Wood Ash and the wife, I am so in the dog house.....

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Ash pan under grate, open door pull pan being careful not to bump it - out door and spread on lawn. Only do it with a hot fire and the draft keeps the flyash mostly up the chimney.

Vacuum cleaner and ashes!!!??? That is an instant fire bomb if there are any hot coals/sparks.

Harry K

nope..i just get close enough to get the dust that floats around in the air
 
I usually clean my ashes out when the stove has some coals in it (makes it easy to start another fire) and don't have much trouble with dust. I think jags might be onto something about the ash getting drawn back up the chimney when the stove is still hot. I also put my ash shovel down to the bottom of the bucket and don't dump it very fast. That does make a difference.

My wife appreciates me getting the wood and the heat that it delivers.
 
All of the advice to do the ash emptying with a hot flue to suck up the ash dust.
No water, no open window. Just open the draft/damper/primary air for awhile before cleaning out the ash. Do the ash sloooowly to give the dust a chance to go up the hot flue.

And Avalancher, lose the "The Wife" thing. May help. Then again..........:in-love:

JMNSHO
 
Keeping the ash bucket near the open door of the hot stove didn't help much for me, probably because my chimney is short and the draft is lousy. My current method involves a large saucepan with a tight fitting lid. I know, your wife will look at you like you've lost it when you use one of her pans to scoop ash. She'll get over it after she notices the lack of dust in the air. Just make sure to put the lid on the pan full of ash before pulling it out of the stove.

Oh, and dont put the pan back in the cabinet without washing it first, that'll really piss her off!
 
Build a Big Dog House

That's how I handled it. When LOML decides to unload on me, I simply retreat to the dog house and join Lady, my flat-coated retriever. Her house has a picture window (not shown here), is well insulated, and is big enough for both of us, provided I curl up in the prenatal position:

LadysHouse.jpg


Lady keeps me warm as toast while LOML cools off. One time I forgot I was in there and slept the whole night. The birds chirping woke me up.
 
I'm surprised that nobody suggested an ash vac. That's what I use to clean up around the stove. Just gotta be careful to only get ash and not unburned chips or big coals. The filter in there is fire retardant but not fireproof.

Google "cheetah ash vac".

Ian
 
An Ash Vacuum Cleaner?

I'm surprised that nobody suggested an ash vac. That's what I use to clean up around the stove. Just gotta be careful to only get ash and not unburned chips or big coals. The filter in there is fire retardant but not fireproof.

Google "cheetah ash vac".

Ian
If I bought one of those for LOML to use, I fear I would then spend the next three nights in Lady's dog house. :eek:uttahere2:
 
I've had pretty good success with the ash vacumes. If you don't have an ash tray on your stove though I could see the bigger issue. I don't know if you could use one for that.

If you can't use one, I'm with the others who have suggested doing it out of a warm stove and the damper wide open to allow more of the dust to be sucked back in.
 
I have an ash bucket with a lid. Part of my morning routine is to take a couple scoops of ash out of the (hopefully) still warm stove. I keep the ash bucket as close to the door of the stove as possible. I get a scoop of ash making sure to keep the scoop inside the stove until the dust settles. Then I open the lid of the ash bucket just enough to get the scoop of ash into the bucket. I carefully dump the ashes into the bucket and quickly close the lid.

Between the warm stove, taking my time, and the lid on the ash can I don't get much ash in the house. It is much worse if I'm in a hurry. The wife never says anything about the dust. I think she likes to be warm. If she ever complained about it, I would remind her of the days when we were paying 4-600$ per month to keep the house 65 degrees.
 
No answer for you here either, We get it everywhere to. No matter how careful you are,it is going to get airborne. my wife cleans it off all the time. She likes the hot heat and the savings so she don't complain a lot. After using a wood stove it's hard to go back to central heat. Just let the stove go out and turn the central heat on and freeze. After a while of being cold the stove will get fired back up.
 
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