Spring Cleaning With The Ash Vacuum
March 10, 2020
Spring has sprung. All of us who used our wood burning fireplace during the winter now face the tasks of cleaning and preparing for summer and all those wonderful outdoor activities we all love. A living room or den with a fire place is an especially cozy area to gather with family and friends on wintry days but cleaning up is no ones favorite activity. Good News!!! There’s a great appliance that makes fireplace cleaning a breeze – The Ash Vacuum.
Yes, the Ash Vacuum actually exists and is still, to my knowledge, little known. Sooo!!!, here comes a review of what I found to be the three top rated ash vacuums. But first, I found some cool complimentary information that could help us decide which vacuum best suits our needs. Namely, the HEPA Filter and the Micron. Don’t be alarmed, it will all make sense.
HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air. A Micron is one millionth of a meter or .000039th of an inch. A HEPA rated filter traps 99.97% of particles that measure .3 microns. Ergo, vacuums with HEPA filters are very efficient. By comparison, a typical cartridge type pool filter is rated at 10-15 microns.
Why should we worry about HEPA filters and micron ratings? Well, ash that continues to smoulder produces carbon monoxide. C O is odorless and colorless. Only 800ppm can kill you in 2-3-hours. Occasional cleaning and a good spring cleaning is definitely in order.
But! Don’t throw ash away!
Ash is great for your outside plants. It contains good stuff such as boron, potassium, calcium and phosphorous and can raise your soil’s ph.
Now, on to the actual Ash Vacuums. There are three brands that get consistently good reviews. The Power Smith, the Shop Vac and the Snow Joe. All three are for dry pick-up, they are not wet vacs.
The Power Smith is the only vac of these three that can be used for warm as well as cold vacuuming. With a 10 amp motor it is the most powerful vac but has the smallest canister volume at 3 gallons. (Don’t ask!). It has two layer filtration, a four foot vacuum hose and the longest power cord at 16 feet. It also has a wheeled base. The price is around $70.00 with a larger canister model (5+ gal) coming in at about $135.00.
The Shop Vac has a 6.3 amp motor with a 5 gallon canister volume. This vac has a triple layer metal filter and a HEPA filter. It has a four foot vacuum hose and a 6 foot power cord. The price is around $85.00
The Snow Joe has a 4 amp motor with just under a 5 gallon canister volume. It has a pre-filter and a washable cartridge filter. The vacuum hose is four feet and the power cord is 8 feet. The price is about $60.00.
All three wiegh in at between 9 and 13 pounds and come with a 2 year warranty. These are all great ash vacuums that can be used inside and out, on wood burning stoves and barbecues in addition to fireplaces. Power Smith has the strongest motor, Shop Vac gas the HEPA filter and Snow Joe is the best value as well as highly rated for ease of use. Choose the one that best suits your needs.
Go to http://fireplaceflair.com/accessories-and-gifts/blog/ to purchase these on line.
Don’t forget to go to http://fireplaceflair.com/ for screens, tools, accessories, gifts, fire pits, fire glass and much more, Thanks.
