Ash containers and Hearth Rugs

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kevinmoelk

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Hearth Supporter
Howdy everyone. Hope everyone had a good Christmas.

Just wanted to ask everyone what they use for an ash container. I read the article on proper ash disposal, and I'm thinking of getting one of those little trash can type ones with the shovel. Wondering if anyone has some home-brew ideas.

On a hearth related note, I spent a few hours researching hearth rugs yesterday. Looked at the fire retardant type rugs, pure fiberglass rugs, etc. I like the 100% wool rugs the best. I did not like many of the designs or shapes of the hearth rugs however. So I spent some time on ebay looking for wool rugs and found a nice rug made in Iran that was just the perfect size in front of the custom hearth 5'3" by 2'1". Buy it now, $16 bucks and $9 shipping. Just a tip in case anyone else is looking for a rug.

-Kevin
 
I bought an ordinary galvanized pail at lowes that came with a locking cover. I believe it is a 5 gallon capacity. Cost about $15. Can hold at least five full stove emptyings.

A suggestion I got from Hearth.net was to use a metallic putty knife for emptying the stove. That has worked out great.
 
(broken link removed to http://www.northlineexpress.com/detail~PRODUCT_ID~5IM-LT0188.asp)

It's a little pricey, but it is big and I hold the lid upside down under the shovel moving the ash from the stove to the can and it really helps keep the mess down.

As far as rugs, I have tile in front of the hearth now so no need.

Here's my new country install:
 

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Nice looking stove CountryGal, not to mention the beautiful hearth. I've looked at those ash containers, I'm on the fence. I'm not sure how much different they would be than a little steel trash can. I figure one could take some expanded metal and put it at the bottom for the double bottom feature.

Kevin, I've heard you aren't suppose to place hot ashes in a galvanized container because the galvanization can produce some noxious fumes. Not sure how true this is. $15 bucks, you're in my price range Kevin, I'm pretty frugal by nature. Never considered a putty knife, might have to try that.

The rug, well, I've got hardwood floors in front of the hearth. Not that I think a stray coal would come out and land beyond the hearth, but just in case. I've also noticed it's pretty messy bringing in the wood, so the rug should save some wear and tear on the floors in that regard. I'm sure the dogs will like the rug too, lol. It's cheap insurance for $25 bucks.
 
My concern with a non-ash-can can would be the bottom falling out at some point--in my living room--when hubby is taking it outside to dump it. That's the reason I stuck with one that is advertised as an ash can. And--I got the matching log bin from my stove store. They didn't have the ash bin when I picked that up.
 
I secound the mini galvanized pail at lowes. I've had mine for two years now and love it. Not sure about the fumes I empty and take it out to the garage.
 
Been using the same, basic small galvanized pail for 12 years now. It is still going strong with no signs of rust or fatigue. When burning steady, I can get about a week or two's worth of ash into it and never worry about hot coals.
 
I use that same trash can from Lowes . . I ladle out the ash into a 2 gal cast iron pot (garage sale), then the pot goes inside the can, then out the door before I get a frown or two from my wife
 
Currently, INSIDE I have a black painted ash can, purchased as a set w/ a tacky sheet metal shovel from a local hearth dealer, probably about a 5 gallon capacity, with a fairly tight fitting lid. It's black painted, w/ a brass plated handle and a wooden grip. It doesn't give off fumes, but the handle looks like it's gotten hot enough to be mildly scorched in a couple places.

Depending on whether I let the stove go out or not, I'll either empty the stove completely, or just put a couple of scoops of ashes with embers in the bucket, and put the lid on it. (I'm not sure if there are any problems with CO leakage out of the bucket in the house or not??? I've never noticed significant smoke from the bucket) The bucket can get HOT, so I watch the clearances on it, and keep it on the brick hearth if I'm not taking it outside right away.

I will take it outside any time it seems to get more than about 1/2 full.

OUTSIDE, I have TWO 20 gallon galvanized garbage cans, with lids, that I purchased from the local hardware store (IIRC about $12.50 each) They sit on our asphalt driveway, with the 'active' can resting on some peices of firebrick. I dump my inside bucket into one of the galvanized cans each time I take it out. When the first can fills, I set it aside, and start filling the second. When the second can starts getting full, I empty the first can, and repeat.

This ensures that any embers are LONG dead and cold, so there won't be any fire hazard from them.

BTW, this isn't an original approach, I picked it up from another poster here. I used to just wait until the stove was seemingly out, then shovel it out, and take the can out and dump it - This always made me nervous about whether the embers really were as dead as I hoped they were...

We don't have a hearth rug, as our stove is strictly a side loader, with a brick hearth under it, so there really isn't a need for one.

Gooserider
 
So far I've only emptied the stove after everything has died out so there has been no hot coals to worry about. I empty the stove into the pail and then place the pail outside. Even if there were coals, the pal would only be in the house for a couple minutes..
 
I got a covered galvanized pail at TSC - maybe 3 or 4 gallon capacity. I put the ash shovel in, cover as much as possible, then dump the ashes in the bucket. Sure cuts down on the dust in the room when cleaning out the stove.
 
Thanks everyone for all the tips and equipment suggestions. I went to Lowe's today and it seems everything was on sale. Picked up a proper ash bucket for $20, two stamped steel fire place shovels for $2.50 a piece There were also some fireplace gloves, wells lamont for $10 so I picked up a pair of those too just for kicks. The reason I bought two shovels was because I plan on drilling holes in one to make my own koal keeper... seems easy enough.

The rake and poker are home made. I was planning on making a straight poker too, but now I think that is unnecessary. Got the FedEx tracking number on the rug today so that is on its way. Stove top thermometer in place... what else do I need?

Thinking I should have a CO and smoke detector in the room, but how far away from the stove? Also need to pick up a fire extinguisher, maybe a small kitchen one. For now I just have the large one I dragged in from the shop since I'm kind of inactive in the shop right now. Any other suggestions for me?

-Kevin
 
A few folks have suggested getting a zippy full of fire extinguishing dry chemical to stash near the stove - possibly as a freebie from your local FD. The idea is that if you get a runaway stove or a chimney fire, you really don't want to dump your pressurized dry-chem extinguisher into the firebox as it might cause flaming stuff to get blown out. Instead just open the door and lob the bag in, then close the door again.

A small to medium fire extinguisher is not a bad idea either, but it should kept near the EXIT door, not next to the stove. (Remember it's a pressurized vessel, which shouldn't be heated...) You don't want to take the chance on getting trapped because you went for the extinguisher - keeping it by the door means you have to go to the exit to get the extinguisher and work your way back to fight the fire, less of a chance of the fire getting between you and the door and cutting off your escape.

Otherwise it sounds like you are getting a fairly good collection of tools, you might also want to think about getting a pair of tongs, which can be handy for moving logs around.

Another thing that I haven't seen you mention is how you are going to get your wood from the storage area to the stove, and / or store the wood you are waiting to burn. You probably don't want to run outside every time you need a split, so something along that line is needed.

I started with a "log sling" that came with a metal frame to hold it up as a storage container when I brought in a load of splits. It was heavy, tended to drop bits everywhere, and was a bit of a PITA generally I also had to get two trips a day when burning heavily. I still use it, but now just as a storage rack.

My log transport is one of these log carts from Harbor Freight. $40, reasonably well made, and carries in about twice as much wood per trip as I could get with the sling. The wheels make it much easier to move however, and even work well dragging it up the nine or ten steps I need to get up to enter the living room - about like using an appliance dolly. I bring in one FULL cart each day, first I burn the leftovers in the sling, next to the stove, then I burn what's on the cart. The next day I transfer whatever's left on the cart (usually about 1/2 a load) into the sling and get another cartful. It means I don't have to go out in the dark. The cart balances well and rolls easily when loaded. I fill it very full, basically up to the front edge evenly, then all the way up to the handle on a slant.

Problems...
1. The innertubes in the wheels seem a bit porous - I have to pump them up every few weeks.
2. The cart frame limits the split length somewhat. Less than about 16" will fall through, more than 22" won't go between the wheels. (and you can't make the cart wider w/o running into problems with door width) This probably wouldn't be a big deal for most folks as few stoves take splits over 20" anyway.
3. You have to be careful when loading to keep the ends of the splits out of the spokes. (not a big deal)
4. The cart is WIDE - you will only have about 1/2" inch of clearance on each side going through standard size doors, so you need to be careful to get it lined up just right. (especially if you have a door at the top of some stairs like I do)
5. Because of the width and the way the wheels are mounted, which makes it nice to move, it does take up a good bit of floor space.

Nothing terrible, and IMHO well worth the effort it saves in bringing the wood in from the pile.

UPDATE - July 07

I still love this cart, and reccomend it highly, but I have run into a few other limitations - nothing drastic, but just stuff to keep in mind...

6. In addition to moving splits inside in the winter, it is good for moving small to medium sized rounds to the splitting block, and green splits to the drying pile. However it does not work well with rounds over about 16" diameter - aside from the challenge of lifting them up to put them in the cart, they put more "point loads" on the pipes, and I found they tend to bend the frame a bit. The way the weight is distributed with a load of rounds doesn't help either, most of the bend was from attempting to lean the cart back to move it. (probably exceeding the weight capacity as well) I was able to "fix" it by reversing the handle this time, but that is probably not a repair that can be done many times...

7. I mentioned the porous tubes in the tires in #1 above, and I would repeat the asians don't know CHIT about making decent rubber products! Both tubes blew out on me this summer, and in each case the failure was because the rubber "spoke protector" strip had disintegrated and allowed a spoke head to puncture the tube. I took the tires apart, removed the peices of protector, and went over the spoke area with a peice of emery cloth to remove any burrs. then I wrapped the area in several layers of friction tape. I then tried patching the tube, using a standard "self vulcanizing" bicycle tube patch kit - the patch held, but the tube promptly blew again next to the patch. >:( I patched that hole, and it blew on the OPPOSITE side of the original patch. >:-( I then gave up and replaced the leaky tube with a GOOD replacement from the local pedal bike shop.

Even though I fixed the rim strip on both tires when I found the problem on the first one, the second tube blew a couple weeks later from a spoke head wear point that had already weakened it. This time I didn't try patching, and just replaced the tube. With the new tubes, I haven't had to air the tires up at all, and have had no problems with the cart since... (The tires themselves seem to be OK, but considering the application, they'd have to REALLY be crappy to ever wear out...

So my revised reccomendation is still positive, but includes fixing the tires as soon as you get it.

Gooserider
 
CountryGal said:
(broken link removed to http://www.northlineexpress.com/detail~PRODUCT_ID~5IM-LT0188.asp)

It's a little pricey, but it is big and I hold the lid upside down under the shovel moving the ash from the stove to the can and it really helps keep the mess down.

As far as rugs, I have tile in front of the hearth now so no need.

Here's my new country install:


I love your setup! This is exactly what I am looking to do with my unit I just ordered. Is that cultured stone? Did you do that yourself or hire someone? It's really beautiful.
 
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