Christina Websell wrote:

You should not have that much ash, a wood burner needs to burn on a bed of
ash - I only empty a bit of mine out once a week.

Could you give me an idea of how deep you maintain that bed, and also
how high above it the air inlet is? I'm asking because I'm thinking of
adapting a Rayburn to be able to switch between coal and wood by taking
out the grate assembly and replacing it with a simple ash pan --but how
deep should I make it?

My idea is to use coal (as I do now) in the winter, when the Rayburn
stays in all the time, and wood for on-demand use in the less cold
months (aka "summer"). It would be a tall narrow firebox, rather than a
long shallow one. Would that work OK for wood? And do you have any idea
of the rate at which you burn wood?

Many thanks,

brian mitchell