this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2024
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Cleaning out the ash & cinders the next day is the downside of a wood fire. My EBrunswick house was heated with a slow combustion wood heater - dealt with all too many ashes over the years. The good side of that is I always had wood ash on hand for the garden. I actually miss that part of the deal. I don't miss stacking the wood chunks though and keeping them dry and ready to use.
In my ideal house there would be regular heating plus a wood heater. Wood heater for night when I want to put effort in and regular heating for the rest of the time. I want the mod cons and the cake.
We run the split system on the cold mornings when we're heading out for the day, then I light the fire when I get home. It warms the house up nicely, and is a great way to get clothes dry in front of. When I have a day off I'll keep it ticking over all day and it's lovely. It is a lot of work and mess though, and we are very lucky because we don't have to pay for good wood.
Yeah, I'm glad to be done with that, I must say. (The ashes. Oh my God, the ashes.)
Wood ash does wonderful things for the garden when added in small quantities. Also snails hate ash and won't cross it, so can be used to protect baby vegetables if you put a ring of ash around whatever plant or bed you want to protect. After that, the ash can be dug into the soil when the plants come out after harvest. I've never used briquettes or coal, as these ashes are a lot more toxic.
It's alot of work, but the heat is lovely.