I bought and moved into a house six weeks ago. There was some semi-built-in furniture which came with the house, but it was gross, so I had it removed recently... Which leads me to this. There's an iron door which opens to the interior of the cinder block wall. No obvious purpose, no visible pipes or valves or anything. What might this be?
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J K
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Fireplace ash cleanout.
In the back center of the fireplace, there will be an ash drop opening.
The popularity of these date to when the fireplace was used 24 hours a day. You could safely drop ashes with hot coals, and later remove the cold ash.
Tyson
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The owner immediately before me installed a wood burning oven insert. Is it likely that it is no longer functional as an ash drop? – J K Dec 27 '17 at 22:49
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You’d have to look and see, I’ve seen inserts that would both close it off with a sealed steel bottom and those that would leave it exposed. I suspect it’s non-functional. Even if there is an opening you don’t have to use it. Typically the opening is covered with a metal door that flips oven (using a fireplace tool) for use. – Tyson Dec 27 '17 at 22:56
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It was a much easier way to clean out the fireplace when burning wood or coal. Just flip up the inside door up with a poker and push everything under the grate in and close once the box was full a standard fireplace shovel was just the right size to clean it out. + – Ed Beal Dec 27 '17 at 23:01
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When I had my fireplace professionally serviced & cleaned they explicitly instructed me to not use the ash cleanout, I think because the falling ash will stir up lots of dust. – DaveD Dec 27 '17 at 23:12
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That’s true @DaveD I tried using the one in my first house—everything in the basement got ash dust on it even with the door closed. It was definitely less dirty to just shovel the ashes from the fireplace into a large metal holiday popcorn can. After the can set with the lid on for a few days outside I’d dispose of the ash. Hot coals live a long time in ash, it’s best to be very safe with ash disposal. – Tyson Dec 27 '17 at 23:18
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@Tyson Normally that's accomplished by thoroughly soaking the ash with water prior to adding the ash to anything which might be combustible. While letting it sit for an extended amount of time will eventually result in any coals being out, there's no pre-determinable amount of time (other than lots) after which it's safe. Soaking the ash will result in being sure it's out and results in there being less dust when moving the ash to a different container. – Makyen Dec 27 '17 at 23:58
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1@Makyen WOW. Thank you. I did mention being safe, but I guess I wasn’t as safe as you are. Fire needs 3 things to burn: fuel, heat, and oxygen. Personally I never had anything but cold ash after being sealed in a popcorn tin outdoors for multiple days. Sorry I didn’t suggest making a complete mess that is hard to dispose of! – Tyson Dec 28 '17 at 01:03