Wood stove questions

[Gary_C]

 Some lose insurance because of the flu, ........... If you tell them it ain't lined, kiss the insurance good bye.

You lose your insurance if you are sick?   

And then you have to kiss them?             

[SwampDonkey]

 

[Sprucegum]

Only in Canada, eh?   

I have a zero-clearance fireplace with an insulated(Selkirk) chimney all the way. No problem with insurance, he wouldn't even come and look when I invited him 

I also have a natural gas furnace with its own chimney that kicks in whenever I'm not home to tend the fire.

[Radar67]

Anybody got a Hardy outdoor wood furnace? Heard anything bad on them?

[SwampDonkey]

Only in Canada, eh?   

I have a zero-clearance fireplace with an insulated(Selkirk) chimney all the way. No problem with insurance, he wouldn't even come and look when I invited him 

I also have a natural gas furnace with its own chimney that kicks in whenever I'm not home to tend the fire.

For one thing they are not experts, they just look for things the insurance company ask them to. An old oil tank, two heating appliances vented to the same chimney that sort of stuff doesn't take an expert to confirm.

[deutz4]

When I put up my new house, my insurance agent had to come out and take pictures to make sure I was playing by their rules and the stove manufacturer's recomendations. He even moved the pail of kindling which I had setting too close to the stove for their rules. I do pay a $100 "bonus" for having a woodstove but my savings on gas make it a piddly fee.

[Lurcherman]

I'm trying to put in a coal stove. I called my insurance company to ask how it would affect my rates. They asked to clarify - coal or wood stove? I said coal, and I was told coal "doesn't count" and won't affect my rates at all, but wood does. A wood stove would bump my rates up by a not-insubstantial amount. The reason being that coal burns clean, and with zero risk of a chimney fire.

[SwampDonkey]

Not too long ago, somebody testified in here that his rates dropped because he installed a wood appliance. As I always said, there is no equality in the insurance business.

[ohsoloco]

My insurance company didn't seem concerned that I am heating my house with a woodstove.  They just wanted to know that it wasn't a homemade stove.  They also wanted a picture of where the stove pipe goes through the wall to connect to the flue.  Just snapped a few pics and emailed them.   

I'm just glad I'm heating with wood.  It would be DanG cold in my house this winter if I were heating with oil 

[LorenB]

I am going to be purchasing a wood stove soon and would love some recommendations regarding brands, cat. vs non-cat., etc.

JoeSpruce

Joe,

The current issue (November 2008) of Fine Homebuilding magazine has a brief, but surprisingly thorough, article on many different types of wood stoves.  I recommend the article. 

One conclusion I made after reading it, and after talking to a chimney sweep friend, is that there is no longer any reason to buy a catalytic stove.  The modern non-catalytic stoves meet all the emission requirements. 

I have a Temp-Cast.  It's a masonry stove/fireplace that is basically a kit.  It's an excellent unit.  In fact, excellent is not enough to describe it.  Send me a PM if you want more detailed information.  Or you can go here:
http://www.tempcast.com/

Loren

[LorenB]

...Plus most oil burners need to have a damper which allows the chimney to take in air at some point which I think is to allow the chimney to purge itself of flammable fumes from the oil burner so there will not be an explosion in the chimney the next time the furnace starts.  I don't think this damper would allow the chimney to draw properly with a woodstove connected to it....

Randy

Randy,

Good explanation of creosote and why not to have two appliances venting into the same flue.  Thanks. 

The damper you mentioned is not to allow purging of the chimney.  It's to prevent the chimney draft from getting too high.  If a chimney is particularly long or gets good and hot, it will draw more air up itself than the appliance is capable of supporting.  Too much draft will "lean out" the fuel-air mixture on the appliance. 

If you install a barometric damper, it will open when the chimney draws too much air and the damper will supply the extra air instead of having it sucked from the appliance.  If the chimney isn't drawing properly in the first place, then the damper will remain closed and all of the chimney's suction will pass through the appliance.  My wood-fired, indoor boiler uses a barometric damper. 

I hope that's clear.  If not, let me know and I'll try to write a better explanation. 

Loren