How often to clean out ashes

[jdover]

I have a Pacific Energy stove that I keep going 24/7 to heat my house because the alternative is using my baseboard heating and can't afford the electricity. In order to clean out the ashes I would have to let the stove go out. What do you guys do?

 

[begreen]

Let the fire burn down to a small coal bed and move the coals to one side, then shovel the ash side into a metal container. Move the coals to the other side and remove the ash to the metal container. Be sure to place the metal container on a totally non-combustible surface like a few bricks. Hot coals in ash can stay live for days. Some folks use a coal sifter to make this process easier. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/custom-ash-sifter.137761/

To further help, burn doug fir if possible to keep down the ash accumulation. Take advantage of warm days like today to clean.

 

[bholler]

I have a Pacific Energy stove that I keep going 24/7 to heat my house because the alternative is using my baseboard heating and can't afford the electricity. In order to clean out the ashes I would have to let the stove go out. What do you guys do?

Rake the coals to obe side and take out some ashes once a week or so. Then reload

 

[firefighterjake]

I clean out the ashes once to twice a week depending on the weather and time of year (i.e. this time of year I'm doing it weekly but once the real cold comes in it will be twice a week.)

I have an ash pan which is really quite functional. I do this in the morning after an overnight fire. I will sometimes move the ash around to let it fall down through the grates into the ash pan. Remove ash pan. Dump ash pan outside into covered metal pail. Replace ash pan (after scooping out the bit of ash that tends to fall down behind the Oslo's ash pan.)

 

[begreen]

In a PE T6 burning doug fir I can go a month during swing season and a week during peak winter heating, though usually during peak heating I am mixing in some hardwood. Being on the mild side of the Cascades helps.

jdover, what part of BC are you in? If you are in the colder part the cleaning frequency may be greater.

 

[jdover]

Thanks to all of you for your prompt replies. I suppose my problem was waiting for the coals and ashes to cool before putting them in my ash bucket, obviously not necessary.
begreen I am in central Vancouver Island on the east coast, warmest day we have had in a while.

You have all answered my question....thank you.

 

[jdover]

Let the fire burn down to a small coal bed and move the coals to one side, then shovel the ash side into a metal container. Move the coals to the other side and remove the ash to the metal container. Be sure to place the metal container on a totally non-combustible surface like a few bricks. Hot coals in ash can stay live for days. Some folks use a coal sifter to make this process easier. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/custom-ash-sifter.137761/

To further help, burn doug fir if possible to keep down the ash accumulation. Take advantage of warm days like today to clean.

Thanks begreen,
95% of my wood is doug fir since it is the most available in our area.

 

[bholler]

Thanks to all of you for your prompt replies. I suppose my problem was waiting for the coals and ashes to cool before putting them in my ash bucket, obviously not necessary.
begreen I am in central Vancouver Island on the east coast, warmest day we have had in a while.

You have all answered my question....thank you.

You dont have to let them cool but if you dont make sure your ash can has a tight fitting lid and make sure you set it outside on a non combustible surface away from any structure. More structure fires are started that way than anything else associated with wood burning

 

[jdover]

You dont have to let them cool but if you dont make sure your ash can has a tight fitting lid and make sure you set it outside on a non combustible surface away from any structure. More structure fires are started that way than anything else associated with wood burning

Fire safety has always been a major concern since I was carried out of a major building fire as a child, about 70 years ago and never forgotten.
My ash can has a tight fitting lid and I would only put it on non combustible surface, hopefully other people can learn from that even though it seems obvious.

 

[ckr74]

Here's another tip. With hot ashes keep the lid in one hand and the shovel in the other hand. Open the lid just enough to get the ashes in and put it back on between shovel fulls. Hot air rises along with the ashes so dust will be going everywhere. It's really best to wait until coals cool before emptying ash if possible. That dust is nasty.

 

[bholler]

Fire safety has always been a major concern since I was carried out of a major building fire as a child, about 70 years ago and never forgotten.
My ash can has a tight fitting lid and I would only put it on non combustible surface, hopefully other people can learn from that even though it seems obvious.

Yes it does seem obvious but people start fires that way every year

 

[Squisher]

Thanks to all of you for your prompt replies. I suppose my problem was waiting for the coals and ashes to cool before putting them in my ash bucket, obviously not necessary.
begreen I am in central Vancouver Island on the east coast, warmest day we have had in a while.

You have all answered my question....thank you.

Sounds like you're near the mighty CR(Campbell River)? I used to work in the logging camps on Vancouver Island in my youth. I worked for Cox and Sons when I was seventeen(yes I graduated high school) straight out of school. CR was our leave off spot to go to and from camp.

It's gotten super mild over here in the southern interior too. But I still keep burning. Hate to hear that furnace ever kick on.

 

[begreen]

65Fº right now here Squisher. We've smashed through the previous high record for the day.

 

[Squisher]

Yah I think we are going to have had our coldest and warmest November in the same year and reversed? Cold at the start and warm at the end.

We had had a good 2'+of snowfall here about 10"s accumulated and now poof it's all gone.

 

[jdover]

We are about halfway between Courtney/Comox and Nanaimo. Don't have to worry about the furnace kicking in, don't have one, only electric baseboard heating. We have neighbours without wood stoves relying on baseboard heating who last year paid about $800 cdn per month for hydro, we paid about $90 cdn for hydro, I'm keeping my PE stove going 24/7.

 

[Squisher]

And your house is surely warmer to boot. It's the same around here but with natural gas which is a little more reasonable but can still easily hit 400-600/month to heat a home. I pay about $80-90 and that cooks my food and heats my water too.

We should all enjoy this warm stretch while we can. I'm sure winter will have its way with us yet.

 

[Woody5506]

I've been cleaning once a week. I try to go longer but when I can only fit about 3 splits in the stove, it is time. I hate dumping hot coals into my bucket but waiting for the coals to totally burn down would take forever.

Lately I've been using the ash pan because it eliminates the dusty ashy mess of shoveling and dumping into the bucket inside. I leave my bucket outside and empty the ash pan into it. My sliding door to go outside is directly next to the stove.

 

[Squisher]

If you're using a ash dump a good practice is to 'save' some of your ash in the firebox and once the ash dump door is back in its closed position(ensuring no debris is blocking it from closing completely) then spread the ash back over top of it to seal it up good.

At the least I always tell customers not to allow ash to build up and block the primary air entry point. Seems obvious, but......

 

[blacktail]

If you use an ash bucket that fits inside the stove, all the dust will get drawn up the flue.