While you can clean all the corners of your house with a regular vacuum cleaner, but not if you have a pallet/wood stove, fireplace or use a BBQ grill.
If you have any of these in your house, you are definitely going to need a special vacuum cleaner to clean the residue they leave. The best ash vacuum can effectively clean every bit of ash lying around your house, keeping your home fresh and dust-free.
An ash vacuum is not a very complicated appliance; it runs on almost the same principles as an ordinary vacuum cleaner, but works differently.
If you use a normal vacuum cleaner instead of a best ash vacuum cleaner, you might not be able to keep your home free from the millions of dust particles emitted from your fireplace, stove or BBQ grill.
Besides, it is not safe for a normal vacuum cleaner to suck in the dust particles from your stove or fireplace; they may overheat and damage the appliance altogether.
This is exactly why you need to invest in a good ash vacuum cleaner, because this appliance is going to be an important part of your household.
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Why Would you need an Ash Vacuum Cleaner?
If you have any kind of wood, pallet or fire stove in your home, or if you burn wood or coal in your fireplace, or if you like to make BBQ in your grill – there is no doubt that you have experienced the annoying problem of ash flying around your home.
These dust particles and ash can actually be more of a nuisance in your home than any other kind of garbage. Too much of ash and dust particles flying around the home is not only annoying, but harmful for your lungs, too.
Too much dust in your home will accumulate in your lungs and cause further health problems in the future.
You can try and use an ordinary vacuum cleaner to suck up dust, but it won’t be of much use. A dustpan and brush will create even more of a mess; with a brush, you won’t be able to control the ash in the room.
Instead of being accumulated inside the vacuum cleaner, the ash will scatter away by the air caused by the brush.
Besides, ash from your fireplace or stove is going to be hot, or at least, warm, and a regular vacuum cleaner cannot handle it. Hot ash residues can melt the plastic or the rubber-coated thermal hose and interiors.
Even when you’ve given the ash residue time to cool after several hours, some large pieces may still be hot enough to damage your regular vacuum cleaner.
Also, ash vacuum cleaners have a special filter just for trapping minute ash particles, quite different and much smaller than ordinary dust or dirt. These filters are what you need to clean ash residue from your fireplaces and stoves, and no other vacuum cleaner would do.
This is exactly why you need an ash vacuum for your home. The only, and the best way, to clean ash residue from fireplaces, wood or pallet stove is with an ash vacuum, and nothing else.
They are compact and handy, as well as easy to use. Quite affordable, too, but more importantly, completely effective in cleaning up ash residue mess in your home quite well.
Top 8 Best Ash Vacuum Cleaner Reviews
1. ARMOR ALL 2.5 GALLON, 2 PEAK HP, UTILITY WET/DRY VACUUM
This ash vacuum from Armor has a 6 Amp motor that is powerful and efficient; it can create enough power to capture and trap all the ash residue in your house, both hot and cold.
This is a great ash vacuum that you can use to clean a large amount of ash residue around your fireplaces, wood/pallet stoves or BBQ grills.
A special feature of this vacuum cleaner is that it can pick up both dry and wet debris, which means that you can clean up everything inside your stoves, grills and fireplaces – from ash residue to oil, or any kind of liquid that can be inside your Polypropylene tanks.
This ash vacuum cleaner has a 2.5-gallon canister that is ample in cleaning up your whole house, several times. When the canister is full, the machine shuts-off automatically so there is no chance of a mishap.
Your ash vacuum can also be turned into a blower machine with a one-click button from a sucker machine, for if and when you need to clean unreachable areas.
There is a 10-foot cord and a 6-foot hose with this ash vacuum, but that doesn’t mean you will have any problem storing it. The whole cord and part of the hose can be stored very easily inside the cleaner itself, making it a very compact machine.
You can use the Armor All Ash Vacuum Cleaner for not only ash residue around the fireplaces, stoves or grills, but all around the house as a regular vacuum cleaner, too.
It is lightweight and compact, easy to walk around with. You get a reusable cloth filter and a reusable foam sleeve with this machine, as well as a 2-in-1 utility nozzle. Besides, you get a special nozzle to clean your car with.
Important Features:
- Powerful 6 Amps motor with adequate suction power
- Can pick up both dry and wet ash residue
- 2.5-Gallon canister for storing residue
- Can be converted into a blower
- Auto-shut off when canister is full
- Comes with a 10-foot cord and a 6-foot hose
- On-board organization for cord and hose
- Can be used to clean cars
- Comes with different nozzles to clean
- Lightweight and compact
2. Vacmaster 6 Gallon, 3 Peak HP, Stainless Steel Wet/Dry Vacuum
This amazing piece of machine that resembles a rocket is the Vacmaster VQ607SFD, a heavy-duty weather-resistant ash vacuum that comes with a 7-feet hose and a 12-feet cord.
However, this doesn’t mean that you will have trouble storing this appliance, because this machine has an on-board accessories storage. It comes with a crevice tool, a round bust brush, multi-surface floor nozzle and an air control nozzle.
This appliance comes with a 3-peak HP motor that is quite powerful when it comes to capturing ash residue around the house. The 6-Gallon tank can store a huge amount of ash residue in it without you having you to clean it again and again. You can pick up both dry and wet ash residue with this ash vacuum, in both warm and cool mode.
The 2-in-1 utility nozzle also happens to be quite helpful is cleaning something else other than ash residue around your fireplace, stove or grill; you can use the additional nozzles to clean other appliances and home surfaces where ash residue has gathered.
This is a lightweight appliance that only weighs 16lbs. You can carry it around in your hands, but it also comes with a wheeled base for easy movement. If you want to clean more than one section of your home with this ash vacuum, you won’t even have to carry it with you.
You can just drag along the machine with you wherever you go, and the extra-long 12-feet cord also helps to clean easily.
Important Features:
- Compact and lightweight, only weighs 15lbs
- 7-feet hose and 12-feet cord
- On-board storage
- Wheeled base for easy movement
- Weather-resistant
- Both for dry and wet ash residue
- 6-Gallon tank
- Powerful 3-peak-HP motor
- Comes with different nozzles for extra cleaning
- Comes with reusable foam sleeve and dust bag
This best heavy-duty ash vacuum cleaner from Shop-VAC, the 4041200 is an ash vacuum machine that is going to clean all your ash residue around the fireplaces, the wooden/pallet stoves, and your barbeque grills, leaving nothing behind.
The days of worrying about leaving behind a dirty mess of ash and dust are long gone, with this ash vacuum. Now, with this machine, having a barbeque in your home or using your fireplace in the winter won’t mean leaving behind a coat of fine ash everywhere.
This is a relatively lightweight ash vacuum cleaner, weighing around 21lbs only. It has a 5-Gallon canister inside that you won’t have to clean without having to clean your whole house a few times.
The machine also has a 2-sage filtration system so that the ash residue it sucks in is not released out into the room again. Rather, everything that the machine has collected stays safely inside the canister until you throw it away.
Both the hose and the canister is made from metal, and you can easily use it to capture cool ash residue. The metal screen filter is 3-ply, storing the ash rather than discharging it back into the room. It is also a compact vacuum cleaner, lightweight and small, and easy to wash.
Important Features:
- Lightweight and compact
- 5-Gallon storage canister
- 2-stage filtration system
- Metal hose and canister
- 3-ply metal screen filter
4. POWERSMITH PAVC102 10 AMP 4 GALLON ASH VACUUM
This is a very powerful machine from PowerSmith, especially manufactured just to very effectively suck in every bit of ash residue not only around your fireplaces and stoves, but all around your home.
It can clean both cool and extremely hot ash from around the BBQ grills, fireplaces and stoves, too, even when you are using the appliance. So if you are having a party or entertaining friends, and you want to clear off the ash residue that have gathered around, this is the perfect ash vacuum for you.
With this special vacuum cleaner, you won’t have to worry about scattering the ash residue, or bothering anyone around with floating residue, because this vacuum machine is going to clean up everything very nicely.
The hose is made of metal, as is the entire canister, so that hot ash does not damage the interiors. The motor is 10 Amp and extremely powerful, but at the same time, quiet. You can use this ash vacuum machine in a room where you are entertaining or where people are talking, and still not disturb anyone.
The filters are built to capture and trap even the finest of ash, dust and other particles in the room, and it can be washed away easily with running water. You can even change or replace the filters after a long use, but you won’t need to change the entire machine.
Besides, you can use this ash vacuum as a regular vacuum around the house as well. It can capture minute dust particles, but it can also capture any kind of ordinary household dirt, too. In an ash vacuum, you’re also getting a normal vacuum cleaner for your home for regular use.
This appliance comes with a 16-foot cord, a brush nozzle, a turbo nozzle, casters and two straight extension wands. Since this appliance has a wheeled base, you won’t need to carry it around you in your hands. You can just drag the machine along the floor when you need to use it.
Important Features:
- Powerful 10 Amp motor
- Fine filter system to capture and trap minute molecules
- Quiet operation
- Comes with a 16-foot cord
- Wheeled base
- Can be used as a regular vacuum cleaner
- Metal hose and body can capture hot ash without any damage
- Replaceable and washable filter
- Comes with two nozzles
- Resistant to clogs
- Indicates ash level inside the canister
5. Snow Joe ASHJ201 4.8 Gallon 4 Amp Ash Vacuum
This ash vacuum from Snow Joe is another heavy duty appliance that you can trust to be effective, reliable and long-lasting. This is a great ash vacuum to clean the areas around your BBQ grill, fireplaces, pallet and wood stoves, as well as fire pits in the backyard or when you are camping.
It can effectively suck up and capture all the minute ash residue – both hot and cold – as well as any other type of dust particles and dirt in the house and outside.
The metal hose and interior body makes it possible for this ash vacuum to capture very hot ash particles without any damage to the appliance. The dust cartilage filter is very effective in cleaning your home, but also resistant to clogging.
You can wash the filters regularly so that they will last very long, but you can also replace them easily. The dual filtration system cleans every bit of ash residue lying around your fireplaces, stoves and grills, leaving nothing behind.
The 4 Amp motor is powerful but also quiet. It can generate up to 500w of suction power to effectively clean your house. The large canister can hold up to 4.8 gallons of dust without having to remove the bags inside.
Besides, you can use any kind of bag inside the canister, making the leavings throw away easily. The entire machine is easy to handle and carry, with an indicator when your filters have been blocked or when your canister needs emptying.
Cleanup tools that come with the machine are quite handy, and can help you to deal with any cleaning or clogging problems – which are rare, of course.
Important Features:
- 4.8 gallon holding capacity
- 4 Amp powerful motor
- 500w of suction power
- Dual Filtration system
- Free-bag system in the canister
- Easy to handle and carry
- Long cord
- Metal hose and interior body for hot ash residue
- Blockage indicator
- Comes with cleanup tools
6. Cougar+ Ash Vacuum, Black, Made in the USA
The Couger+ Ash Vacuum Cleaner can only be used to capture and store cool and warm ash residue; this means that, you need to give your fireplaces, grills and stoves a few hours to cool down properly before cleaning them.
This vacuum cleaner also won’t work with hot coals or hot ash. However, this is a powerful vacuum cleaner that will properly clean your home and not leave a single particle lying around.
This is a compact vacuum cleaner that comes with a drawstring carry bag, perfect for travelling with. You can take this ash vacuum with you on your travels, especially on camping trips.
With this best ash vacuum, you won’t have to worry about cleaning up after yourself after an outdoor barbeque or a fire pit. Both the hose and the interior canister is made of metal and completely fire- and heat-resistant.
The patented filter system inside this ash vacuum will pick up even the finest bit of ash residue from your home. This ash vacuum has a 6-Gallon canister inside it, which means ample storage for all the ash residue your cleaner has collected.
The tool kit that comes with this vacuum cleaner has 10 tools in total, for every kind of cleaning your nooks and corners need. The powerful motor is extremely quiet but it can pull in more than 124 cubic feet of air in a minute.
Important Features:
- Great for warm and cool ash residue
- Comes with a carrying handle and a drawing string
- Perfect for travelling and outdoor use
- Metal hose and interior body
- Large 6-Gallon canister
- Powerful, quiet motor
- Comes with 10 tools in a tool kit
- Filters can be cleaned without removal
7. ALEKO APW212 ETL Approved Ash and Dust Vacuum
This cylindrical, sturdy and heavy-duty ash vacuum cleaner from ALEKO can be used to capture and trap not only ash residue, but also other types of dust and dirt particles around the house.
It is indeed a very powerful machine that will effectively and completely clean everything you concentrate on, but mostly any single particle of ash residue around your barbeque grills, outdoor pizza ovens, wood or pallet stoves or your indoor fireplaces.
The strong suction power manufactured by the sturdy HEPA filter will clear the room in no time, making the whole place fresh and breezy.
The hose is made from aluminum and the canister is made from steel; therefore, you can use this appliance to clean up both warm and cool ash residue, something you won’t be able to do with a regular plastic vacuum cleaner.
It can suck it and trap ash residue from everywhere, even from places your hose won’t easily be able to reach.
Since this appliance from ALEKO has been made from a combination of aluminum and stainless steel, it is a lightweight machine, weighing only 9 lbs. The 5-Gallon steel body is large enough to hold a huge amount of ash residue without you having to empty and clean after every use.
Besides, this is actually a multipurpose vacuum cleaner that you can use in your ordinary day to day cleaning. The long hose and cord makes it easy to reach into corners, above and below furniture to clean, as well.
Important Features:
- Multipurpose vacuum cleaner
- 5-Gallon metal canister
- Lightweight at 9lbs
- Can be used to clean dry and wet, warm and cool ash residue
- Aluminum home and steel canister
- Effective HEPA filter
- Can vacuum anything under 104 degree Fahrenheit
- 14 kPa suction power
8. Vacmaster 2.5 Gallon, 2 Peak HP, Portable Wet/Dry Vacuum
This is a rather compact and handy ash vacuum machine from Vacmaster that comes with a 4-feet hose and 8-feet cord, perfect for quick cleaning up after using your fireplace, barbeque grills or stoves.
The powerful motor can suck in ash residue very quickly from the environment, trapping every little miniscule of it inside the canister so that nothing is flying around and hampering the air you are breathing in.
Quite quickly, you can also convert this ash vacuum into a blower machine, to blow residue out of every small nook and corner you cannot reach, just to immediately capture them again.
It is not a problem storing this ash vacuum cleaner effectively. Even though it has 8-foot cord, you can easily store the whole thing inside the on-board accessory storage above the cleaner.
The 2.5-Gallon storage canister is just enough for a few cleaning, and will automatically shut down when full. This is actually a helpful feature that reduces the chances of overflow. The machine also comes with a cord wrap, a 2-in-1 utility nozzle, a crevice tool and a reusable foam sleeve.
Important Features:
- 2.5-Gallon canister
- 4-feet hose and 8-feet cord
- On-board storage organizer
- Comes with utility nozzle, crevice tool and reusable foam sleeve
- Can be converted to a blower
- Auto-shut down when canister is full
- Compact and easy to use
- Lightweight
9. Workshop Ash Vacuum WSO500ASH
This is a more hi-tech ash vacuum cleaner that’s going to make your cleaning time much easier and faster. It can clean and trap anything under 122⁰F, which includes both warm and cold ash residue.
This best ash vac is only for dry ash only, not wet, but you won’t have to wait very long to clean it up after use. Besides, there is a LED light on the hose that helps you to vacuum inside fireplaces and stoves.
The HEPA filter in this machine is quite powerful and it will pick up every single bit of ash residue in your house. Nothing will be released back into the air to pollute it, but stored inside neatly until you are ready to throw it out.
The filter is also coated with a non-stick material so that the dry ash doesn’t stick to it. This machine comes with a carry handle, making it easier to carry.
The 8-foot power cord can be stored neatly inside the on-board storage organizer, but that’s not all. You can also store the tools that comes with the machine inside the machine at all times.
So, what comes with this machine? A cartridge filter, a metal mesh cage, a locking hose, a crevice tool and a metal wand. The 3.0 Peak HP motor is powerful and effective, and the 5-Gallon canister is just big enough for cleaning your whole house several times before it needs emptying.
Important Features:
- Can clean both warm and cool ash residue
- Can pick up ash particles under 122⁰F
- LED light on the hose helps in cleaning dark areas
- 5-Gallon canister
- 3.0 Peak HP powerful motor
- Comes with multiple tools and attachments
- Comes with an on-board organizer
- 8-foot power cord
Best Ash Vacuum Buying Guide: Factors to Consider
If you have a working fireplace in your home, or if you use a wooden or pallet stove, or an outdoor pizza oven, or if you like to host barbeque parties for your friends, you are definitely worried about dry ash residue scattered around.
It is neither a great sight inside/outside your home, nor is it very healthy. Inhaling ash residue flying in the air can cause serious and long-lasting damage to your lungs, which is of course, not something anyone wants.
Ash residue from both inside and outside your home needs to be cleaned up as soon as it is possible, or else, it is going to spread all around and mess up your whole house.
You will definitely need a good ash vacuum in your home if you have ash residue around. However, buying an ash vacuum isn’t as simple as buying a regular vacuum cleaner. You’ll need to look out for some specific features in a model.
- Size
An ash vacuum cleaner that is huge is always an inconvenience. You definitely need a compact cleaner that is easy to store and steer. If the ash vacuum is small and compact, you can even take it with you on your camping or hiking trips.
Besides, with a lightweight ash vacuum cleaner, you can clean around the home better.
- Long Power Cord/Hose
Some machines come with a long power cord/hose combination, more than 10-feet long. A longer power cord is extremely helpful in reaching places that are usually unreachable, like inside a fireplace or a pizza stove.
Some ash vacuum cleaners can be also used for regular cleaning around the house, a longer cord and hose could be helpful in reaching up to the ceilings and windows.
- On-board Storage
When your ash vacuum machine has a long cord or a hose, it might be difficult to store.
However, most ash vacuums come with an on-board storage organizer so that you can keep both the hose and the cord tucked inside the machine. This is a great convenience when you don’t have to worry about tripping over exposed cord.
- Powerful Motor
Most ash vacuum machines have an adequate motor that is just enough to clean up the ash residue around your home.
Some vacuum cleaners, on the other hand, have motors more powerful, up to 10 Amp. A more powerful motor means that you can do your work faster and more efficiently.
- Canister Size
The larger the canister, the fewer times you have to empty it. A bigger canister means you can use the machine multiple times for cleaning before emptying it. Emptying the canister can be quite a hassle, but if you can leave the machine alone for after a few uses, it makes life easier for everyone.
- Convenience of Use
Some ash vacuum cleaners can only be used on cool ash residue. While it is okay to wait for ash residue to cool, it may take your residue more than a few days to completely cool down.
This can actually be an inconvenience when warm ash residue is spread all around your home. Advanced models made from metal can capture and trap both warm and cool ash residue; some machines can even handle ash residue over 122⁰F.
- Tools and Attachments
The more tools and attachments that come with an ash vacuum machine, the better. Most machines come with the standard crevice tools, utility tools and metal wands. Besides, it helps if the vacuum cleaner has a carrying handle or a bag with it.
Basically, you need to look out for a standard sized ash vacuum cleaner that is not too big, but a compact one. However, a compact machine works better if it has a large canister that you can use several times before emptying.
A longer hose and cord always helps to reach into places you normally can’t; but it helps more if you can store the hose/cord combination into the on-board storage.
Besides, a powerful motor which can capture both dry and wet, cool and warm ash residue. All these are the important factors you need in an ash vacuum cleaner, under your budget, of course.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Ash Vacuum Cleaners
1. Can I use an ash vacuum for normal cleaning around the house?
Some ash vacuum cleaning machines can be used to capture dust particles and fine dirt around the house, but not solid and large garbage. These machines have a fine filtering system that doesn’t work on large chunks of dirt and garbage.
2. Can I pick up hot ash residue immediately after I am done using my fireplace/grill/stove?
No. While some advanced machines can effectively clean up warmer ash residue, at most, you’d have to wait a few hours. If you immediately pick up ash residue after use, it matt permanently damage the hose and the canister.
3. How often do I have to clean the filters?
With most vacuum cleaners, you won’t need to clean the filters until you’ve used the ash vacuum machine at least a few times to its full storage capacity.
However, if it feels like your hose isn’t taking in the ash residue effectively, it might mean that the filters have clogged and needs cleaning. Otherwise, you can keep using the filter a few times without cleaning it.
4. Can an ash vacuum take in large pieces?
Not particularly. These vacuum cleaning machines have special filters only designed to capture fine ash. Especially, if the large pieces in question are hot ember, they can seriously damage the machine.
5. Why does my nozzle clog all the time?
The reason can be that the nozzle is held directly over or even deep inside a pile of ash. The right way to use an ash vacuum is to place the nozzle a little away from the ash residue, probably on the firebricks, and leave a little space for the ash residue to be sucked inside the machine.
If there is no space for the ash residue to move inside the hose, it will end up clogging the nozzle.
6. How can I clean a clogged nozzle?
You can clean a clogged nozzle by immediately giving it some little taps against the firebricks or the grill. If the clog is new, the ash residue will loosen instantly. By no means, should you use your fingers or hands to unclog the nozzle as the ash residue may still be pretty hot inside.
7. Why does my ash vacuum sometimes lose suction?
It may be because of poor ventilation. If there is a lot of ash residue already inside your machine’s filter, the buildup may prevent air flow. This will limit and reduce the suction power of your ash vacuum. If this is the case, you need to empty your ash vacuum machine and clean out the filters.
8. Are ash vacuum machine hoses always stiff?
Since you will be cleaning warm ash with your ash vacuum cleaner, the hose is made from metal instead of rubber. A metal hose makes it possible to withstand the hot ash residue your vacuum cleaner has to clean up, so it becomes a little stiff to handle.
Conclusion
When you have ash residue in your home from your fireplace, wooden or pallet stove or pizza oven, the right thing to do is to invest in a top-of-the-line ash vacuum cleaner.
They work on a similar principle as an ordinary vacuum cleaner, but you need a special unit for all your ash residue. Without such a vacuum machine, you have to let your ash particles cool for days after each use, and risk the chance of spreading them all around the house.
Besides, a regular vacuum cleaner can’t really do the job well enough; you are going to make a bigger mess than the one you started with. An ash vacuum is just what you need, and the best ash vacuum cleaner can help you keep your home clean and fresh all the time.