Re: O/T Fireplaces wood vs gas

Posted by Hal/WA on October 15, 2006 at 21:17:38 from (66.45.175.118):

In Reply to: O/T Fireplaces wood vs gas posted by oldcraneguy on October 14, 2006 at 08:04:39:

I would suggest talking the matter over with your insurance agent--lots of insurance companies will not insure a mobile home with a wood burner, and the ones that do insure them charge a whole lot more than they would if there was no wood burner.

I don't know how they would feel about a gas fireplace.

Apparently the insurance companies paid off too many claims on mobile homes with wood stoves. Some years ago I lived in a single wide that was all electric. Even leaving the heat at 60 degrees most of the time, the electric bills were way high. Must have been very poorly insulated. So I bought a special mobile home wood stove, installed it myself with the right permit and inspections. The inspector said my installation was one of the best he had ever seen, since I added some sheet metal heat shields that were not required. For the first few years, all was well. My winter electric bills went way down, the mobile home was warm and comfortable, and I actually used some of the dead, junk timber on my property.

Then the insurance company cancelled our insurance, even though we had never had any way, shape or form of a claim. So I got other insurance, and after a year, they cancelled me. Finally I got much poorer coverage from another company at about 5 times what we had been paying.

Now having a wood stove saved our bacon several times over the years when the power went out when it was cold. With the stove, we were able to stay there, even when there was no power for 2 days. The water pipes froze, but not to the point of bursting. I have thought that it was a real good idea to not have to rely totally on electric power all the time when living in the country.

When we built our new house, we did not put in a wood burner, since we now have natural gas. We have enjoyed not having to deal with the mess of a wood burner. I have a gasoline powered generator that will run the furnace and other things if the power goes out.

But over the last couple of years, gas prices have gone up a whole bunch and I have been considering adding a wood stove in my basement. I left room for a chimney when I designed the house, so it wouldn't be a huge challenge to do the job. And I still have lots of potential firewood on my property. Putting in a wood stove with a Metalbestos type chimney would probably cost $2000 to $3000 if I do the work myself.

Before I do anything, I will discuss the matter with my insurance guy. Maybe it just isn't as practical an idea to put in a wood stove as I was thinking. Good luck!

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