Outdoor Wood Furnace Info

All-Purpose OWF Discussions => General Outdoor Furnace Discussion => Topic started by: trz on November 24, 2012, 03:47:36 PM

Title: emptying ashes
Post by: trz on November 24, 2012, 03:47:36 PM
how often do you remove ashes from your owb?  I tend to go along time before i do (lazy i guess) do you think that's a mistake?  do you think they work more efficiently if you keep them pretty low?
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: victor6deep on November 24, 2012, 04:08:56 PM
I empty about half from the front and then pull the coals from the back. Keep this rotation and you'll be good. Imo ashes act as insulation not letting heat transfer below.
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: trz on November 24, 2012, 04:51:06 PM
do you do that daily?
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: bajonesy77 on November 24, 2012, 04:51:55 PM
 I do mine when it gets about 2 inchs deep(2 weeks). I too just empty them from the front where its just dust  and pull the lumps from the back to front to burn them.
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: victor6deep on November 24, 2012, 04:52:56 PM
Once a week or two weeks.
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: AirForcePOL on November 24, 2012, 04:58:47 PM
I empty mine about every week to week and a half.  I feel like leaving the ashes/coals in there helps with recovery times. When that blower kicks on those coals get bright red.
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: HandyMark on November 24, 2012, 06:15:54 PM
I have burning since the end of September and have not taken out any ashes yet. I do stir them almost daily to keep them from developing any wet spots from condensation. Once it gets cold I will still go at least a month before taking out any ash.
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: johnybcold on November 24, 2012, 07:50:53 PM
I check it every Saturday when I do my weekly clean up, a lot of the time it does not need to be empires so I just leave it, I probably average every other week for taking ash out
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: garz on November 25, 2012, 08:30:48 AM
At roughly 2 week intervals I remove the ashes. I empty the firebox completely and sift the ash through a 3/8” hardware cloth sieve into an old wheelbarrel tub. Anything that doesn’t go through the sieve goes back into the firebox as an ash bed to restart the fire.
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: fireboss on November 25, 2012, 03:52:18 PM
I take a few shovels full out every other day or so for 2 reasons, 1 I feel the ash acts like an insulater it stops the heat from trans forming threw the metal to the water and 2nd its easeyer to do alittle bit everyday then spending a lot of time on the weekends
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: kybaseball on November 25, 2012, 05:45:51 PM
I have a Heatmaster so I have a tray that my ashes going into. I will empty it out about once a week. Just like the other guys I keep about a 2 inch layer of ashes for helping insulate and also help keep fire going. Could wait about ever other week but I just like to do it once a week.
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: BoilerHouse on November 25, 2012, 06:44:03 PM
Punch the tubes and pull the ashes weekly.
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: MattyNH on November 25, 2012, 07:24:04 PM
I auger my ashes out once a week.. I have a buddy that does like every 2 weeks or so
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: Scratch on November 27, 2012, 08:12:02 AM
I do about every two weeks or so.
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: AirForcePOL on November 27, 2012, 01:21:56 PM
I've noticed with mine that when it gets colder the furnace cycles more and the ashes are a lot more fine than when the weather is fair.

Welcome back Scratch! Haven't seen a post from you in quite some time!
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: monty3077 on November 27, 2012, 08:22:50 PM
I have had mine going now since mid October and have only emptied ash once.  About three 5 gallon buckets is all.  I am pretty sure I read in the manual to empty ash once it reaches bottom of door, that's about six inches from bottom.  If that wasn't the most efficient way to heat, I'm sure central boiler would recommend emptying ash more often.  I just stir it up good everyday and seems to be workin fine for me.
Title: Re: emptying ashes
Post by: Scott7m on November 27, 2012, 09:17:49 PM
Ive been burning since mid september and have took out almost 1 gallon of ash.... 

The way things are going I could go all winter on less than a 5 gallon bucket of ash

I don't miss packing the ash pan to the creek bank