Red tinted ash?

[ryanwc]

Is it normal that the ash I shovel from the insert has a red tinge?

Never noticed it when we just had an old-fashioned open fireplace. But then, we didn't use it that much and I didn't scoop that much ash.

The red tinge isn't everywhere. Much of it is what I considered normal - grayish white with some charred black chunks, etc.

I'm burning 2-year old wood from a city firewood sale. I don't know what species, but I suspect it's mostly from ash trees cut down during the height of the emerald ash borer epidemic.

 

[pen]

Must be from minerals that the tree soaked up during it's lifetime?

If everything is in good order, I wouldn't worry.

Got any pics of it?

 

[Sodbuster]

Must be from minerals that the tree soaked up during it's lifetime?

If everything is in good order, I wouldn't worry.

Got any pics of it?

Very common

 

[ryanwc]

It's tough to google 'red ash' because you get only pages about that kind of wood. When I finally thought to google pink ash, I got a lot of hits, including some from books from the 20's and before. It's clearly a common thing, and those old hits ensured me it wasn't some strange modern chemical or metallic substance. I just never knew or noticed that wood ash sometimes comes in that color.

 

[Sawset]

It's tough to google 'red ash' because you get only pages about that kind of wood. When I finally thought to google pink ash, I got a lot of hits, including some from books from the 20's and before. It's clearly a common thing, and those old hits ensured me it wasn't some strange modern chemical or metallic substance. I just never knew or noticed that wood ash sometimes comes in that color.

Some of those old books are interesting reads. They are coming at it from a different perspective, from a time when wood heat was far more common.