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[Oak123]

I am having trouble meeting the requirements of my insurance company's guidelines to install a wood boiler.... The issue is the 50' clearance from any out building, wood pile, tree, shrub etc... The only area of my yard that would meet this requirement is in the middle of my back yard. Due to accessibility in the winter months (blows in bad)... I suggested a surcharge on my insurance if I could reduce the 50' radius down to 20', their response on this matter was... "The reason being is, if there was an explosion due to pressure build up 20 feet wouldn't be enough clearance".

My question.... is there issue with any of the P& M boilers? Specifically the BL2840 which we are interested in. I'm looking for some ammunition to present to insurance to plead my case... Just thought I'd see what other people have to say before I contact the manufacturer directly.... Anyone else have this issue?

Thanks for your time.

[sceptre74]

These boilers are an OPEN system. I don't see how they could ever build pressure and blow. If it over heats, the water is just going to spill out through the hole the water level gauge sits.

[Crow]

 The Bl series boilers are not pressurised so what is going to explode? Each insurance provider is different but the P&M manual states minimum clearances from combustibles of 18 inches from back/side and flue pipe and 48 inches from front. That seems too close to the house for me but it is a lot different than the 50 foot radius.

[yoderheating]

 Explain to the insurance company that you are looking at a wood fired hydronic heater and not a pressurized boiler.

[ITO]

 Insurance has been discussed before, try searching for some more reading. There are many experiences of owners, our homeowner insurance says it can not be any closer than 25' from the house, as long as that is complied they don't charge anything extra as far as a wood burning appliance. I would explore different insurance companies policies and let your company know that is what you are doing. It took some looking around to get ours straight too, we have a wood fired sauna and a wood stove in our gazebo so three wood appliances is sometimes a problem for them. As far as their concern of explosion ask what they think of indoor pressurized gas systems versus outdoor non pressurized wood system.

[mlappin]

And there you go. The insurance companies are just like the government.

Mis-informed the un-informed or the just plain ignorant making decisions on things they know nothing about that affects the lives of everybody.

[Oak123]

Thanks all!!

Lets see what I can do....

[Crow]

And there you go. The insurance companies are just like the government.

Mis-informed the un-informed or the just plain ignorant making decisions on things they know nothing about that affects the lives of everybody.

  Yup. We called our auto insurer on another issue and they wanted to give us a quote on home insurance. Sure, go ahead and try we said as they couldn't come close before and when we mentioned "wood" they said we would be declined. They did not care or differentiate between inside stove, fireplace, or OWB.  Tried explaining the OWB would be totally different from inside fire but fell on deaf ears. Oh well, they couldn't compete before so no loss.

[Ched Bull]

My INS CO. Says as close as five feet from the house I have Farm Bureau  ins. I  think I would look around at other ins.

[jackh113]

I would encourage you to definitely take a look at Farm Bureau.  I've been working with them for 3 months now on a claim and they have been above and beyond.

We had a fire 2 weeks before Christmas that was caused by our ancient of days indoor forced air wood furnace.  The motor shorted out, arched to the nearby dryer vent, toasted the dryer and smoked out the house.  They have paid for the past 3 months for our family in a rental while they cleaned and painted the interior of the house.  Since the furnace was so old, they deemed it unrepairable and cashed out on it for enough to purchase a BL 2840 even though it was 30 years old.  We even told the adjuster that our intention was to purchase an OWB and they have never balked at it.

What could have been a real tragedy has turned into a real blessing.  We had been wanting to do some remodeling to the interior and replace the indoor furnace with an OWB. lol  I can't say enough good about Farm Bureau.