Does anyone have a better way to remove ashes from a wood insert? I don't think there are any inserts that have ash pans and the only way seems to be to shovel the ashes into a bucket. If the ashes are the least bit warm, the resulting dust storm looks like a small mushroom cloud rising out of the bucket. I'm a bit of a newbie, this is only my second season, but I was hoping to start this year with a little less dust.
Ash Removal from Wood Stove Insert
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Here's the simple way to clean out ash without an ash storm.
Make sure stove is warm, at least some coals.
Get an ash hoe (google it) and rake coals forward
Push coals to the right, shovel up ash that's left behind.
Place bucket near the door and slowly push the shovel of ash into the bucket that has ash in it, remove it slowly.
Push all the coals to the left, remove ash that's left behind.
Place bucket near the door and slowly push the shovel of ash into the bucket that has ash in it, remove it slowly.
Push coals to the right to balance all the coals.
The alterntive is to get a damp towel and place that over the pail. Put the shovel in the pail, and then cover the pail with the towel as you pull out the shovel.
Both options work. Remember to leave two inches of ash on the stove floor.
Make sure stove is warm, at least some coals.
Get an ash hoe (google it) and rake coals forward
Push coals to the right, shovel up ash that's left behind.
Place bucket near the door and slowly push the shovel of ash into the bucket that has ash in it, remove it slowly.
Push all the coals to the left, remove ash that's left behind.
Place bucket near the door and slowly push the shovel of ash into the bucket that has ash in it, remove it slowly.
Push coals to the right to balance all the coals.
The alterntive is to get a damp towel and place that over the pail. Put the shovel in the pail, and then cover the pail with the towel as you pull out the shovel.
Both options work. Remember to leave two inches of ash on the stove floor.
I'm sure you are the only person that is looking for a way to remove ashes from your wood stove with less dust. I recently stumbled on a pretty neat ash scoop on eBay. I ordered one and it just arrived. I've only used it a couple of times, but it seems to work great. You can take hot ashes out of your stove without spewing dust all over the house. I have since found it on their website, www.ashdragon.com. You should check it out.
BeGreen said:
No. An ash dragon is what happens after your done "Doing The Dixie Eyed Hustle"
To the OP, what type of an insert? Maybe you might want to add that, so we know what you are burning
I have a can with a lid, and I slowly take the shovel full of ashes out, and cover the shovel with the ash cans cover. Move to ash can ( near door) and dump with the cover over the can. It cuts down on dust, but you are not going to eliminate it.
lschwab8 said:
As I very carefully lower the shovelful of ash onto the bottom of the ash can, I have a shopvac running and hold the hose just above the top opening. All of the exiting dust storm is immeadiately sucked up by the vac. Note do not put the hose too far into the can and also make sure your shop vac is equipped with a drywall dust filter. I get "0" dust outside the can this way.
I never understand this problem when it comes up here. I have no fancy equipment, just a little ash shovel and a bucket, and have never had the ash fly around. Is it just common sense, that you do this carefully and slowly, don't overload the shovel and put it well down into the bucket before letting it slide off? Otherwise, I literally can't figure out why this seems to be an issue for so many folks. Dumping the full bucket into the larger outdoor can in the wind is another story, but indoors I just don't have a problem. Or maybe I just have a higher tolerance for a very faint bit of ash that sometimes gets onto the hearth in front of the stove? I'm no prize-winning housekeeper, but I'm also not a slob so I have a hard time imagining this.
If you do buy a bucket...recommend the one from PLow and Hearth. They are not cheap, but are double walled. That way if you have warm ask, you are in much less danger having it set on something. May not be an issue if you are always the one shoveling things out, but is one safety feature I willingly paid a little more to have.
We almost lost our house as a kid when my grandmother who was babysitting shoveled what looked to her as cold ash,into a paper bag...needless to say, there were some warm ashes in thee, and though she set it outside..it was next to the house, which was made with wood siding. We can see where this went.
For me, it is cool ashes in the bucket, then the bucket outside on the stone patio for a few hours. We also have one of those cheetah vacs...would never pay the price for one new, but they are pretty nifty. I got mine from CL for 1/3 the cost...make for a quick clean up especially when burning soft wood that leaves lots of ash behind.
We almost lost our house as a kid when my grandmother who was babysitting shoveled what looked to her as cold ash,into a paper bag...needless to say, there were some warm ashes in thee, and though she set it outside..it was next to the house, which was made with wood siding. We can see where this went.
For me, it is cool ashes in the bucket, then the bucket outside on the stone patio for a few hours. We also have one of those cheetah vacs...would never pay the price for one new, but they are pretty nifty. I got mine from CL for 1/3 the cost...make for a quick clean up especially when burning soft wood that leaves lots of ash behind.
It depends on your attitude. I've got a soot vac but never use it (too big) except during sweeping. There's always a mess in front of my stove, under the wood ring, dust on the first few windows. Is it bad? I have never been able to keep dust out of the house to begin with, and see very little difference now that we burn 2-3 cords/yr.
There is no need for any special equipment, including vacuums for emptying ashes. I learned this when I was but 6 years old when taking care of the ashed became one of my main chores.
The thing you need to remember with ashes is to handle them even more gently than you would an egg. GENTLY!
Using only a poker, we move the coals to one side, clean the ashes then move the coals again to finish the job on the other side. Use a shovel for removing the ashes. Very gently (even inside the stove), lower the shovel into the ash bucket (whatever you are using), lower it all the way to the bottom without dumping them. Then gently slide the shovel out from under the ashes. Notice I said slide the shovel from the ashes, not slide the ashes off the shovel. There is a big difference. If you learn how to do this you will not have any ash dust to clean up afterwards.
The thing you need to remember with ashes is to handle them even more gently than you would an egg. GENTLY!
Using only a poker, we move the coals to one side, clean the ashes then move the coals again to finish the job on the other side. Use a shovel for removing the ashes. Very gently (even inside the stove), lower the shovel into the ash bucket (whatever you are using), lower it all the way to the bottom without dumping them. Then gently slide the shovel out from under the ashes. Notice I said slide the shovel from the ashes, not slide the ashes off the shovel. There is a big difference. If you learn how to do this you will not have any ash dust to clean up afterwards.
I have a two quart cooking pan hanging next to the stove.
Simply hold inside of stove and as quick as you want, shovel
your ash off. Count to two when you're done, and remove.
So simple, even a caveman can do it.
Simply hold inside of stove and as quick as you want, shovel
your ash off. Count to two when you're done, and remove.
So simple, even a caveman can do it.
eujamfh said:
Totally agree. That's what I have and it's absolutely been worth the few extra bucks it costs. I think I got mine from Northlineexpress.com, though, which has the lowest prices on everything.
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