For me an overnight burn is the same as a reload during the week . . . I pretty much do the same thing . . . the exception being that during the day my wife is either home (works nights) or is on her way home so I may not search around quite so hard for the really "good" wood -- "good" wood being defined by me as ash, sugar maple, etc. that is on the larger size . . .
Since you asked about size and overnight wood . . . for me having big wood is good . . . did I ever tell you my last name is Johnson (I won't even start to tell you about my Dad and Uncle's names . . . William (Little Willie Johnson) and Richard (Dick) Johnson? I tend to get big wood and stick it on top of some smaller wood when I'm doing the reload . . . the smaller wood catches and once it chars and the temps are in the green zone I cut back on the air until I have a sustained secondary combustion and the temps are good.
Ashes . . . I burn 24/7 and empty once a week on the weekend . . . it's part of the weekly ritual that I go through in cleaning in and around the stove . . . I'm fortunate as the Oslo has a good, decent sized ash pan that works well. Ashes are dumped every weekend into a 5-gallon covered metal pail . . . every month or so the cool ashes are dumped in the driveway, garden or in a hole out back in the woods.
Since you asked about size and overnight wood . . . for me having big wood is good . . . did I ever tell you my last name is Johnson (I won't even start to tell you about my Dad and Uncle's names . . . William (Little Willie Johnson) and Richard (Dick) Johnson? I tend to get big wood and stick it on top of some smaller wood when I'm doing the reload . . . the smaller wood catches and once it chars and the temps are in the green zone I cut back on the air until I have a sustained secondary combustion and the temps are good.
Ashes . . . I burn 24/7 and empty once a week on the weekend . . . it's part of the weekly ritual that I go through in cleaning in and around the stove . . . I'm fortunate as the Oslo has a good, decent sized ash pan that works well. Ashes are dumped every weekend into a 5-gallon covered metal pail . . . every month or so the cool ashes are dumped in the driveway, garden or in a hole out back in the woods.