Thread: Another step towards energy independence

Originally Posted by spartannation

it took my insurance company making me take out my wood stove to get the motivation.

Yours too eh?

I asked my insurance company 10 years ago if there was a problem with me having a wood furnace in my shop....the following 8 years no problem, then one day I get a notice to remove my wood furnace or I will no longer be insured......

I now heat with propane.

Good for you Jerry, glad it worked out!

They also told me I "should" split and stack a pile of firewood I had in the yard. They said it made my house look trashy. I'm a patient person but this one almost put me over the edge. As far as the stove in the barn they said no solid fuel stoves which covers pellet stoves, too. They said a propane heater was OK as long as it was 18" off the floor. They said gas fumes would collect at the floor and the fire in the wood stove would blow my barn up. I said won't the gas fumes escape when I open the door to put wood in the stove and if I don't open the door the fire goes out, therefore no explosion. I got nowhere with this logic. I even offered to raise the wood stove 18" off the floor. The fact that I now heat with propane and solar tells you how far that suggestion got me.

Originally Posted by spartannation

They also told me I "should" split and stack a pile of firewood I had in the yard. They said it made my house look trashy. I'm a patient person but this one almost put me over the edge.

As far as the stove in the barn they said no solid fuel stoves which covers pellet stoves, too. .

That is absolutely none of their business about the appearance of your house.....given that line of thought must be my neighbor doesn't have insurance because their place looks like it is right out of the tv show "Hoarders". I think I would have politely but tactfully told them the appearance of my abode is of no concern unless you are giving me a discount for tidiness!

My insurance person came out two weeks later to "physically" make sure I had disconnected the stove from the pipes.

They had no problem with the corn/pellet furnace in my house

So, whats your next step? A big wind turbine in your front yard....?

This is all for now. I have the house set up nicely, solar warm air collectors, wood stove, tankless water heater. Before my daughter moved back in with me I could go over 5 years on 100 gallons of propane. Now she insists on the house at 70 so I had set a bigger tank and fill every other month. Maybe I can figure out a way to produce power from the long hair I pull out of the drains. Hmmm, something to ponder. And don't get me started on insurance companies, this is a family friendly site.

insurance is why I use an outside wood boiler to heat both my home and my garage.
uses a bit more wood than an inside woodstove, but no bugs or wood smoke to deal with.
crazy to me that you can have a fireplace in your home....but not a woodstove?
some will allow a woodstove...for a fee of course!

Another way for "The Man" to keep us down.

One of those circle type things. Trees fall in the woods and you need to clean them up to avoid forest and grass fire hazards (U.S Forest Service information), so you bring the wood to your yard to cut split and stack. Some one (insurance person) tells you to clean up your area because your house looks trashy (Zoning, county, or township issue NOT insurance). So, you clean up the wood, split it and stack it next to your house. Fire Marshal comes and says that it is too close to your house and it needs to be moved a number of feet away to prevent fuel for a potential fire. So, you move the wood away from the house. In the mean time, they tell you (insurance) that you cannot burn said wood because it creates a fire hazard? Isn't that what burning is all about? Fire! So, now you have a bunch of wood not sitting in the woods causing a potential forest fire issue, not in your yard pissing off an insurance agent, county, township, or zoning person, not next to the house to please the fire marshal, and not in your wood stove to ensure you don't burn anything? Sound about right!!!

Originally Posted by wicklundrh

Another way for "The Man" to keep us down.

One of those circle type things. Trees fall in the woods and you need to clean them up to avoid forest and grass fire hazards (U.S Forest Service information), so you bring the wood to your yard to cut split and stack. Some one (insurance person) tells you to clean up your area because your house looks trashy (Zoning, county, or township issue NOT insurance). So, you clean up the wood, split it and stack it next to your house. Fire Marshal comes and says that it is too close to your house and it needs to be moved a number of feet away to prevent fuel for a potential fire. So, you move the wood away from the house. In the mean time, they tell you (insurance) that you cannot burn said wood because it creates a fire hazard? Isn't that what burning is all about? Fire! So, now you have a bunch of wood not sitting in the woods causing a potential forest fire issue, not in your yard pissing off an insurance agent, county, township, or zoning person, not next to the house to please the fire marshal, and not in your wood stove to ensure you don't burn anything? Sound about right!!!

Nailed it!