Ash; not the tree but the stuff that comes out of the stove.

I seem to have a serious problem with ash from the stove. It is all over the place on the stove and surrounding the stove. It is one of the reasons I thought about a draft inducer. The Madison has the largest glass door according to the company; it does give a great view of the fire. Someone on here said that any large door stove would have an issue with draft when opening the door. The ash comes out and floats in the air every time I load the stove. I am breathing this ash as I load. It coats the top of the stove and I can blow it away and it will return fairly quickly. Lately I have had issues coughing and I am wondering if it is the ash. I don't have a photo because I clean the top of the stove before I posted this.

My question is how bad of a problem does other members have with the fine powdery ash from the stove, with it floating in the air and coating surfaces? I am thinking I may have to start wearing a dust mask when fuelling the stove and then leaving the area until it settles out.

 

We have a similar issue...not sure how long it takes "fly ash" to recoat our stove...bu were thinking of pulling out the electric air filter. I don't think we've noticed ash in other rooms, so I'm guessing that its pretty heavy.

Perhaps instead of blowing it off, ill vaccuumm it off. Otherwise, an air filter might do the trick.

Sca

 

I'm not seeing ash in the air when reloading.

I bypass the cat and open the door just a crack until there's a good strong draft. In with the splits.

Having an ash tray, allows me to empty the ashes, daily. I use the same approach as above, before sliding out the tray.

The tray of ashes is slowly walked outside and gently dumped into a metal can.

 

I have the same problem to a smaller extent. It is helpful if I reload when there is a stronger fire.

 

I do not know if I am the someone you are thinking of but I have mentioned this in the past, and yep, I installed a draft inducer to address this problem, as well as wood smoke in the house during the loading / reloading. The draft inducer eliminates the problem as long as it is always used whenever the door, the loading door, or the ash pan door is opened. Also, when pulling the ash pan, if the inducer is running and the pan is given a bit of a violent shake, most or all of the fly ash on the top of the ashes is sucked up into the stove and that also [does not] end up in the house.

Fly ash in the house, basically on everything is a by- product of burning wood. The only way I have found to eliminate it is with a draft inducer.

Just my opinion but I doubt it is really much of a serious health problem unless someone in the house suffers with a serious amount of asthma or COPD already. And even then I would question how much of a real health problem it could cause. The reason I use the inducer is to eliminate the fairly constant smell of smoke in the house due to opening the loading door, and the occasional big blast of smoke that sets off the smoke detector. While I am sure technique helps reduce this problem, such as cracking the door and really getting the fire going, I am basically impatient when it comes to coddling machines and will not wait; machines serve me (meaning all of us of course), not the other way around.

Brian

 

I guess I am lucky.
Ash has never been an issue at all with my stove , it is a smaller stove with the door being almost the size of the front of the stove.
I make sure the damper in the pipe is fully open , Crack the front door an inch or two to let it breath for a bout 15 or 20 seconds then I can fully open the door without any smoke or ash leaving the stove. No mess what so ever. If you add a draft inducer and run the fan without a proper draft to start with it might only make the problem worse.
Doesn't sound good if you need to wear a dust-mask.

The wood furnace in my shop has a draft inducer in the firebox and I have found that it works best if I turn that fan off when loading. I shut the fan off , crack the door and wait a little while then I can open the door to load with no smoke or ash.

Are you sure that you have good draft to start with ? I am far from an expert on this but I wonder if there might be some other issue causing your problem.

However dog hair in my house is as much of a problem as your ashes.

 

No problem here and I have a relatively short chimney, about 17 feet.

 

Stove design has a lot to do with it. Ours has a big door with a huge firebox with the flue in the rear and it coats everything with ash unless we load through the top plate because it's smaller. A stove with a baffle and flue channel above the door will pull most of the smoke and ash up before it comes out the door. A taller firebox will spill more smoke than a shorter one, all else being equal.

 

Exact same method I use and results.

Sometimes I'll open the door too fast and I'll get some smoke/ ash coming out, then watch it get pulled back in to the stove.

 

this is what works for me and I don't have a big issue with smoke or ashes.. like others above mentioned.
I crack the door a little way, than I open the door slowly. Cracking it creates a bigger draft that pulls ash and smoke away from the door.
I do get some ash and my stove has a small ash tray that catches what does spill out. As for the ash pan, no idea it also hasn't really given me an issue.
I pull out slowly, walk it outside slowly. Make sure my back is to the wind and dump it into my metal can.
If I leave the house fan on that moves air around, I will get smoke out of the stove.

 

What are you trying to say?

 

I'll bet that if there was a stronger draft on that setup.....maybe, just maybe.........it would help eliminate some of that problem!

How to get a stronger draft? Add lengths to the existing system!


Check back in 3-4 years for an update, please.

 

Yes, the chimney draft may be an issue. I tested the chimney cold the other day; flu pipe off, and a tissue would suck in if held next to the chimney. So there is some draft on the chimney cold. I cut down a small tree that was too close to the house but there are other trees. I will get a photo of the chimney and post it. I do need a fairly hot fire for a good draft on the stove; and that is the rub, I am refuelling when the fire is low so the draft is probably lower as well.
I wonder if the type of wood makes a difference; do some woods produce more ash than others. I lost my voice the other day; I have noticed that I cough more during the wood burning season and I think it is the ash I am breathing in.

 

If you would leave me alone I probably wouldn't abandoned posts. You usually come in and start making comments that don't need to be made. Like talking about wet wood when it had nothing to do with the post. So I leave because you just go on and on and on and then start posted a thousand images of the guy laughing on the floor etc. I understand the idea; it is to screw with the post so I can't get any help.

 

Yes, I do crack the door and try to make sure things are hot. I use the clean out plug, it does eliminate a lot of the ash but I still see it floating out while cleaning the ashes and I try to be careful. The solution may be to just use a dust mask when working with the stove. Lately I have had issues with my throat and I lost my voice the other day; it would break when talking. Thanks for answering.

 

My chimney may be too short. I am also through the wall and I have been told that takes a foot off the chimney. I may have to rent some sort of lift and add to the chimney. I had to go through the wall because I don't have a standard roof on the house; it is a manufactured double-wide built with the old roof system.

 

On my NC-30, this works for me. Crack the door for maybe 10 seconds, and let the fire flare up a little. Open the door slowly. Load.

When cleaning, same as above, except of course the stove is cold(er). I never use the useless all pan on the 30, but get my bucket up close, and very gently shovel the ash out into the bucket. As som say, treat it like eggs, don't dump the ash into the bucket. It works for me.

I have considered getting a smaller bucket that I could wet in the stove when cleaning, thereby keeping more of the fly ash in the stove.

 

You have been on this forum for years asking for assistance and advice.

It began with your desire of a wood stove shortly after you joined...which members provided. Then.....with the shipping of the wood stove. Once again, members provided. Then, the snowball started rolling downhill and gained momentum. Just one thing after another.

Chain saw. Bars. Chains. Tools. PPE. All provided by members. How many more little things along the way that have been provided by this forum?

And the time you were complaining about not being able to use a bathroom in your house because of plumbing damage and asked for help with that. Lets not forget your plea for assistance with your dental problems!

I think by this point, most of the forum had you figured out and asked themselves just why you weren't gainfully employed, what with your engineering training (?) , scientific background (?) mechanical skills (?) carpentry experience (?) and lets not forget your comment about child rearing skills....remember that one? How you stated about knowing how to raise children because you helped with potty training? What a slap in the face to every parent out there that has raised children!!! If it were only that simple.

But it didn't stop there. You continued with your passive aggressive pleas, the most recent major one being those infernal tractor parts that you got for free but needed to be shipped form N.J. And then had the audacity to mention them once again months later! It is blatantly apparent that you never had any intentions of trying to save the money yourself which would have turned out to be only a few $$ a month!

Finally, you showed your true colors and personal integrity when in WeldrDave thread on reverse mortgages you openly admitted that you have no problems lying under oath in a court of law!
Reverse Mortgage, *Please read before considering*!

Just what type of values, if any, do you adhere to? As forum members what are we to believe about you? Are there even more lies and deceptions out there?


EDIT: Forgot to add that the repeated requests for "advice" never seem to go anywhere as the same request shows up in one form or another months later. Examples..... ash/coal rake for the stove...... venting issues with your stove..... smoke in the house.....

Is it that you don't care what members suggest for solutions or are you hoping for something else?

 

Serious typing errors in my post above!

I never use the useless *ash* pan ...

I have considered getting a smaller bucket that I could *put* in the stove ...