Safety Question

I once asked my insurance agent what they would think of home built heaters. I didn't mention RMH or masonry heaters, just a wood burning appliance in general. Was told as long as it was so much distance from combustible materials, would likely pass inspection and coverage would still be in force. Nearly shocked the pants off me. Would believe it when I see it.

BUT, that also got me thinking.......and these are thoughts from watching way to many youtube videos of RMH and masonry heater builds......with all manner of combustibles right next to the appliance........has anyone ever caught their place on fire and burned it down?

Asking a question like that is one thing.

Getting that approved from an inspection is something else entirely!

Even getting it approved is but one step; the real question is, what would your insurance premiums be?

Sure, they might give you insurance but what is the point if it is so expensive you cannot afford it? Or, would the added cost of insurance actually save you any money over just burning traditional fuels? In other words, if you heat your home for $1000 less, but you pay $1000 more for solid fuel heating, what is the point financially speaking?

And the second question; what about your plans to sell down the road? I have a wood boiler… manufactured and not homemade, but installing it would ruin my homes value at resale. It’s actually more advantageous for me fiscally speaking to heat via oil then install a wood boiler that I don’t even have to buy.

It does not seem to make sense but that is the world we live in today.

A story: My grandparents' house had a massive stone fireplace. When my Dad was in high school, he built a wood stove insert for it as a final project for his welding class. Several decades later my parents bought the house. There was some dismay about that wood stove insert. Well, the insurance agent showed up. They talked about stuff. He measured the Quadra Fire wood stove in one of the rooms. Then my Dad launched into an explanation of his DIY wood insert in the other room. The agent asked, "Is it a wood burner?" Of course the answer was "Yes." Then he said, "I don't want to see it." He handed me a tape measure and asked me to measure it. So I came back with the dimensions. And that house has been insured with two "Wood burners" ever since.

Insurance issues aside, no actual documented fires from being too close to combustibles, walls, etc? I see a lot of stuff that looks pretty scary, but if it's not an issue, then perhaps concern is overblown. But that also offers what an insurance company might call actuarial history. Thousands and thousands in use and fires rare to non-existent? Or are they?

If fires have been documented, what was the cause?

BTW, many, many years ago, our first house had what was a poorly built conventional masonry fireplace. Many houses like it, including ours, installed a fireplace insert. Basically a wood stove inside the firebox of the fireplace. We eventually had a mild chimney fire. House next door had a major chimney fire, and nearly burned down. The entire flue area had to be replaced inside a brick chase. It was an impressive, albeit very expensive repair.

But moral to the story is even conventional stuff has it's risks. They can burn down too.

I know at my old house the hill as we called it had seven houses. Of the seven houses, one lost a garage, two had chimney fires where the fire department was called, and three houses burned to the ground. All were from wood stoves.

My house was the only house that did not have a fire, even though all seven were primarily heated with wood.

I am pretty sure this is why insurance companies are increasing premiums on houses that burn solid fuel.

Eugene Howard wrote:BUT, that also got me thinking.......and these are thoughts from watching way to many youtube videos of RMH and masonry heater builds......with all manner of combustibles right next to the appliance........has anyone ever caught their place on fire and burned it down?

Yes it does happen.

Accidents with fire can happen even to people who think they are being careful.see for example Building code/standards have evolved generally for reasons, so they are a very good starting point and are probably well worth following or exceeding.

I don't think a woodstove is that much more of a fire liability then other forms of heating systems. I mean my oil boiler has just as much of a fire in it as a woodstove, it's just more manageable because of automated controls.

Still, I think I never had a fire at my other house because I was super careful. I did not have insurance so I knew I had to be super-vigilante or I would lose everything.

And I think that is what happens with woodstove owners, they get complacent. They do things 100 times and no fire starts, but darn it that one time... And that is just what insurance companies are faced with. They cannot differentiate between a super vigilant homeowner and one that is lackluster. Only going by statistics, they draw only one conclusion, but it is not the whole picture.

No other device can save a homeowner so much money as a woodstove, yet it is sad because due to so many outside influences like insurance premiums and depreciation of a house with solid fuel heating, they are becoming more of a problem to install. I worry about fire in this old house, but mostly it is the depreciation that keeps me from installing one.

my inner boy scout (an abject failure), retorts that not only could I not catch nearby wood on fire with a wood burner - I generally cannot light the wood INSIDE a wood burner! But seriously, an insurance seller will tell you about anything to sell a policy, and a claims adjuster will find about anything they can to avoid paying on that policy. Code requirements like spacing between combusibles and heat sources are to guide average person safely through unfamiliar terrain. But there is no substitute for common sense. If the heater is making things around it too hot to touch; better move them back! Once you focus on living by the rule of common sense, you will inevitably start questioning why you need insurance at all. Where it is required by a bank; do everything you can to reduce the premium. Never count on it paying off. imho