Ash pan or no ash pan

ratsrepus said:

the issue I had with the jotul is, During heavy burning season it had to be emptied just about every other day. If you forgot, you made a big mess when the pan is removed.

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If you rake the ashes thru each day, then yes. But I found that just leaving them alone and letting them naturally fall thru the grate seemed to keep the right amount of ash in the belly, and slowed my required emptying schedule. I’d normally empty each of mine (I was running multiple Jotul Firelights) twice per week, when burning 24/7. I was burning mostly walnut and ash, in those years.

Diabel said:

Does that little opening really work on the BK in terms of ash removal. I have a hard time imagining it. Hence the bucket and shovel purchase.

Also, the opening nor the actual ash pan has no seal, it just sits there (no gasket). Is this air intrusion considered epa hole?

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In my opinion, ash plug systems all share the same fatal flaw, it’s impossible to rake ash down the hole in a hot stove, without raking a whole lot of hot coals into the hole. As a result, my pans would be so damn hot that the handle would burn me even thru my hearth gloves.

My solution for the BK Ashfords was to get a 4” round cast iron shower drain style grate, which I drop in the hole when I remove the plug. It’s a perfect fit, and ends up flush with the brick floor. Then I can just rake the mess of ash and coals across this grate with an ash rake. The ash falls thru, the coals stay in the stove.

Others have talked about using a basket to sift the ash from the coals, to make these ash plug systems work for them. Seems like a lot of work and mess, but I’ve not tried that.

No issues with the plug leaking, that is where it’s superior to Jotul’s ash grate system. Once that plug is dropped in place, and ash compacts around it, there is no way it’s going to leak.

maple1 said:

Another thing with an ash pan is you have to deal with what is in it right away if you want to use the stove right away. So you need to handle & carry it however far you have to carry it then deal with ash that will likely have hot coals in it and get them in a safe space until they go out. Some have a good setup for that, others it can be challenging. I just scoop some ash out with a small scoop into the bucket then slide the bucket aside and carry on. That could be covered if necessary. Then by the time I need to empty my bucket it is full cold and I can dump it without hot coal worry - after carrying it more easily by the bucket handle. I just found a full ash tray very awkward to handle, with no handle and wide configuration. There might be good ones out there that are easier to handle.

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This problem is completely solved by simply having a second empty ash pan on hand to swap with the full pan.

The only ash pan system I like is the Woodstock progress hybrid, its more like a shaker grate, from videos ive seen they seem really efficient, with that said, I don't know have an ash pan on the bk, and I've never really used the ash pan on the us stove, it made more of a mess with dust then simply and carefully shoveling ash into a metal bucket.

I like the Woodstock system so much that I sold my non-ashpan Fireview and bought an ashpanned Palladian.
They definitely have the design of their grates optimized.

Diabel said:

Does that little opening really work on the BK in terms of ash removal. I have a hard time imagining it. Hence the bucket and shovel purchase.

Also, the opening nor the actual ash pan has no seal, it just sits there (no gasket). Is this air intrusion considered epa hole?

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yes it works just fine. not sure on the EPA hole, good question though

I was hoping BKVP would get involved here

The “EPA hole” has nothing to do with the ash plug, it refers to the hole in the inlet air control, designed to guarantee a specified minimum air flow / burn rate, when the thermostat closes the flapper. Our slang here, “riding on the hole”, refers to turning the thermostat down low enough that you defeat the spring function and keep that flapper slammed shut.

regardless of how usefull an ashpan is, do they make an insert that has an ashpan?

ratsrepus said:

I was hoping BKVP would get involved here

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His is sealed with silicone on his king, he shovels out the ash. He said doing this got rid of the middle part of the load burning up first. I sealed mine down a few days ago, but haven’t burned with it sealed off yet