cleaning a pellet stove

[chrisasst]

What do you use to vacuum out your pellet stove? I used a small shop vac last year which was a pain in the you know what.. (clogs etc..) my bigger shop vac through dust every where....

so what can I buy for rather cheap of clean my stove.. I have heard of a certain type of ash vacuum but I can't seem to find it.

 

[cac4]

You can just go to the hardware store and get a super-duper filter for the shop vac. the one that comes with it isn't adequate for really fine particles, like drywall dust or ash, and it just blows out the back. I think they are classified as "HEPA" filters. 20-30 bucks at HD.

 

[Xena]

Buy some drywall bags for your shop vac. Your local Home Depot and/or Lowes
should carry them. Make sure you give the stove ample cool down time so
you're not dealing with hot ash that can cause a fire inside the vac.

 

[imacman]

Buy some drywall bags for your shop vac. Your local Home Depot and/or Lowes
should carry them. Make sure you give the stove ample cool down time so
you're not dealing with hot ash that can cause a fire inside the vac.

The only problem with this (as I found out), is that the drywall filter bags don't fit every model shop vac out there. I have a Rigid that I bought about 6 years ago, and nobody makes a bag that fits it...I ended up getting the HEPA filter mentioned above, and that works great...plus, you can shake the dust out of it after each use (outside, obviously...LOL), and they can also be washed out, dried, and used over and over.

 

[cristiansmom]

How often do you have to vacuum the stove??

 

[Yardbird]

Use a vac when you clean your stove. Pay careful attention to the burn pot holes(at least on a Harman, not sure about other stoves) and to clean the exhaust fan. I put a hepa filter on my 16 gallon shop vac, and once I empty the ash pan, vaccum everything else. Make the job pretty easy, and no exhaust gets in the house from the shop vac. After the job is all done, wash out the filter, and let it dry for next time.