New wood low amount of ash.

[johnsopi]

1st winter with Osborn 1800 insert. Just bought wood from a new guy ,red oak no bark(standing dead)
It burns good but it makes then 70% less ash then the under seasoned wood I was burning . Is this because that it is seasoned or because of no bark.

 

[peakbagger]

Not specific to your insert but getting the bark off will usually reduce "ash". Ash is defined as unburnable components of the wood left over from full combustion, its usually minerals and possibly steel from foreign objects. Poor combustion of wet wood could leave unburned carbon, usually in the form of coals, but usually the low combustion temp from wet wood will send CO up the stack and various condensable vapors that can condense into liquids and eventually solids in the chimney which is where creosote comes from.

Note, different woods and stove operation can sometimes change the appearance of ash, if the temperature is high enough the ash can fuse into solid and other times it can be fluffy.

No matter what, anytime you can get lucky and have dry wood in your first season be happy. It lets you get the operation of the stove down without having to compromise dealing with wet wood. Hopefully you have a couple of cords set aside and properly stacked for future years.