I have a Hampton h1300 ,with the cold snap i have been running the stove 24 hours a day. This morning the coal bed was pretty deep, I just have been adding wood, but should I let it die out and clean?
how often should i let the fire die out and clean ashes?
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Once it gets close to the bottom of the door, I usually empty first thing in the morning. I just rake the coals to one side and empty the ash. I try to leave as many of the coals as I can.
I burn 24/7 too find it best to basically empty ash every morning or every couple days in the morning. Just take a few scoops out every day or other day and keep your red hots. I can't afford to let anything die down so I work around the hot ones and the ash best as possible
toddnic
Minister of Fire
I agree with lazeedan. Empty the ashes first thing in the morning after the fire has died down. Make sure you put the ashes in a metal bucket and take them outside (don't put the bucket on a flammable surface!).
Its up to the door. so ill need to work on that tonight.
So ashes could go in a damp cardboard box right?..........ok that was a joke
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tahoostas
Member
I burn 24/7 as well but only empty ash maybe weekly. I use a rake and move everything around to compress the ashes every reload and the volume drastically goes down. Might be the wood. Poplar and ash and pine.
This is a common problem with the newer stoves and if the wood is anywhere near questionable, the coaling problem only gets worse.
We have found that just a tad before the fire gets down to all coals, we then open the draft full. Stove top is typically around 450 at that point and by opening the draft the stove holds that temperature while burning down the coals.
Some have had good luck by laying some kindling on top and open the draft full. Some have had good luck by adding about a cup full of wood pellets on top of the coals. Experiment a little and find what works best for you.
Bagelboy
Feeling the Heat
I do like Backwoods. As soon as mine hits 300, I open the air, rake everything forward, and let it burn for 30-45 minutes. Usually most of the coals burn down, and then I refire it up again. I only wind up cleaning ash out every week to 10 days.
I have ash drawers or bins on both my stoves. I find them convenient although the one on the summit is just a little 2 x 2 square trap door. I just sift the coals, let the ash pile up and move it out the trap door and reload....... its easier than trying to shovel them out (jmho). the little jotul is breeze...move them around a bit and they fall through the grate....eazy peezy
Christopix
Member
We've been burning 24/7 for a while now and removing ashes and retaining coals always is a little dance: keep the hot coals, remove the ash, without getting everything in the house dusty. As a Christmas gift, my daughter got me these items which makes this process significantly easier with SO much less mess:
(broken link removed to http://hearthhelpers.com/product-2/) and (broken link removed to http://hearthhelpers.com/product-1/)
At first I thought these were a little too fussy and over the top but, they are really great. They cost a little bit but hey, I don't get yelled at about ash dust in the laundry room anymore.
(broken link removed to http://hearthhelpers.com/product-2/) and (broken link removed to http://hearthhelpers.com/product-1/)
At first I thought these were a little too fussy and over the top but, they are really great. They cost a little bit but hey, I don't get yelled at about ash dust in the laundry room anymore.
My only regret on the Jotul is not having an ash drawer. Just seems a lot easier and less dusty.
I like the looks of the Ember Extractor, but they need to make one of those with a much longer handle for big deep fireboxes. 16" is too short, it needs to be more like 24".
I shut down the stove today, It is supposed to be 40 at some point in CT, Followed by 54 tomorrow. Cleaned it out ........I forgot how big my firebox actually was
BrianN
Feeling the Heat
I will clean my stove out, maybe, once a month. I usually will not reload on Friday night, but, will still have to wait until late Saturday night before all the ash embers are cool enough. Place them in a steel bucket, then scatter them on the snow in the back yard where we just planted grass last year.
I will only do this if the outside temps are above freezing.
We have the ash door/pan, but, have never, and probably will never use it. Looks like it could get pretty messy.
I will only do this if the outside temps are above freezing.
We have the ash door/pan, but, have never, and probably will never use it. Looks like it could get pretty messy.
Pyrate Dave
Member
I was just going to ask advice on what people do with the ashes once they are cold/no longer a fire hazard. I've been keeping mine in a large steel ash can (tightly covered) which is starting to get pretty full. Does spreading the ashes over the lawn have any benefit?
I've heard that the ash can put back some minerals into the lawn but I can't say for sure. I spread my small jotul ashes out over the lawn. I keep the ones from the summit in a covered small garbage pail. I take them out back when full and heap them on a pile I've had for years now. I wait till its raining or has rained before I take them out and never when hot. I know some folks put them in the drive to assist in traction, that is if you have a dirt/gravel drive.
a) Dump them in a pile
b) Spread them on the driveway to help with traction on ice and to melt the ice and snow (darker color helps promote melting)
c) I used to spread them thinly in my garden
d) Mix with lime to make cement busts of Backwoods Savage . . . I'm still working on perfecting this though.
BrianN
Feeling the Heat
I'm not sure if there is an advantage to spreading them on the lawn or garden, but, to me, it just makes sense. Rather than storing them, I dump them. I'm sure it won't do any damage. Plus, the snow puts out the embers, and by spring time, there will be no mess as when the snow melts, it will just wash every thing into the soil. No danger of catching anything on fire.
I am only spreading in one specific area, so, maybe I'll be able to tell in the spring if it does anything. Make the grass greener, plusher???
I am only spreading in one specific area, so, maybe I'll be able to tell in the spring if it does anything. Make the grass greener, plusher???
You're going to get a lot of answers here, but the only correct one is "as often as you want depending on the wood you burn."
What I do: This winter I'm burning nothing but Bigleaf Maple. It is quite ashy and I burn 24/7 so about once per week I shove all the coals to one side and take 3-4 scoops of ash out. If I'm gone a long time or over night I'll scoop most of the ash out before re-lighting. Some winters I burn most Doug Fir which is not very ashy so I might take a few scoops per month out.
What I don't do: use a Shop-Vac. I feel like you want to use a Shop-Vac. Well, don't.
Christopix
Member
Well all-righty, thanks for measuring. The website had indicated 16", but that must just be the handle.
Generally I clean the ashes out when they start overflowing the door, as others have mentioned. But before I think about shoveling out the ashes I like to rake them back and forth with my little stove rake and stir them up. This does three things, it tends to break the ashes down and expose the coals so they will burn up faster. Also the ashes are kind of like bubbles in that they are mostly air and very fluffy, if you rake them around and stir them up they tend to settle out, and you end up with a LOT less material you have to shovel out, and the material you have left is a LOT denser and less prone to blow around in the air as you remove it. The third thing is, when you rake and stir it around and it settles you may just find you don't really have that much ash in there after all, and you can put off the job of removing ash for another week or so.
I actually find it's worse, much worse, with hickory than with oak. And even though hickory is generally considered just about the best firewood, this actually makes me favor oak.
I use mine all the time. Not messy. I like it. Once I forgot to replace the drain plug though - that coulda been scary in retrospect. I now leave it out on the floor of the house (not in the stove), so I'll see if I forget it.
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