Ashes to Ashes.

Hi guys,
New citizen voted for the first time this weekend......................Yeah.

That's not the post just a great feeling.

The post is I've just emptied the first load of ash out of the wood stove around 4-5 galls. I have been burning all sorts of " shoulder wood on and off for a few weeks" so no surprise on the amount of ash.

My Question is : How much ash do You leave in your stove when you empty.

Do you "if the ash is stone cold remove it all" and start again ? or..

" if the ash is hot leave a layer to keep things hot, if so how much ?

Or do you remove all the hot ash and start again ?

Any different methods can also be shared on the forum. Please.

 

I leave about an inch of ash during shoulder season.....
When getting into more consistent burns....i move the hot coals to one side n remove the ashes on the other side..

 

I leave about an inch of ash. During full-time burning I will move the hot coals to the back and scoop till I think with the hot coals I have about an inch. The ash helps the fire brick hold in more of the heat.

 

I have an ash pan, so I remove all ash as needed.

 

As long as you have a proper ash bucket, you can remove hot or cold ashes.

I rake the coals, hot or cold, and separate the ash and remove that. Then move the coals to the front and center. Reload then, or if the coals are cold and no fire is needed now, then the charcoal left will only help start the next fire and add BTUs.

 

+1
the coals are charcoal, lots of heat in them

 

With the cigar burn stove the coals are usually in the back so only scoop (most of) the ashes from towards the front. Then rake the coals and ashes from the back towards the front. That's good enough. It's not Spring Cleaning™.

I have also put off removing ashes (due to weather of course) and then just scooped the majority of the coals and ashes out and screened the ashes from the coals and returned the hot coals to the stove.

I have several ash buckets so I have a few days to empty the bucket of cooled off ash into the garden.
I'll even return coals several days later to the stove if weather hasn't been very cooperative.

 

absolutely! If I am lighting a cold stove, I will rake the coals to the front, then hit them with the propane torch for about 30 seconds to get them starting to glow on the edges a bit. Then, I open the bottom ash pan door, and within a few minutes I essentially have a blacksmith's forge. Makes for a very easy lighting of the fire.

 

I clean out the ashes once a week, leaving an inch or so in the stove and any coals. Come spring I do a full stove cleaning but only when I’m done burning for the season.

 

I remove as much ash as I can whenever i get a chance. It has to come out eventually. A clean stove holds more wood and I've never noticed an inch of ash on the bottom to make it burn better. The stove floor is already covered in firebrick- an inch of ash isn't adding any useful insulation