first year wood burner

[nomak]

this is my first year burning wood in my new insert and I have noticed an abundance of dust on the mantle and just on top of everything in the general area of the fire place. Is this normal occurance to have ash dust I guess is what it is..Is there something I can do to cut down on this.. I also notice that when emptying ashes every few days when I empty them into my ash bucket you can see a cloud of dust just going straight up in the air..so just wondering if this is normal or anything I can do to cut down on it.. thanks..

 

[sly13]

There's a few tricks to try,but it's really all just part of the experience of wood burning. I put the hose attachment on our vacuum and have someone stand there with it above the ash bucket and try and suck up as much airborne dust as possible but it is still everywhere. First couple years drove my wife crazy, now she takes it all in stride with a duster in hand.

 

[ericjeeper]

They sell a fireproof shopvac,. Pricey to say the least

 

[mga]

it's the price you pay, man.

 

[LTREES]

Try to let the ash build up in the burner for 1 week. Rake the coals around. Push the hot coals back and take out 1 bucket of the fine ash a week. I use to take ash out often, then i just let it build up to be 4-5 in. in the bottom. Try it, you might like the burn better. As for the ash dust, Swiffer dusters.

LT...

 

[merlynr]

When emptying the ashes from my basement wood furnace I open the furnace door while pulling the ash drawer slowly and a lot of the ash dust goes up and back into the firebox. I still have to dust off the top of furnace every few days. Thank goodness it's in the basement.

 

[gwiley]

I will try to suppress comments about the superiority of an OWB with respect to this kind of thing...oops, I think I just let it out.

Have you tried a good misting squirt bottle? If you hit the ashes with it it might help a little, but you will need to squirt them each time you scoop and unless the mister is pretty big and aggressive it won't help much.

If you have a hand pump sprayer that will work even better - just make sure that it is clean and fill it with water. Preassurize it and hit the ashes while they are in the stove every few scoops.

 

[nomak]

I will try to suppress comments about the superiority of an OWB with respect to this kind of thing...oops, I think I just let it out.

Have you tried a good misting squirt bottle? If you hit the ashes with it it might help a little, but you will need to squirt them each time you scoop and unless the mister is pretty big and aggressive it won't help much.

If you have a hand pump sprayer that will work even better - just make sure that it is clean and fill it with water. Preassurize it and hit the ashes while they are in the stove every few scoops.

I do have a squirt bottle I use to spray hot coals that fly out on the brick base around my insert. I will try spraying the ashes every scoop or so when I clean them again.. thanks for the idea..

 

[Steve428]

Let that ash build up to get a better burn. Never clean it all out...until the end of the season.

 

[nomak]

Let that ash build up to get a better burn. Never clean it all out...until the end of the season.

yeah I have noticed this after the first month that I wasnt getting a good burn when I completely cleaned all the ashes so now I leave at least a couple inches of ash in there just maybe scoop out 3 to 5 scoops every so often and my fires burn better now than with a complete clean of the ashes.. thanks again everyone for all the info..

 

[jimdad07]

I use a widemouthed ash bucket and lower the ash shovel to the bottom and very carefully let the ashes slide out of the shovel, I used to dump them into the ash bucket and would get the cloud. I get a little here and there, but not too much. As far as the dust all over, it is the unfortunate part of burning wood inside, as well as the pieces of bark and dirt from the wood.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

35 gallon galvanized steel trash can. Steel dust pan. One scoop per day. Shove the good coals to one side. Open lid of trash can. Scoop ashes, quickly dump in ash can, slam on lid.

Very little dust in the house.

 

[jimdad07]

35 gallon galvanized steel trash can. Steel dust pan. One scoop per day. Shove the good coals to one side. Open lid of trash can. Scoop ashes, quickly dump in ash can, slam on lid.

Very little dust in the house.

Sounds a lot faster than what I do!

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

By the way, the steel dust pan lives in the ash can. I just dump it in with the ashes and get that lid on. Out to the deck it goes to cool down. I empty it about once a week.

Works for me!

 

[getwood]

I put the vacuum hose inside the ash bucket, which creates a vacuum in the bucket. It keeps the dust cloud from forming. Beware of coals!

 

[iowa]

Whah!

 

[A. Stanton]

I got the same issue, No.
I try putting the lid for the ash can on the top of the stove, then scoop the ashes into the can under it. The lid knocks some of the dust down. The dust seems to be more of a problem when there is hot ambers in the fireplace.