Leaving ash in?

[Sconnie Burner]

Will leaving a semi packed, thick bed of ash (2-3"+) in my stove keeping the firebox volume lower hurt anything as long as I keep the air inlets clear? It is only 2 cu. ft, but keeps my house plenty warm. Sometimes too warm! I shoot for 72-74 but do get 78 at times. Will this help the stove burn better and more efficiently on smaller loads?
I can usually light a 2/3 load top down fire in the morning with outside temps in the upper 20s and low 30s with solar gain and be good till bed time temp wise but hate restarting every time!

I can obviously remove some when the temps get real cold to make room for more wood. Do I have a good plan? Or any suggestions?

 

[BrotherBart]

Lot of un-burned stuff in that ash bed that cooks off with the next load. And it holds the coals keeping the stove warm.

Experiment and see.

 

[Nelson]

I've been leaving ~2-3 inches in my stove and it seems to extend the burn a little bit by insulating the coals. I agree, expirement and see. I don't think it will hurt anything. My manual says to leave 2-3 inches as well.

 

[BrotherBart]

Kinda interesting that after that first couple of inches accumulate the added accumulation is a lot less after that after each burn.

And I absolutely hate burning in a stove after I have screwed up and cleaned the firebox down to the bricks. Burns like crap every time. The air can't get under the load.

 

[Nelson]

Kinda interesting that after that first couple of inches accumulate the added accumulation is a lot less after that after each burn.

And I absolutely hate burning in a stove after I have screwed up and cleaned the firebox down to the bricks. Burns like crap every time. The air can't get under the load.

Funny you mention that because I was just starting to wonder if the ash was helping with a better burn. I too had noticed that my burns were crap after cleaning out most of the ash. Definitely going to be leaving a good inch in at all times from here on out.

 

[BradleyW]

I hate restarting too. I build three fires a day. One in the morning, my wife usually builds one in the afternoon when the kids come home, and one for overnight. The size of the fire varies depending on how cold it is. I usually take a little ash out each time, I prefer to have a higher ratio of coal to ash then what I'm usually left with.

 

[Sconnie Burner]

I have been experimenting. Just wanted to make sure it wouldn't hurt/damage anything. Manual recommends 1/2". I noticed it gets warmer faster on a reload and secondaries fire off much quicker. 3 averaged sized splits lasted 8 hours overnight with enough for a restart, And didnt over heat the house!

 

[CenterTree]

Yeah, I have said it B4... I think all stove manufacturers should ship their new stoves with ash already installed.


It seems to help mine burn nicer.

 

[begreen]

I leave the ash in as long as possible.

 

[FireTime]

Yup, add me to the list of experimenting with leaving more ash in the firebox. And I've noticed all the beneficial things you guys are reporting.

 

[fire_man]

Since I added an ashpan to the Progress, I am keeping LESS ash in the stove, and find I get LONGER burns. The stove runs much better when there is a hot coal base, but I find a deep ash base hurts stove performance.

 

[thedriver]

this is our second season with the Drolet 1.9 , and we found that a key damper was a huge help to control the stove. ( 28 ft. stove to top . great draft ) as well as leaving thick bed of ash - coals made a big difference on how much usable heat we get out of a load of well seasoned silver maple. experimenting with the secondary air is also proving to be beneficial . just got a 40yard dumpster full of oak logs for the future. got it all bucked and stacked to season for a few years. Merry Christmas to you all and have a warm safe burn season.

 

[Cburke]

I find my stove burns much better with more ash, longer burn times and more useable heat output due to the coals being insulated.

 

[Tenn Dave]

Since I added an ashpan to the Progress, I am keeping LESS ash in the stove, and find I get LONGER burns. The stove runs much better when there is a hot coal base, but I find a deep ash base hurts stove performance.

I have noticed the exact same thing with my progress hybrid. It likes a good coal base and little ash. And the ash pan design is a pleasure to use.

 

[thedriver]

I find my stove burns much better with more ash, longer burn times and more useable heat output due to the coals being insulated.

I think that is exactly it. the insulation factor

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I've taken 6 gallons of ash out of the 30 at a single cleaning. Ash doesn't hurt a thing until it builds up to the point you can't get wood in.

 

[Tenn Dave]

It appears that the vast majority of stoves work best with a good ash bed. My stove not so much. I guess it all depends on the design of the fire box.