two simple questions

[RnG17]

Hear a lot about house fires these days, one thing I see a lot is "improper ash removal" can some one explain this. Too much ash in fire box? Not sure, thanks.

Also I have a brand new EPA stove with the whole "air wash" system, cleaned the chimney and smoke pipe out, do I need to clean the stove in the inside at all? I burn hot, probably hotter than I need to but keeps me at a good peace of mind. When I cleaned the stove pipe, I got out what would looked like a light soot from an oil system. Good I believe, have a buddy said his is flaky in the pipe but he said he runs his wood furnace much cooler than I run my stove.

Its that time of year when the peace of mind goes down a bit, just making sure it stays where it needs to be!

Thanks guys

 

[webby3650]

Improper ash removal by not removing the ashes and hot coals from the house. If they left them in the stove or put them into a air tight container they would be fine. As far as cleaning the stove, the only thing in the stove to clean would be the top of the baffle and flue collar, where the stove pipe meets the stove. Sounds like you have been burning it good. Keep in mind that it is Ok to turn down the air after the fire is established in the new stoves, the fire will often get hotter when the secondary burn kicks in.

 

[SteveKG]

Improper ash removal, and the resulting fires, means someone removed ashes and stored them in an unsafe container and/or in an unsafe place, such as sitting atop a wooden porch or deck or against a wall in a garage, etc. etc. Then live coals buried in that ash burn through the container [or get blown out by wind or fall out when the container is knocked or blown over or whatever] and start a fire in the lawn or the wall or the deck. You get the idea. We want the ashes in a steel or other metal container and NOT stored on or near combustibles and/or NOT dumped out onto combustibles [dead grass?] for quite a while, like at least ten days or something.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Yep. My brother did it once. Luckily it was only his back yard that got burned. He was using a "coal hod" with no lid, set it outside... Wind came along, blew some hot bits out.

I do put mine out on the porch, but I use a sealing ash bin that sits on two layers of wonderboard.

http://www.northlineexpress.com/item/5WZ-AH/Ash-Holder-with-Lid-Matte-Black

 

[firefighterjake]

Hear a lot about house fires these days, one thing I see a lot is "improper ash removal" can some one explain this. Too much ash in fire box? Not sure, thanks. I think it has been explained pretty well . . . but I'll do so again since this seems to be the cause of a lot of the fires I personally see in my job . . . improper disposal of the ash is when someone takes out the ashes from their ash box or scoops them out and then dumps the ashes outside in dry grass or leaves (not that anyone here would ever do that . . . right Battenkiller? . . . or they put the ash in a plastic bucket, plastic bag or cardboard box and leave it on the front porch, garage, etc. . . . and unbeknownst to them there is a hot coal hidden in the ash that smolders and eventually starts a fire.

Also I have a brand new EPA stove with the whole "air wash" system, cleaned the chimney and smoke pipe out, do I need to clean the stove in the inside at all? Generally no . . . I mean to make things look pretty you may want to clean the "glass' from the fly ash from time to time . . . and you will need to clean out some ash over time . . . either by scooping it out or using an ash pan if your stove has one . . . but you don't necessarily want to or need to get the inside totally ash free . . . in fact you really want an inch or so of ash/coals inside to help insulate the base of the stove and preserve coals. About the only time you may want to really clean the inside of the fire box is in the Spring to minimize the chance of a reverse draft causing your home to smell a bit like smoke . . . typically around this time . . . or in the Fall . . . I also clean out my stove pipe and I clean out the fly ash that has accumulated above the baffle of the stove . . . but this is just done annually. I burn hot, probably hotter than I need to but keeps me at a good peace of mind. So the million dollar question . . . how hot is hot? The only true way to tell if you really are burning hot enough is with a thermometer . . . a very useful tool that I personally recommend folks consider purchasing . . . otherwise you're just guessing if that hot fire is truly hot enough. When I cleaned the stove pipe, I got out what would looked like a light soot from an oil system. Good I believe, have a buddy said his is flaky in the pipe but he said he runs his wood furnace much cooler than I run my stove. As mentioned earlier you will get some light fly ash . . . I tend to clean this out in the stove pipe once a year . . . the chimney I clean out more frequently.

Its that time of year when the peace of mind goes down a bit, just making sure it stays where it needs to be!

Thanks guys