I was wondering if there are any advantages to keeping a little bit of ash in the stove from previous burns or if it is best to clean out the whole stove while emptying a full ash bin.
Hey Russellmania , welcome aboard. I've read some owners manuals that say to leave a bit of ash in the stove. Like brenndatomu said, they tend to hold coals for a while.
You betcha. I emptied most of the ash last night, but left about an inch before making a new fire. Cold stove, so no coals.
Yeah, that pesky stove manual ... A story, recently our dog had to go to the vet, and was prescribed a medication. After I got home, I read the brochure that comes with the medicine, and found that the prescribed dose method (involving splitting a larger pill in two) was expressly forbidden by the drug company, as they did not guarantee a consistent dosage that way. So back to the vet, and I explained the problem to the tech. A few minutes later, the vet came out, embarassed, and fixed the problem. "Who reads those things anyway?!" she says. Well, I usually do ...
I have a stove with a grate in the bottom of the firebox, through which ashes drop through into an ash try. Why would I want to keep any ashes above the grate? Off to look for the owners manual. *edit - owner's manual makes no mention of leaving/removing ash in the firebox. Only to check the ash tray for emptying.
In a fireplace, I used to clean out the ashes for family, my grandmother and parents usually before burning. My grandma cautioned me to leave a little ash on the bottom so that the fire would burn better or start better. I believe this has some credibility to it as ash is a good insulator and reflector. Lighting on bare ground that hasn’t been burned on is harder to get going it seems somewhat.
In the fireplace, were the logs in a log rack, or directly on the bottom of the fireplace, resting on a layer of ash ? If no log rack, then I can see where having some ash, under the to-be-litable fire, as there would be an amount of airflow to the fire.
I have tried both this week and when I had a little bit of ash on the bottom it did definitely start quicker and hotter than starting it with on the cold grate. I too have a grate where the ash drops down so I do the best I can.
My stove has a deep belly(4 or 5 inches below the door). When it’s up to the door or I need room to load more wood I empty ash. It’s not uncommon to pull 5 gallons of ash out when I clean it.
Backwoodsavage says leave an inch or so and even let it fill farther. He has a wood burning primer under resources that all should read.
