The bucket isn't even in the house. With my stove, I can fill an ash can with one clean out. The ash can sits in the driveway and the shovel goes to it.
http://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_trks....Xash+vacum&_nkw=ash+vacum&_sacat=0&_from=R40 Have had one for years .NO dust!
I shovel VERY gently. I hired a housekeeper. I empty the stove on the day before she arrives. Problem solved.
I do it with a warm/hot stove...it will draft most of the dust through the door. The key to it is to not dump the ash off the shovel...you set the shovel down in the bucket and kinda slide it out from under the ash.
The unit has a fiberglass filter but if you vacuum up floor dust or sawdust and then add hot ash or coals the results will be predictable ! This is the unit that I use . Cheetah II Fireplace Ash Vac -MU305 Winter Scene Color Learn more from the manufacturer, Click Here Cheetah II provides a SAFE, CLEAN way to remove ash from a fireplace, wood stove, pellet stove or grill. NEVER use a household or shop vacuum for cleaning out your fireplace. Hot embers can stay alive for days, hidden under ash, which acts like an insulator. A hot ember sitting inside a paper filter bag, surrounded by flammable household debris, is a recipe for disaster. This situation can start a delayed fire, when you’re asleep or not at home. Very dangerous! The other problem is that ash is made of extremely fine particles that a normal filter will not capture. The exhaust port of the vacuum will spew the smallest particles throughout your house, and if you don’t notice your house smelling like an ashtray, you will notice when it comes time to dust, and there’s a fine gray dust coating all your furniture. The Cheetah II AshVac was designed for safe, clean and convenient cleaning of ash out of fireplaces, wood stoves, pellet stoves and bio fuel (corn and wheat) stoves. Every component of the Cheetah II AshVac is designed for safety. The 3-gallon fireproof canister is made of rolled steel. The 5-foot hose and nozzle are made of metal. The primary filter is fire-resistant up to 1,000°F. Other components are fire-resistant thermoplastic. If the hose gets too hot to hold with bare hands, stop vacuuming because the ashes are too hot. Gloves are not the answer. Instead, wait until the ashes cool more, and/or be sure to rest the nozzle on the firebrick, or base, so you are removing fine ash from the bottom of the pile – not large chunks of hot embers. The patented filtration system is designed for the cleanest possible removal of ash. The dual filters are specially engineered to capture the finest ash particles to keep your house clean and smelling fresh. You can even clean the filters without opening the canister so no ash has a chance to escape. All you do it jiggle the agitator rod on the lid to knock ash off the filters. The canister stays closed. Fire-resistant components Fire-proof 3 gallon canister made from steel Fire-retardant primary filter Patented dual filter system engineered to capture fine ash Clean filters without opening the lid For conventional stoves, pellet stoves, fireplaces, BBQ'S and bio fuel (corn and wheat) stoves.
I try to slide the shovel out from under the ashes, when a couple scoops are in the bottom sticking the shovel into them and tipping forward while sliding out helps but I still get the run around when the GF is dusting
Right on WS. I learned how to do this when I was around age 6. Funny part too is that the bucket we used for ashes was higher than the ash door so I even had to lift the shovel to get it into the bucket. It took exactly two times to learn how to do it right. The first time was the learner though because I had to dust the entire house after getting so much ash dust all over. But I also freely admit that I could never teach my wife the proper method of doing it. She is just too ornery and won't learn. I shudder every time she empties ashes but it still seems to work for her. I think the key for her is having the stove good and warm yet to suck dust back into the stove and we also have a good ash holder that is the exact same height as the firebox door. The ash holder also has a lid on it which helps a lot.
Shovel the ashes? ? HUH? What the heck are you people doing? Just rake the ashes across the grate shown below, and remove the pan (also shown below) about once a week or 2 and dump it. Like this:
Seriously though, I always see these type of threads on how to deal with ashes...., And then I wonder why there are other threads where people are stating to "not get an ashpan", or "it's easier without an ashpan".... I guess some of the ashpan designs leave alot to be desired, but the PH's is awesome, wouldn't leave hone without it.
All these are great ways of doing the deed and did the same tonite Solar but with a twist..Had Mrs Loon follow me with a glove on Didnt even move the bucket
I shoveled into a bucket for 20 years trying to gently slide the ash off the shovel, with the bucket tipped up to the stove door. Never could do it without a layer of ash on the stove when I was done. Then I started using a square point shovel with the handle broken off and left the bucket outside. This worked much better. Next I found a huge metal dustpan with very high sides, two scoops out to the ash bucket and I was done. No dust in the house. Now I have two ash pans for the Keystone. Take a full one out, put the lid on it and stick the empty one in. Takes one minute and zero dust. Dump the full after a couple days of cooling. But I have used ash pans in the past that were a PITA.
She didnt really have the glove on but was there giving moral support Havent tried the ash pan as i have read quite a few stories about the trap door sticking open a bit and having a runaway train going up the chimney All i do is take a scoop and shake it side to side just to get rid of the loose stuff then deke around 3 dogs that are very nosey on my way to the outside metal garbage can. Gonna keep doing it this way as the house is covered in dust and she has had enough of it. loon
