I mean isn't just as easy to shovel out the ashes? Why a grate in the bottom with an air tight ash pan? Should the grate be open or closed when burning?
What the heck is that grate & ash pan good for?
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Dunno - some people swear by them, some swear at them. It has always seemed a little easier to me to rake the ashes through the grate and into the ash pan, then pull the ash pan for disposal. When I shovel the ashes from the stove, there seems to be a lot more dust flying in the air - no matter how gently I set the ashes in the bucket. Additionally, for 24/7 burning, it's a little easier to use the ash pan versus trying to separate the coals while the stove is still under fire.
Sometimes opening the ash pan at the beginning of a burn helps feed a little more air, although the standard stove operation should be with the ash pan door shut.
Sometimes opening the ash pan at the beginning of a burn helps feed a little more air, although the standard stove operation should be with the ash pan door shut.
I'll go with the opposite. I run the coals over the grate, what goes through I shovel out. I like not having to sift through it in the box. Myself, I'll take the ash pan.
+1 for the ash pan.
Another plus is that most of the ash that falls through to the ash pan is just that....ash. I would think that it would be tough to shovel out the ashes and not get at least some hot coals with it.
Another plus is that most of the ash that falls through to the ash pan is just that....ash. I would think that it would be tough to shovel out the ashes and not get at least some hot coals with it.
I like the grate and ash pan, the hearth and the room stays cleaner. A 30 second trip out with an undisturbed pan of ashes in the morning and it is done.
I'd say it depends on the design used by the manufacturer. In my old Dutchwest Federal the ashpan had its own little door in the front of the stove and I could take the whole pan out while the stove was in operation, close the door up and move the hot ashes to the can for cooling and disposal and then put the pan back in. Very easy to use and very clean. In my current Morso 3610 the ash pans are only acessible by opening the front door (I use the side loading door to feed as I did on my Dutchwest). So if I want to empty the pans I have to let the stove go all the way out, shovel out the firebox from the side, open the front doors letting all the builtup ash thats built up against the front grate spill all over the hearth, take the ash pans out of the stove body and dump them into the ash bucket, shovel out the ash that spilled out of the pans because they only come out at an angle and some always spills back into the stove body, clean off the door gasket area because the ash spills all over there too and can keep the front doors from sealing tightly and then finally close the doors and vacuum up all the ash that spilled all over the place.
I love my Morso stove, it works quite nicely for me, but the ash removal process was clearly designed to not mess up the clean lines of the stove body rather than make it easy for the owner to maintain the stove and keep the house clean. I tend to avoid emptying the ash pans as much as possible in the winter, relying instead on a semi-weekly shoveling.
I love my Morso stove, it works quite nicely for me, but the ash removal process was clearly designed to not mess up the clean lines of the stove body rather than make it easy for the owner to maintain the stove and keep the house clean. I tend to avoid emptying the ash pans as much as possible in the winter, relying instead on a semi-weekly shoveling.
The dust pan in my VC Defiant was great. It was big with a swing out door and easy to use. It even had a cover you could place over the top to make carrying ashes outside easy and mess free. I never shoveled ashes from the stove and it was easy to keep coals and ashes separated.
The dust pan on my Hearthstone Mansfield is not very good. It's small and has no front lip so the ashes spill all over the place. When you remove it from the stove lots of ashes spill inside the ash pan compartment and need to be cleaned out. There is no cover so you run the risk of having the ashes blow all over the place if you walk the pan outside to dump into your ash disposal area. On this stove I shovel the ashes out and keep the grate closed so as few ashes as possible make it into the pan.
In all fairness though I burn 24/7 and only shovel ashes out perhaps once a week. It's a little messy, but infrequent enough that I don't worry too much about it.
The dust pan on my Hearthstone Mansfield is not very good. It's small and has no front lip so the ashes spill all over the place. When you remove it from the stove lots of ashes spill inside the ash pan compartment and need to be cleaned out. There is no cover so you run the risk of having the ashes blow all over the place if you walk the pan outside to dump into your ash disposal area. On this stove I shovel the ashes out and keep the grate closed so as few ashes as possible make it into the pan.
In all fairness though I burn 24/7 and only shovel ashes out perhaps once a week. It's a little messy, but infrequent enough that I don't worry too much about it.
Ash is the only thing my morsoe does wrong. My ash pan has a seperate door. The problem is the pan does not catch all of the ash. I end up shoveling an extra pans worth of ash out of the compartment, and if you dont get all of it the pan wont fit back in.
I have a Morso 3610 also and I don't have any problem getting them out and back in. The best way not to make a mess is empty them before they are over full. Otherwise when you pull them out, the grate pulls back the peak on top, and makes a mess. I am not saying I don't get some on the floor sometimes, but compared to my other stove, that I shoveled out, I like the Morso system a lot better.
Lets face it ash is messy stuff, if you don't believe me ask my wife.
Lets face it ash is messy stuff, if you don't believe me ask my wife.
Hi,
The ashpan in my Oslo works great. Virtually dust free as the ash falls through the grate into the ashpan. When burning 24/7, it gets emptied every three days.
Jim
The ashpan in my Oslo works great. Virtually dust free as the ash falls through the grate into the ashpan. When burning 24/7, it gets emptied every three days.
Jim
Every stove I've owned with an ash pan (Hearthstone, Energy King, Regency) have leaked air and caused an overfire condition. Don't like them.
Backpack09 said:
My Morso doesn't have its own ashpan door. It's all integrated into the mega door.
Love the system, a lot less dust flying around when I'm cleaning out the ash.
I like it. With the old VCs I'd have to let the fire go out 1 morning a week, usually sunday to shovel it out. A plus to shoveling is that you can let it build up higher. Whereas with the oakwood if the ashpan gets overfilled it'll come out hard.
I don't like the one on my Isle Royale. It's kind of hidden underneath a ways and you have to almost get down on your knees to get at it. Since my knees don't work worth a damn I'm left with standing on my head instead. So I just scoop it out of the door in the morning before I refire it for the day. Couple of scoops and you're good to go. I don't mind a few hot coals in there, but then I'm careful of where the ashes are dumped when I take them out.
I don't mind the ashes flying around the house as with four dogs the place is dusty already.
Did I mention I'm not much of a housekeeper? LOL
I don't mind the ashes flying around the house as with four dogs the place is dusty already.
Did I mention I'm not much of a housekeeper? LOL
I liked it on my Jotul F400 Castine. Just don't open the ash pan door before the main door of you'll get a backfire and might be chasing hot embers in the room or worse.
The Heritage is designed such that you have to open the ashpan door before you can operate the ash grate. This means that the ash dust will be able to blow all over the place. I would have paid more for the same stove if it were available without an ash pan system. Just another gasket to replace.
My neighbor has a hearthstone insert, that came with an ash pan. But when we added the blower there was no way to use the ash pan. Kind of a dumb design if you ask me.
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