Woodburner in garage

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moparker

moparker

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Ok, I had my woodburner hooked up today in my garage. It works great! Then my buddy calls and tells me his brother was gonna put a woodbuner in his garage but, his insurance agent said he would not cover the garage if it was installed! I am gonna call tomorrow but, we've already looked at some forums that confirm this. Any input or advice would be appreciated. I'm bummed.
 
Not sure on the garage but I know if you put one in the house they need to add it to your policy.
 
A pellet stove is a better install then a wood burner would be. Little safer because of how it burns, less chance of a fire.
 
well, wood burning stoves are the number one source of most house fires, so I would venture to say, what you heard about the insurance company not covering your garage is likely true. I'm not a fan of wood stoves myself. Pellet stoves are much safer.
 
well I have a pellet stove that heats my entire home, and it uses about 2 1/2 tons of pellets a season. I buy my pellets by the ton ( a pallet is a ton) and they cost me 220.00 per ton so about 550.00 to heat my house for the entire winter. And my stove runs 24 hours a day all winter. In a garage, and only heating it part time......pretty cheap.
 
oh I'm sure they would probably insure it, provided it's installed by local building codes, but your insurance will be higher with a wood stove, than any other form of heating. I'm sure they would probably want the garage sheet-rock'ed in 5/8. At least they do around here.
 
if the stove is csa aproved and installed to the insurence company specs you should be safe.
 
I don't like the idea of a wood burning stove by old cars that have carbs that the float bowl maybe vented to the atmosphere - think of fuel vapor floating around the garage. Today's cars capture all of the fuel vapor but the old cars don't. It's probably not a big issue but I just don't like it.
 
mullinax95 said:
So they will insure a house with a stove but not insure a garage with a stove????:protest:

People sleep in a house.... not in the garage!
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Not much gasoline stored in the house though, or other highly combustible materials...well, at least not in the insurance companies eyes!!
 
chryslerfat said:
What would the cost of operating a pellet stove be for a cold winter month?
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We heat with a pellet stove as well. Our house is pretty damn drafty, we go thru about a bag a day. Buy them by the ton, prior to the start of the season for 160 a ton....and they are the Lignetics brand, which up this way is the brand to buy. We normally go thru 4-5 tons but the wife likes the temp at 74*. In regards to the wood burning stove, need to notify your insurance. Had a neighbor that was refused coverage due to the wood burner, a previous fire and the fact that her house is a pole building....was told that around here if you go and get a permit and have it inspected they will pretty much cover you....
 
fanofpetty said:
oh I'm sure they would probably insure it, provided it's installed by local building codes, but your insurance will be higher with a wood stove, than any other form of heating. I'm sure they would probably want the garage sheet-rock'ed in 5/8. At least they do around here.
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Wood is way more efficient and give out more heat than pellets.The ins co charges about $50 more per year and yes your installation must be up to code,.
 
cosgig said:
Not much gasoline stored in the house though, or other highly combustible materials...well, at least not in the insurance companies eyes!!
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!!THIS!! Any combustion appliance in shop / garage must take into account certain hazards. The "usual" is a requirement for the burner or any ignition source to be at least 18" above the floor. Your local mileage may vary. Outside air for combustion helps

bernieca said:
Wood is way more efficient and give out more heat than pellets.The ins co charges about $50 more per year and yes your installation must be up to code,.
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I'm not too sure I believe this is true.

http://pelletheat.org/pellets/compare-fuel-costs/

Cost, by the way, has nothing to do with efficiency. Resistance electric heat, example, is very nearly 100% efficient, but in many areas is much much more expensive than say, natural gas, even at only 75-80% AFUE
 
I added awood stove last year to the garage...the biggest thing is to install it properly by code, correct clearances and the stove itself being CSA approved.

My insurance company also made me raise the firebox a minimum of 18 inches off the floor and have a bumper post installed in front of it so you couldn't run into it with the vehicle
 
67Dart273 said:
!!THIS!! Any combustion appliance in shop / garage must take into account certain hazards. The "usual" is a requirement for the burner or any ignition source to be at least 18" above the floor. Your local mileage may vary. Outside air for combustion helps




I'm not too sure I believe this is true.

http://pelletheat.org/pellets/compare-fuel-costs/

Cost, by the way, has nothing to do with efficiency. Resistance electric heat, example, is very nearly 100% efficient, but in many areas is much much more expensive than say, natural gas, even at only 75-80% AFUE
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Die hard wood burning folks all say that wood is more efficient. Can't go by what the manufactures claim, if I remember correctly there is 2 different ways that it is measured and neither of them is very accurate. I just cleaned my pellet stove today, as I do every Sunday. 7 40 pound bags of pellets are reduced to about 3 cups of ash. No mess of the wood and it is controlled by a t-stat, so it never cooks you out. I don't see how a pellet stove can ever have a chimney fire. There is no real creosote in the exhaust. If you let the pipe go to long without cleaning the only thing that will happen is the stove will go out. The cap will end up get plugged with ash. And being that the stove has a vacuum switch in it if the vent gets plugged the switch trips, stopping the feed auger putting the fire out. Of course if you don't install it correctly all bets are off. One of the things that has me liking a pellet stove is you can vent it thru a sidewall, no roof vent is necessary. And the less crap you have going thru the roof the better, as far as I am concerned. But to each there own....
 
inkjunkie said:
Die hard wood burning folks....
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.................and that's GREAT for some folks. If you have your own woodlot or "free" area to get wood, and, maybe, some teen-age sons to help get it, but the hidden costs of "free" wood heat are things like damage to equipment and YOU. In this area, there's been more than one logger the victim of a "widow maker" and more than one amateur wood gitter fall victim of a wrecked pickup, trailer, from rolling/ falling logs or other accident.

All I'm sayin is................think about it.
 
Wouldn't a natural gas heater or any heater be a hazard to vapors? They all have a ignition source? Wouldn't a pilot light ignite vapors as well?
 
who knows.. i put a wood stove in the house 5 or 6 years ago.. i looked at wood stoves and pellet stoves and chose wood and would go wood again in a heartbeat.

electric goes out i still have heat. i have gotten most of my wood for free (splitting is cake. a couple weekends and i'm done). no moving parts to go bad. the stack only needs to be brushed once a year and even then theres hardly has anything in it (product of burning properly seasoned wood). i don't have to fill my basement or shed with a pallet of pellets (gotta keep those babys dry), never have to worry about a pellet shortage (when i was looking there was a shortage because building had slowed big time) pellets price also rise with the price of gas. the wood is stacked outside with a little rack as a staging area next to the stove. and at the time the wood stoves just looked a lot better along with the nice flame the wood has compared to the pellet stoves flame. maybe that has changed since i don't know. but at the time there was no comparison in the looks dept ..


as far as in a garage goes.. i don't think i want either in there. to me they take too much floor space. i'd rather go with a portable propane type of bullet heater or something that hangs from the rafters.. a buddy has an electric heater that heats his garage great.. says it doesn't beat him up on the electric bill either.
 
abodyjoe said:
as far as in a garage goes.. i don't think i want either in there. to me they take too much floor space. i'd rather go with a portable propane type of bullet heater or something that hangs from the rafters.. a buddy has an electric heater that heats his garage great.. says it doesn't beat him up on the electric bill either.
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I use a bullet heater as well and love it. They can be purchased cheep as well. Check out this one at Wall Mart: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Dyna-Glo-75-000-BTU-Kerosene-Forced-Air-Heater-with-Thermostat/17032824
It's a bit bigger than mine and has a thermostat.
 
I've been using a 150,000 btu torpedo for the last 12 years or so. The draw backs to it are smell,noise and carbon monoxide. I give up. Lets all go get drunk.
 
moparker said:
Wouldn't a natural gas heater or any heater be a hazard to vapors? They all have a ignition source? Wouldn't a pilot light ignite vapors as well?
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Read my post. That is why mechanical codes require the appliance be raised off the floor.
 
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