We are moving after 28 years, and we've been spoiled by our current fireplace, which has an exterior ash dump. It's got a flap door in the bottom and I dump the ash down that door. When it gets full, I go outside, and there's an exterior door that allows easy shoveling out to the yard or flower bed. If you haven't seen this setup, I highly recommend it!

But we're moving and the new house has a typical fireplace. Do you just use a small pale and shovel your ash into it, trying not to get it airborne as you exit the house? Would a shop vac work well? I know the chimney sweep uses a large shop vac, but I don't know if there are special filters for ash.

I'm just wondereing if there's some idea or product that I should consider, or if I'm totally overthinking it.

Vacuum would be easiest. They sell ash hepa filters. Otherwise just shovel into a 5 gallon bucket when sure it's cool.


https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ash...er&veh=sem&gclsrc=ds

You can eliminate that chore entirely with a gas fireplace.

I use a 5 gallon galvanized pail with a lid and a small fireplace scoop to clean out my wood stove.

Let it cool a couple of days, shovel the ashes into a paper grocery bag, roll it up and drop it in the trash can. Haven’t made a mess or set anything on fire for 25 years doing it that way.

I use a pail and shovel. At the end of the season I will use the vacuum to completely clean out everything. I have found by not taking out all the ash allows the fire to get hotter and faster (like a layer of insulation).

Note to self; self, if the ash comes out with red coals, DO NOT empty the pail into the trashcan outside - bad thigns will happen. (Let the METAL pail sit outside for a few five nights)

A coal scuttle and the shovel that came with the fireplace tool set. They're at least 30 years old, and will probably still be in use 30 years from now.

I use a metal ash-shovel and pail. When able, I vacuum the bricks and stove. By able, I mean everything is good and dead/cold. Many fires have started by vacuuming a coal that re-ignites with the air associated with the vacuum. They make specific ash vacuums with metal canisters and other safety considerations, but just waiting for several days always worked for me. I use a shop vacuum. I probably only vacuumed once or twice a year, when I also clean the chimney.

Overthinking. Metal bucket w/lid and small flat fireplace shovel. And you don't want to remove it all if you are still actively using the fireplace.

^^^^exactly what hrcjon said, I'm letting my stove burn out overnight and clean it about 80% tomorrow afternoon. Then it's ready to fire it back up. Metal bucket for safety for sure.

My current setup is a wood stove with a slide out ash box that I just carry outside and dump, usually when cool before starting a fire but when burning continuously like now while burning (with gloves).

But I grew up in a home with two fireplaces as you describe burning coal for heat. Being the son, by the time I was 9 it was my job to bring in coal and take out the ashes.
In order to minimize ash dust in the house we shoveled the ash into a metal bucket sitting right in front of the burning fireplace so the draft carried the dust up the chimney.

Ash vacuum from Amazon. It was worth the money.

Ash Vacuum

Shovel, bucket w/ tight fitting lid, all are metal. As I shovel, I leave the coals, whether glowing or cold so they can contribute to the next fire. Make sure the bucket contents are stone cold, then take it out and dump it in the field, never in the woods. Best to do this when snow is on the ground.

I use my shop vac with the "fine dust" filter.

I'll remove the grate, push ash away from a corner, then lean newspaper, tall and twisted, into the corner. Light it to establish draft. Then shovel ash into a brass metal ash can (made in England, with embossed surface, trash picked; amazing what people put out in the rubbish).

The old "risk manager" in me can't see using a vacuum. You're adding oxygen back to potentially smouldering coals. Seems like a good way to have a house fire.
I always used a metal bucket and immediately spread the ash in a safe area outside.

We've heated with a wood stove since the 70's. I've always just shoveled the ashes, hot or cold, into a metal bucket, with one of those small fireplace shovels, and took them outside. If the stove is burning I wear welders gloves & leave plenty of hot coals. Don't overthink it.

We used to heat by wood stove alone. You can’t always wait to be sure the ash is cold to clean the stove out when the stove is your only source of heat. I shoveled into a coal scuttle and left it outside until I was sure it was cold. I miss splitting wood. I don’t miss anything else about heating with wood.

ash will clog up a filter on a shop vac - in a hurry. So, if you go that route, have plenty of extra bags.

I just wait till the ashes are cold and shovel them into the kitchen garbage bag and then tie it shut and throw it outside. If you have to shovel hot ashes - yes, you'll need a metal pail.

Manually every few days. I use an ash/coal shovel and a large 2.5 gallon heavy duty galvanized bucket. When I start burning, it generally does not stop until spring. This year being the exception due to a warm fall and early winter, I didn’t touch off the first fire until early January. It never gets cool so even a fire resistant vacuum is not the best option for me.

Something else to remember- you want to have an ash bed of about 1-1.5” in wood stoves and inserts to insulate the bottom of the unit. Modern efficiency stoves do their heating from above and draw cool combustion air from down low which really aids in both creating heat and limiting unburned carbon (which reduces creosote buildup and wasted BTU’s).