OWB, Ash Removal?

[John R]

How often do you clean out the ashes in your OWB?

Last few years I cleaned it out about mid season, and at the end of the heating season, this year it seems like I'm getting a lot of chunks that don't seem to burn.
I've cleaned it once this year, and I'm going to clean it out again today.
Never had that problem before, in years past everything just burned to a powder.
Burning the same kind of wood this year as last year.

 

[beerman6]

I try and clean mine out once per month.

 

[Blazin]

Same here... once a month.

 

[darren_nh]

I take a couple small shovel fulls out once a week.

 

[blakey]

I feel my wood usage goes down when I keep the ash level lower, possibly due to better heat transfer from more steel being exposed to the fire. Does anyone else find this?

 

[Blazin]

I feel my wood usage goes down when I keep the ash level lower, possibly due to better heat transfer from more steel being exposed to the fire. Does anyone else find this?

Absolutely! I hate ditching unburnt coals but it does make a difference without a doubt...at least in a CB.

 

[Chuck Diesel]

I shovel out 5 gallons of ash a week, give or take. I found out if I keep a good ash rotation it burns right to a powder.
Chuck D

 

[xrayman]

I clean mine out once a month, equals about 1 metal garbage can full.

 

[czar800]

Absolutely! I hate ditching unburnt coals but it does make a difference without a doubt...at least in a CB.

I hate to shovel out anything that is unburnt too. It helps to only load the amount of wood for the burn time you want. I shovel out about once a month and turn and stir everyday.

 

[bluestem]

I've started shoveling mine out about once every two weeks, I was always concerned about losing nice coals too so I made an ash sifter, I got the idea from this thread and oneoldbanjo. I'll have to snap some pictures but it's basically and old grain shovel with the bottom cut out and some 1/4" wire screen bolted to it. I set it on my wheel barrow and the use a square shovel to scoop out the coals and ash. Ash falls into the wheel barrow, coals go back in the boiler, pretty simple.

 

[rob206]

Absolutely! I hate ditching unburnt coals but it does make a difference without a doubt...at least in a CB.

When I'm gone my wife packs the boiler when she loads it. I come back to a serious bed of coals. What I do during the day is to just load it with small sticks of pine that burn fast and hot and keep the coals going. Can usually get a full day of heat using only a couple pounds worth of pine and the most of the coals burn down to ash.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

About once monthly myself..and I use a rake to turn over the coals. I have more clinkers this year than last, just chalked it up to burning elm...

 

[Blazin]

Ha! The first 5 cord of my shed was all elm and I've notice a difference in the mixed I'm into now as far as the coal factor. Overloading will definitely make some coals too... had that figured out the first couple months of the learning curve I made a rake with 10" tines to mix up the coal bed good before I load it, and put the abosolute minimum of wood that I can figure for the day/night.
As stated above, keep the wife away from it unless you can curve her desire to put a weeks worth of wood in at once...been there! Also the dry pine trick works good to burn down the excess, I try to have some 10"-12" dia blocks of really dry white pine on hand, throw a couple of them in when your around for the day and that coal bed turn to dust

 

[1harlowr]

I've got to disagree about not loading the OWB full. I find I don't burn more wood whether I load it 1/2 full twice a day or clear full once a day.
The wood burns till the water temp reaches the setting, the damper closes, then the fire quits burning. Doesn't matter if there are 5 pieces of wood or 10 pieces of wood.

 

[Blazin]

I've got to disagree about not loading the OWB full. I find I don't burn more wood whether I load it 1/2 full twice a day or clear full once a day.
The wood burns till the water temp reaches the setting, the damper closes, then the fire quits burning. Doesn't matter if there are 5 pieces of wood or 10 pieces of wood.

Depends on the OWB I'd say... A unit with a blower on it maybe, but a Central Boiler without induced draft it defintely makes a difference. Far as I've witnessed smoldering coals don't make the BTU's that burning wood does IMO.

 

[Jon E]

I've experimented with a bunch of different things during the four years I've been running my CB OWB. The type of wood makes a big difference, for starters. All summer long, for hot water, I burned pine and junky/punky stuff. I got a LOT of ashes and very little coals. Now with the daytime temps in the 20's and teens at night, I am burning 95% hardwood and getting lots of good hot coals (I call 'em "forge coals") and little ash. I don't empty ash on a schedule, I just pull a few shovels full out when it's convenient. I keep a 20-gallon metal can next to the boiler and it takes most of the winter to fill it.

I've found that the best thing for me, a technique that uses up most, if not all, of the coals, is to slide any larger unburnt pieces off to one side (rare, if I load the firebox properly) and then rake as many coals as I can to the front of the firebox. I then push the charred stuff on top and then put new wood on top of the flattened pile of coals. I only use the front of the firebox - nothing gets loaded past the halfway point, usually, unless I get careless or unless one of my kids or my wife gets to load it. Then they use up three days worth of wood. I can fit everything I burn daily in a small wheelbarrow with room to spare. That's for 4300 square feet of house with 7 people and all of our hot water use.

 

[czar800]

I've found that the best thing for me, a technique that uses up most, if not all, of the coals, is to slide any larger unburnt pieces off to one side (rare, if I load the firebox properly) and then rake as many coals as I can to the front of the firebox. I then push the charred stuff on top and then put new wood on top of the flattened pile of coals. I only use the front of the firebox - nothing gets loaded past the halfway point, usually, unless I get careless or unless one of my kids or my wife gets to load it. Then they use up three days worth of wood. I can fit everything I burn daily in a small wheelbarrow with room to spare. That's for 4300 square feet of house with 7 people and all of our hot water use.[/QUOTE]



I load the same way word for word and burn about the same amount of wood to boot. one full wheelbarrow daily.



.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

I use an old feed auger to sift the entire box. Let it burn down till ashes "flow" and then scoop it all out into metal trash cans. Dump ashes into boot and coals go back and fines sift out into another trash can. Takes less than an hour total and I do it aboiut once a month. Dusty but I wear an charcoal painter;s mask and take a shower afterward. I'd rather get dirty once than smokey everyday. Kevin


http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/85320.htm#post1306574

 

[Jon E]

One thing I'd certainly change on the design of the older Central boilers is, I'd make the bottom of the door opening flush with the bottom of the firebox, that way you could just use a wide flat hoe to scrape out the ash right into a tub or barrel, and I'd also put a grate inside, something extra-heavy-duty, up about 5" above the floor of the firebox, so that the coals and wood would stay elevated and burn clean,and the ash would fall through and easily be removed.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

One thing I'd certainly change on the design of the older Central boilers is, I'd make the bottom of the door opening flush with the bottom of the firebox, that way you could just use a wide flat hoe to scrape out the ash right into a tub or barrel, and I'd also put a grate inside, something extra-heavy-duty, up about 5" above the floor of the firebox, so that the coals and wood would stay elevated and burn clean,and the ash would fall through and easily be removed.

That would be sweet, but I would have to buy another boiler....