We're wrapping up our 3rd season with a BK Princess 29 insert. Getting the hang of it, hopefully getting our wood supply into a better rhythm (the spring shoulder season keeps finding me digging into wood not seasoned enough sadly). I'm a new woodstove operator but hope to use it for many years to come. Given one of the main hazards of wood burning when done correctly is simply the emissions, I want to get good at reducing ash and dust both indoors and out. Building up a supply to only burn very seasoned wood is a priority for sure.
Indoors, our stove generates quite a bit of dust. Some dust in our room is just from daily life but quite a bit no doubt comes from the stove. I think this is during reloads and especially during ash cleanout. What are your tips for reducing ash in those instances?
Currently I know what I do is not ideal. My only tools for reloads are leather gloved hands and a poker that came with the stove. I do the usual by-the-book prep to reload, then when the door is slowly opened, I use the poker tool to gently push any ash off the interior lip of the firebox or the front fire bricks, then use the poker to carefully drag larger coals toward the front/front-center of the firebox. Then I place logs in gently, front-to-back for bottom layer and side-to-side for top layer, usually smaller stuff on bottom and bigger stuff on top to fill that vertical space. If fire died down I put smaller kindling near the coals and leave door cracked until it catches. Or if cold starting, I setup kindling on top of a 3/4-full load and start fire from top, filling remaining load when it's ready for bypass closing. All this mostly works well but I could use a better rake or something to move coals around without disturbing ash as much.
For ash cleanout, I've got even more room for improvement. I use a 3gal metal bucket and a metal shovel to carefully scoop out ash, leaving about 1/2 to 1" layer of ash behind. My tools are similar to this but unpainted metal. I hold the bucket up against the firebox lip so most dust can vent out the flue, and I clean ash when the stove is warm (cat thermometer around 8-9pm) to help maintain draft up and out. But the bucket opening extends beyond the firebox opening and I see ash dust rise out above the bucket and into my living room. I also rub down paint on the stove lip in this process. Then I have a heavy and very hot bucket of ash and coals to set outside, while I then dust off my stove and living room. I run an air purifier while doing this and I'm sure it helps (it definitely fills up with dust!) but still many surfaces get dusty, stove included. Every now and then I also wipe the stove top with a moist cotton rag to try and reduce dust getting blown out by the fan.
How are you cleaning out ash and reloading the stove to minimize dust? Any favorite bucket and ash shovel combo that works well to do it all within the P29 firebox?
Indoors, our stove generates quite a bit of dust. Some dust in our room is just from daily life but quite a bit no doubt comes from the stove. I think this is during reloads and especially during ash cleanout. What are your tips for reducing ash in those instances?
Currently I know what I do is not ideal. My only tools for reloads are leather gloved hands and a poker that came with the stove. I do the usual by-the-book prep to reload, then when the door is slowly opened, I use the poker tool to gently push any ash off the interior lip of the firebox or the front fire bricks, then use the poker to carefully drag larger coals toward the front/front-center of the firebox. Then I place logs in gently, front-to-back for bottom layer and side-to-side for top layer, usually smaller stuff on bottom and bigger stuff on top to fill that vertical space. If fire died down I put smaller kindling near the coals and leave door cracked until it catches. Or if cold starting, I setup kindling on top of a 3/4-full load and start fire from top, filling remaining load when it's ready for bypass closing. All this mostly works well but I could use a better rake or something to move coals around without disturbing ash as much.
For ash cleanout, I've got even more room for improvement. I use a 3gal metal bucket and a metal shovel to carefully scoop out ash, leaving about 1/2 to 1" layer of ash behind. My tools are similar to this but unpainted metal. I hold the bucket up against the firebox lip so most dust can vent out the flue, and I clean ash when the stove is warm (cat thermometer around 8-9pm) to help maintain draft up and out. But the bucket opening extends beyond the firebox opening and I see ash dust rise out above the bucket and into my living room. I also rub down paint on the stove lip in this process. Then I have a heavy and very hot bucket of ash and coals to set outside, while I then dust off my stove and living room. I run an air purifier while doing this and I'm sure it helps (it definitely fills up with dust!) but still many surfaces get dusty, stove included. Every now and then I also wipe the stove top with a moist cotton rag to try and reduce dust getting blown out by the fan.
How are you cleaning out ash and reloading the stove to minimize dust? Any favorite bucket and ash shovel combo that works well to do it all within the P29 firebox?
