it about every three days. This time of year with just morning and evening fires I'm dumping it once a week or so.

I guess if I was to look at another stove I would see the size of the ash pan . . . and see how convenient it is . . . having heard about some stoves where you have to remove a plug in the base to push the ash into the ash pan . . . well that just seems darn inconvenient.

Then I guess my stoves are magic since I can remove ash from every stove without fly ash issue. In fact, when the stove is hotter it makes ash removal easier since the draft is stronger and any fly ash goes up the chimney.

Bottom line is get a stove that heats your home, whether it has an ash pan or not.

Even with a good ash pan system the ash does not always fall into the ash pan and usually builds up inside the firebox like in the Encore and Defiant. This results in the user either having to shovel out the ash or rake the ash around in the firebox to get it to fall into the ash pan. Which is the same amount of work as shoveling the ash out of the stove and into a bucket.

How much ash do you guys leave in the firebox versus forcibly raking it thru the grate into the ash pan? Seems I can fill my ash pan in three days if I rake the ash thru the lower grate every day. If I don't do that, and just build each day's fire on top of the old ash in the firebox, most of it seems to eventually burn (wasn't already reduced to true "ash", I guess), and I can go more than a week between emptying the ash pan.

I leave 1-2 inches of ash . . . usually when it starts to build up to the lip of the door I'll take my shovel or a stick of kindling and just move the ash around a bit to cause it to drop down into the ash pan through the grates, leaving the larger bits of coal behind.

False statement Very untrue. It is very possible to empty ashes without making dust fly all over the place.


We've owned several stoves over the years because we've moved a few times. The Fireview is the first stove we've owned that has no ash pan. We were a bit concerned but found it to not be an issue at all. In the coldest part of winter we will pull some ashes out about every 4th day. Spring and fall sometimes we can go 2 weeks before removing some ashes. We always leave 1-2" of ash in the bottom of the stove.

It is simple to just use the poker and slide the hot coals to the back of the stove, scoop out some ash and then slide the coals to the front and finish the ash removal. Then just smooth out the coals and add wood. We usually do this in the late afternoon.

Just remember that when you handle ashes, you must handle them as if they are the most fragile thing you own. Move slowly and never, never, never dump the ashes off the ash shovel. Gently....very gently, lower the shovel into the ash container and then rather than sliding the ashes off the shovel, slide the shovel out from under the ashes. Result? No ash dust.

I wouldn't let the ashpan be much of a deciding factor. My last stove (pre-EPA) had an ashpan, and I really liked it. I bought a summit classic a few years ago that has an ashpan but no grate, just a small hole to scrape the ashes into. The problem for me is that the ashpan is rather shallow so you can't really get many ashes to fall into it... so I just pull the ashpan out and use a shovel.

If a stove I liked had a well designed ashpan I would use it, if it didn't I would use a shovel. Pick a stove you like and go for it.

Scoop.

That sounds to me like way more work than just sticking a poker in there and sweeping it through the ashes a couple of times.
Sometimes I think that maybe the people who claim they can remove ashes from a stove with none of them escaping have never had direct sunlight shining on the stove door; There may be more ash flying around than they think there is...
The Keystone has a great ash pan but I'm making do with the Fireview, which has none. The problem for me is that the hearth mount setup only allows me to open the door to 90*, which gives me less room to work. I've got a couple of ideas to make it easier but haven't implemented them yet. One idea is to cut most of the handle off the shovel...

Ash pans are very useful when they work right. The one on my Defiant Encore worked great and the ashes were easily cleaned when swept into it. The one on my Isle Royale doesn't work near as good because the grate openings are smaller and tend to clog up. It's easier...and messier...to shovel the ashes out of the stove.

Woody, it is not a lot of work at all. Very simple and so are emptying the ashes without the dust. I learned how to do this on my own when I was a very little boy so I think grown men should be able to figure it out. Perhaps you have too large of a shovel if you are talking about cutting some of the handle off?

Woody, check this out: http://store.woodstove.com/product.php?productid=16280&cat=298&page=1

(Sorry, I can't seem to make a link with this new forum so you'll have to copy and paste.)

There are several of these on the market and these are a perfect fit for the Fireview as the lip of the ash pan is at the right height for the Fireview.

I can't speak for the stoves you are considering, so I'll digress there. I do have one, but I don't use it anymore. After a few times emptying the pan, small piles of ash would build up on the floor of where the ash pan slides and get behind the pan. It eventually led to the ash pan door not closing tightly. This can cause an excess of air at the base of the fire. I have a smallish stove, and don't put nearly as much wood through it as others do here. I let the pan fill up over the grate and have not looked back. I see it as just one more potential for an air leak. I've found leaving more ash holds coals longer for a re-light in the morning, just less room to add more wood.

That link worked fine for me, Dennis.
My door only opens to 90*, then it hits the fireplace front wall. My shovel is the normal size but I want to be able to shovel with my right hand and then spin the shovel and dump with the (short, cut-off) handle pointing out into the room (shovel would be parallel with the door side of the stove.) I'm going to fashion a simple pan that is about level in height with the bottom of the door opening. I think that will work well...and I can save $102. The Ash Dragon looks good; Scoops 'em inside the stove which would make it easy to avoid any flying ash. Only problem is, it costs money too. :lol: Another thing I don't like about shoveling is that you might be able to push most of the coals out of the way but you always get some glowing chunks in the pan. With the Keystone's ash pan the only thing you remove is cold ash. All the coals burn up in the stove since they can't drop through the grate until they are quite small. I don't like throwing even a few BTUs out. To me, the Fireview would be the perfect stove with an ash pan and big glass...

Life is as baffling to me now as it was when I was a boy. Growing older didn't help me figure anything else out, and emptying ashes is no exception. :lol:

The ash pan is one of the main reasons I got rid of the Fireview and opted for another Keystone. I've cut way down on dusting this place which makes the wifey happy. I empty mine every other day so I don't forget but I could probably go 3-4 days. It would be nice to have a little larger ash pan that I could let go for a week but I'm pretty satisified.

I agree with firefighterjake. I have the same stove, a Jotul Oslo. Awesome stove. We burn 4 cords a year. We don't stoke it 24/7, but fires every night & in the morning, plus 24 hrs a day on the weekends. We empty the pan no more than once a week. I bought one of those 30+- gallon metal trash cans, and it sits out on the walkway, and I just dump the pan into that. Very easy, plenty of room to do so. Overall, I'd say go for the ashpan, at least on the Oslo it's way convenient.

Gotta say ,I like an ash pan on my King it's real convenient and holds a months worth easily at least the way i burn.

Ash pans work great if you have an open grate stove but I think pulling a plug and funneling ashes through a 2.5"x2.5" hole just stinks in my opinion.
Nothings better than a good ol 22G steel can and a good ash scoop.
Just my opinion.

I hear you,but the baby powder consistency the King leaves behind makes it a snap 1 minute and done.Plus no dust is an added bonus for me anyways.