Ash tray Empty or leave ashes

[Rt22]

Have PE Alderlea T5, stove is great.. Question.. I never use the ash tray, whenever ashes need to be removed, I shovel out as needed. Is there any performance benefit to leaving some level of ash in the ash drawer? if there is a performance benefit, is there any downside to leaving ash in the drawer such as odor?
thanks B

 

[madison]

After completely cleaning and make sure that it is completely closed, leave it full, it helps reduce the air leak around the trap door.

Note trap door can be incompletely closed due to chuncks, debris, etc. clean it, and leave it closed.

 

[dmmoss51]

The Ash also has an insulative effect making the coal bed hotter. I used to religously clean out all my stove ash weekly. THose next few fires were a real bear and I would not have much of a coal bed for reloading. Then I would build up ash again and it would be much better. Now I leave the ash drawer alone and just clean the ash out of the firebox but not completely (ie I leave the shopvac out of the picture).

 

[Rt22]

Thanks I thought leaving ash in drawer might help reduce an extra natural air and thus help prolong burn times. Will make sure nothing catches to leave ash pan door open at all You guys get any smell coming back with ash in the drawer

 

[Jags]

I have never noticed a smell from the ash pan.
Just as a side note, most mfgs also recommend leaving a minimum of 1" of ash on the floor of the stove.

 

[Rt22]

thanks for response guys

 

[Ashful]

I empty my ash pans twice per week, which has nothing to do with the 2" of ash I leave in the floor of the stove, at all times. I don't see a problem with leaving the ash pan full thru the burning season, but I'd think one would want to clean it out in the spring. Left cold and un-used, a substance like ash has a way of acting as a desiccant, holding moisture, and possibly rusting out your ash pan over the years. Also, you'll want to empty that ash drawer out in the off-season to look at gaskets, cement, leaks, etc.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We've burned wood for many years and our present stove is the first we've had without an ash pan. We wondered. Now we love it with no ash pan. As others have stated, it helps to keep some ash in the stove. I don't mind a couple inches in the stove as it seems to help the fires. We've been burning off and on since September and still have not emptied ashes. It will need done soon though.

 

[DTrain]

Well I read this thread a few days ago and decided not to empty and see if I noticed a difference.
Last night I started a fire around 9:30pm on some coals left over from a small afternoon fire. Got'r cranking and shut down the air. At 6:30 this morning I could still see embers going and had a stove top near 225F or so. Which I though was good. But I left the stove alone until around 1pm when we got back home. When I opened the door I used the shovel to flatten out the ash and make a trench NS in front of Primary inlets. In doing so I uncovered a hand full of still glowing embers. I took my knife and cut ribbons from some pine kindling and tossed It on and blew. Flames! Lit the fire sans matches or paper! Think I'll continue to leave the ashes in.

 

[BrotherBart]

On my old stove after fooling with it for a season I let the ash pan fill up to the grate. And those same ashes were in that pan when I pulled the stove out and replaced it 21 years later.

 

[Ashful]

Well I read this thread a few days ago and decided not to empty and see if I noticed a difference.
Last night I started a fire around 9:30pm on some coals left over from a small afternoon fire. Got'r cranking and shut down the air. At 6:30 this morning I could still see embers going and had a stove top near 225F or so. Which I though was good. But I left the stove alone until around 1pm when we got back home. When I opened the door I used the shovel to flatten out the ash and make a trench NS in front of Primary inlets. In doing so I uncovered a hand full of still glowing embers. I took my knife and cut ribbons from some pine kindling and tossed It on and blew. Flames! Lit the fire sans matches or paper! Think I'll continue to leave the ashes in.

I assume you mean to say this could not be done in your stove with an empty ash pan? I'm not sure I get the difference, as you're supposed to leave a good 2" bed of ashes in the floor of the firebox, anyway. This should isolate you from the ash tray. At your measure of 15.5 hours, I'd still have a solid coal bed, and stove top around 200, with the ash pan empty.

 

[DTrain]

At your measure of 15.5 hours, I'd still have a solid coal bed, and stove top around 200, with the ash pan empty.

Toot toot.

There's a big ol grate in the floor of the thing. Hard to insulate it from the ash pan. I'm just in year two, lots to still learn about using my stove. This forum is a huge help, like finding out you don't need to empty the ash pan. Thanks for the 2" rule by the way.

 

[Sprinter]

A couple of inches of ashes are good. Keeps the coals hot longer.

Ash pans are a nuisance. Keep it closed. They tend to be a source of air leaks anyway.

When you do clean out, use a flat shovel and a metal ash can and get it outside right away for safety from CO gas.

 

[BobUrban]

Dtrain - reading your post I get the idea that your were cleaning out your stove prior to every burn? If so, as mentioned, you were were robbing performance for sure. At first I questioned the 2" rule but quickly discovered that, as always, the Hearth was spot on. Ash has superior insulating qualities and will certainly help hold heat while extending burn cycles and that insulating quality also keeps coals hiding in there a LONG time. Like many days potentially!! Ash from the stove should always be treated as if it has hot coals buried in there somewhere and disposed of with that mind set. Mine all go in the fire pit but for those that do not have that option - please, please, please use a sealed steel can and get them outside asap.

 

[ddahlgren]

Why not just cut a fire brick to fit the grate and cover it to eliminate the 'feature'?

 

[Jags]

Some grates are not really removable (as in the Isle Royale). It is an integral part of the floor of the stove. There really wouldn't be much advantage over simply letting the pan fill up. Different story for the "plug" types.

Personally, I like my ash pan. It almost doubles the time before I need to dig the stove back out. The door has its own seal and it is a grate system, not a plug. Literally brushing my poker rod over the grate will knock the ash down to the pan.

 

[Ashful]

I'm with Jags. I have a big ol grate in the floor of my Jotuls, just like Dtrain's, but it doesn't prevent me from keeping a few inches of ash above it. Once each day, I run a shovel back and forth across the grate, to knock the ash bed from 5" depth back to 2", and empty the pan 2x per week. What could be easier?

 

[logger]

I'm with Jags. I have a big ol grate in the floor of my Jotuls, just like Dtrain's, but it doesn't prevent me from keeping a few inches of ash above it. Once each day, I run a shovel back and forth across the grate, to knock the ash bed from 5" depth back to 2", and empty the pan 2x per week. What could be easier?

You get 3" of new ash every day? As for for easiesT, for me its not emptying the tray until the seasons over. Absolutely no point to it unless I want to start over with a few fires that aren't really up to par. I just shovel a little out every other week and leave the rest to protect my embers for longer burns and better fires.

 

[Ashful]

logger, when the ash is light and fluffy, it doesn't take much actual ash volume to sit 3" high. It takes me 4 days to fill the ash pan, so I guess it's less than an inch of fine or compressed ash per day. But, when I open the stove doors, it will be many inches deep, before I push a shovel thru to break it up / knock it down.

 

[firefighterjake]

As others have said . . . depends on the ash pan and stove. Love my Oslo's ash pan . . . like Joful I stir up the ash/coal -- ash falls into the pan, most of the coals stay in the fire box . . . cleaning out the ash is a quick and easy job . . . with the only caveat that I have to make sure no ash has fallen behind the pan and built up so the pan will fit back neatly without affecting the door.

 

[DTrain]

Dtrain - reading your post I get the idea that your were cleaning out your stove prior to every burn? .

Yes, like a proud papa, I'd dutifully clean her out. Duh! I am now enjoying the benefits. Sure is nice to still start a fire with out a match more than 12 hours later. I went from a 6:30am load that took me til 8:30 tonight, opened the door chucked in some small splits and some pine ribbons, whoosh fire!

I'm in the don't bother emptying at all camp.

 

[Ashful]

So, I emptied my ash pans last night, and decided I'd take some photos after today's burn. Loaded at 6:30am, and these photos taken around 6pm, so this is at 11.5 hours into the burn. Empty ash pan, on two old Jotuls.

Stove 1, 15' chimney, draft set at 5% - 10%:


Stove 2, 27' chimney, draft at 0%:


Coals, about the same in both (same photo, with & without flash):

 

[DTrain]

So, I emptied my ash pans last night, and decided I'd take some photos after today's burn. Loaded at 6:30am, and these photos taken around 6pm, so this is at 11.5 hours into the burn. Empty ash pan, on two old Jotuls.

Wow!...just imagine if you'd left the ashes in!

 

[Huntindog1]

I use my ash pan. I know many not like an ash pan and I am not sure why as I have found some advantages.

First before you load a new load of wood always push your ashes back to the back. I use my ash rake like a mini bull dozer to push the ashes back and I press them against the back wall pretty firmly to compress the ashes. Then i rake the hot coals forward, the heavy chunky pieces seem to pull forward with the ash rake and most the fine ashes stay back. As you want the hot coals raked forward. The importance of all this you now have alot less ashes as what you thought you had was mostly fluff. Once you push them back and compress the ashes you have like only half or less of what you thought you had so most times you dont need to clean out the stove. just reload.

Then once you do need to remove ashes the ash pan works great for me as my stove has a large ash pan under the fire box and there is a small steel plate I remove from the floor of the stove and just rake the ashes thru that hole. Simple as that. Doing this in the fire box there is a small amount of draft and any dust I generate gets sucked up the flue and not into my house. So using that stove draft to your advantage while removing ashes is a big plus of using a ash pan.

No one thing people may not do before raking the ashes into the ash pan is once again to compress the ashes against the back wall to remove all the air cause the fluff as your ash pan will hold much more if you deflate your ashes. Plus deflated ashes are less like to become air born and create dust to get into the house.

 

[logger]

Hunting Dog,
You're running a completely different stove that probably runs much different. Not sure where your intake is, but the Oslo's is up front and down low. For this reason, I simply rake the embers forward to reload, but then I groom a nice path in them from the front intake area (doghouse) all the way to the back of my stove. Then I reload and that path gives some awesome airflow..hence its nickname, "tunnel of love." I also create the same path in the ash when starting a new fire. I've found its the best way to run my Oslo.