Ash pan and cleaning mess

pgalland

I just had my new 5KW stove installed last week - a broseley - and I am a bit disappointed with the mess this whole thing creates.
The ash pan is ridiculously small, and needs emptying every 12/14h of fire (for smokeless fuel... I assume it would take less than that if I was to burn wood).
I was told that the stove / ashes have to be cold prior to emptying the ash-pan... making it impossible to run the stove 24/7 during the winter - that is another disappointment !

Have you guys figured out a way to clean the ash pan while it was still hot or while the coal was still burning on the grate above... any non messy way to clean up the stove/ash pan without ruining the living room / woodfloor around?

Thanks for any tips you can provide

manda1205

We empty the ash pan into a metal bucket which then stands outside to cool down. Just pull it out whilst the fire is still going and then walk slowly and careful not to make too much of a breeze to the bucket,(you could bring the bucket to the fire, but we just find it easier and less messy to walk through kitchen with it-shouting keep out of my way whilst walking) which we have outside the back door, then tip it in, then stick the ash pan back under the fire. When our bucket is cold and full we then empty it.

Greenfires

Smokeless is filthy stuff in my opinion. We've burned nothing but briquettes for years and only take an inch or two of ash out of the stove every week or two. There's a grate under there somewhere, but it's a hell of a long time since we've seen it. Just one more advantage of woodfuels!

A._Badger

If you are getting a 12 to 14 hour burn from a stove without having to clean the ashes, you are doing pretty well!

Be very careful not to let the firebars get blocked with ash.Smokeless burns hotter than wood (which, pace Greenfires, is why it is in some respects a better fuel than wood) and if you don't allow air to circulate from below, through the firebars, the temperature will get hot enough to melt them!

The moral is to make sure you never let ash in your ashpan block firebars.

The neatest solution to emptying ashes 'on the hoof' is to use a Tippy. They aren't cheap but they are well made (in England!) and enable you to empty ashes while a stove is running, safely and effectively.

I've no connection, other than being a satisfied user, so here's a link http://www.tippyash.co.uk/

suki1964

pgalland wrote: »

I just had my new 5KW stove installed last week - a broseley - and I am a bit disappointed with the mess this whole thing creates.
The ash pan is ridiculously small, and needs emptying every 12/14h of fire (for smokeless fuel... I assume it would take less than that if I was to burn wood).
I was told that the stove / ashes have to be cold prior to emptying the ash-pan... making it impossible to run the stove 24/7 during the winter - that is another disappointment !

Have you guys figured out a way to clean the ash pan while it was still hot or while the coal was still burning on the grate above... any non messy way to clean up the stove/ash pan without ruining the living room / woodfloor around?

Thanks for any tips you can provide

I think either you are a clean freak, and therefore shouldn't have had a stove installed, or you are getting in a panic over nothing

Solid fuel burning IS messy. No getting by that

I can run my 6kw stove at least 24 hrs on smokeless without emptying the pan. I empty it when it's just below the bars

And I empty it hot - buy gauntlets - into a metal bucket till cold enough to dispose off. I'm lucky I have enough waste land to spill them

As for ruining the floor, your hearth should be deep enough for it not to be a problem. And old or very cheap mats help in case of a stray coal

Relax a bit. Stoves make a mess it's part and parcel. Dh will clean ours out every day whereas I might do it once a week. Just don't lest hot embers reach your grate from below and you will be grand


Oh a tippy helps but you will still get a cloud of dust rise


Wood and hotties are a cleaner burn (less ash) and Anthracite leaves more clinkers then ash. You need to work out yourself what compromise you are willing to make. Cost, mess, heat

Just give yourselves time

suki1964

manda1205 wrote: »

We empty the ash pan into a metal bucket which then stands outside to cool down. Just pull it out whilst the fire is still going and then walk slowly and careful not to make too much of a breeze to the bucket,(you could bring the bucket to the fire, but we just find it easier and less messy to walk through kitchen with it-shouting keep out of my way whilst walking) which we have outside the back door, then tip it in, then stick the ash pan back under the fire. When our bucket is cold and full we then empty it.

I walk through the upstairs, down a flight and back through the house to get to the back door. I walk very slowly indeed lol

suisidevw

I emptied my Charnwood C4 of ashes once last 'season' and we burn every night?!

Dieselman

Tippy box is the key thing to use i keep mine at the side of the sofa and empty the tray after 2 nights of burning which is approx 12 hrs.

Never done it hot but if you shake the tray the ashes will level out and you can fill it some more before you have to empty it.

It's still a messy job and some get spilt but thats the price you pay for a wood stove.

I love these adverts in the glossy magazines and online of stoves working no mess around no splinters to be seen it's not real life without some mess.:p

Industrial vacuum like Henry Hoover i use to clean out the stove as the fine particals can damage the Dyson.

savemoney

We empty hours the next day when its cooled down the tray is around half full, its a bit less since we mainly burn seasoned logs and briquettes now rather than seasoned logs and some wood pallets obviously broken down pallets. We seem to get fair less ash when burning briquettes. Rarely has our ash tray been full after a full days and evening burning

I just empty ash from gate into the ash pan with a brush from a cheap brush pan set when it cold ash and put ash in waste bin sometimes I keep some ash from composter

Greenfires

To be honest - if you're only burning wood you'd be better letting the ash build up to cover the grate - wood is much happier on a bed of ash than on a clean grate. Smokeless fuel is the opposite of course.

alleycat`

Greenfires wrote: »

To be honest - if you're only burning wood you'd be better letting the ash build up to cover the grate - wood is much happier on a bed of ash than on a clean grate. Smokeless fuel is the opposite of course.

Agree with this.
Don't think i've emptied the ash pan in 2 weeks.

Only real maintenance in that time is a small clean of the glass which stubbornly discolours in the bottom right hand corner by the door hinge no matter what i do.