Home Owner's increases by $245/year w/woodstove!

That does seem like a lot! In Canada my insurance went up by about 90$, which to me is worth it. Have you tried comparing rates?

Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate the home insurance policy with others . . . there are some insurance companies where there are no increases in the premium.

777funk said:

Wow that's a lot. Is it worth it? I probably spend $1000 per winter on propane.

I know "Worth it" is subjective but that seems like a LOT!

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It'd be worth looking for a different insurer

I've got a pellet stove and there was no increase in my insurance premiums. Do they treat pellets stoves and wood stoves differently?

I have state farm in PA. I don't recall paying any more for home owners. But that was 14 years ago. I do recall asking if they wanted to look at it and they said no.

TimfromMA said:

I've got a pellet stove and there was no increase in my insurance premiums. Do they treat pellets stoves and wood stoves differently?

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I've got USAA and replaced a pellet stove with a wood stove. I called and specifically asked if it's covered, if it needs to be inspected, etc. The guy told me no, nothing changes because my insurance already lists my primary heat as wood. I installed my stove myself.

mine went up about $100 a yr after stove install inspection.totally worth it for me,havent bought fuel oil in over 6 yrs.havent ran furnace at all in 3yrs.may buy some offroad diesel fuel for it this yr because its nice to take the chill out first thing in the morning or after being gone for 12 hrs during the day

No increase from my insurgence co, just had to get the stove inspected.
Tell em to stick it in their stove pipe, and find another company.

I pay a$50 premium for the stoves. Got slapped this year for a $130 premium on my diving board for an in-ground. Expect my life ins to go up once they figure out I have been swallowing saliva all my life.

yeah that's pretty steep i'd shop around for another company. I'm currently $34 for the year

We just fired my insurance company after 20 years of perfect payments and zero claims because they refused to insure my house if the detached shop had a legal permitted wood stove in it. New company (Farmers) had no problem with it. Doesn't hurt to call around.

It was like 7 years ago when we bought the house that our insurance guy did a walk through. I remember him acknowledging the stove but don't remember what he had to say about it, but didn't tell us we needed any kind of inspection. Little did he know that we had a nasty old slammer installed and neither did I until I tore it out.

I could understand if they'd had a problem with my old setup or even when I changed it to direct vent.
But if they raised my rates for my current setup I'd be spittin' nails.

My premium went up 175 per year....... i save 2500 per year on oil and invest about 450 a year on equipment and fuel to prepare my wood. I still am saving and i KNOW i'm covered with my ins. co. My auto, moto, home, and business ins all with the same co. If they screw me they screw themselves.........

For folks with State Farm, what's a typical increase, if any? A $200 increase would about price me out given the relatively low electricity costs for heating right now.

1. Mine went up like 75$ a year with geico, but they underwrite liberty mutual (and we are rural)
2. If propane was only 1000$ a year a wouldn't have gone to wood, try more like 2800-3500$ a winter around here but i guess we don't have the tightest house.

So I don't know why yours is so high. but that is crazy.

BrotherBart said:

If you are thinking about a fireplace insert, ask them if the fireplace wasn't priced into the policy in the first place.

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We have 2 propane fireplaces right now, but nothing at all for wood burning.

I have a wood furnace and a wood stove and neither made my insurance go up, in fact on the furnace i got a "safe heat" discount. Ironic since i never had it inspected.
Country Financial is my insurance company. I couldnt be happier after leaving state farm for them, my rates are half what state farm was charging but sometimes i wonder how good they will be when/if i ever need to make a claim. Almost seem to good to be true sometimes.

We had to switch over to State Farm when we moved into our new home heated solely with a wood stove. Their only concern was our approximate distance from the nearest fire department. Since it's less than 3 miles, they seemed content. Our rate wasn't adjusted after we disclosed the wood stove to them.

I've also heard American Family Insurance works well with folks that heat with wood.

Now you have me worried... I bought my first house two years ago with a fireplace and I self installed a wood insert and lined/insulated the chimney last year. I never even thought about contacting my home owners insurance and advising them on the change. The house was insured when I was burning wood in an open fireplace. I am burning wood in a more efficient safer fire box now with a closed door.

Why would they care? Should I call and tell them?

MI wood guy said:

mine went up about $100 a yr after stove install inspection.totally worth it for me,havent bought fuel oil in over 6 yrs.havent ran furnace at all in 3yrs.may buy some offroad diesel fuel for it this yr because its nice to take the chill out first thing in the morning or after being gone for 12 hrs during the day

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I too live in W Michigan. I'm having an insert installed Oct 2. How did your rates go up? When we bought in Kalamazoo 3 yrs ago, I can only guess I was up charged for two fireplaces. I have 8 cord ready and can't wait to keep the propane man at bay, what to do to keep insurance at bay?

Should you call them? I just asked an insurance person for you (my wife). She says your "suppose to" let your ins co know. And ins co's are all over the place on wood/pellet burning. Some require professional installation, some require permits, some require nothing but notice. Some will add to your premium (mine does $50) some won't. If your wood/pellet burner is primary source of heat, some will not write the policy. Just like everything else, you have to shop. In the case of calling, you don't want to ask after a claim to find out.