I’m buying a home that was built in 1979. The home has a wood/oil furnace in the garage that serves as the only heat for the home. This is not a wood stove, it’s a wood furnace that has a chimney and is ducted through the ductwork. Because the wood furnace is in the garage, 2 of 4 insurance companies I’ve called will not write a policy on the home, one of the others isn’t sure, and one says they see no problem if it’s installed properly.
Can anyone tell me why a wood furnace in the garage is such a big deal? Where else would it go?
I’m going to ask the seller who his insurance company is, but I was just wondering why these policies are so hard to write? It seems like they’d just tack on a surcharge and write the thing.
I may have forgotten to mention that it’s a combination wood/oil furnace. It starts up on oil and can run entirely on oil (diesel) or you can add wood to keep down on oil costs. If the wood runs out, the oil kicks back on, so that’s how the house is heated when away. However, I’ve been searching and have found there are sometimes problems with the oil tanks that store the oil. Just contacted my agent and there’s no problem w/ them, but 2 of the 4 will not write the policy. My worry is that I’ll spontaneously get cancelled or have to put in a new furnace, which would have to be propane since I’m out in the sticks (probably 5 miles from a fire station, but definitely not within 1000 ft of a fire hydrant.
I understand Izabella’s point. The house has an above-ground basement, with the garage attached to the basement and the top level above. If the wood burns out, the oil kicks in, so there shouldn’t be much issue with frozen pipes. Also, the farthest point the ductwork travels is around 40 ft.
I understand their side of it if they in fact would be losing money on the deal – that’s a no-brainer; I wasn’t aware that homeowners insurance is such a low-profit sector.
Making my case here won’t do any good, I understand. Luckily, I’ve found a couple major insurers who will write it.
Thanks