My insurance co. has never heard of fire dampers???

[Wildo]

Since we bought our house I have been planning on putting in a couple cold air returns on the cold walls and an additional grate between the basement and 1st floor to help get heat up from the woodstove below when not burning the cookstove. On here I have come across much talk of fire dampers to meet code etc. etc. I agree that it is much wiser to do it this way for safety so I checked with the state fire marshalls office as well. I was told that they have no power to enforce such things, but it is a good idea but this is Maine so do what you want but check with the ins. co. so I did. My agent had never heard of this so she called the underwriter for my ins. co. who responded that she had never heard of this either. She said that there was no credit for doing so nor a problem for just cutting a hole and putting in a grate for better heat transfer, and to go ahead but thanks for checking first since most people don't. Are we really that free in Maine?

 

[jeff_t]

Used to be able to vent your stove into the chimney with your oil furnace. Maybe you still can, but I think I read that it is no longer permitted.

 

[peakbagger]

Fire dampers tend to be an issue with commerical buildings that have to comply with life safety code. Generally if a jurisdiction is large enough there will be paid fire chief and he will be involved with commerical buildings and will make sure the details like fire dampers are followed. The risk or loss and life and litigation makes a insurance company pay a lot more attention to commercial. As for residential, there is an limited attempt to impose basic rules but its highly dependent on the quality of the building inspector. Most small towns have part time or no building inspector at all. Maine tried to change that by forcing all contsruction in Maine to comply with IBC including rural areas but I think it got delayed by the LePage adminsitration. In rural areas the builder would have to hire indepdendent certified buildign inspectors at their own cost to certify all new contruction even in the unorganized townships. Imagine having to pay for someone to take a boat to access a remote hunting camp out in Northern Me a couple of times during a construction project to make sure its to code.

Basically with residential, the insurance company assumes that the building will be a total loss as the generally volunteer fire department will get to the site after the building is fully involved. As long as they encourage appropriate smoke detectors and they are installed, most people will get out. Loss of property is pretty easy to calculate a cost, but when large numbers of people could be involved against a commerical entity, the risk is significant.

If firewalls and fire dampers are used appropriately they drastically reduce the spreading of a fire but with open joists in the basement right above a wood stove and most likely open doors to improve heat circulation and possibly a ducted hot air heating system without fire dampers, the house is probably totaled anyhow if there is a fire. Of course some of the ducts cut into the floor go right into a bedroom and if its my choice, I would rather not have an open conduit of fire into my bedroom.

 

[semipro]

I've thought about this a lot and agree with most of what peakbagger said.
I put a short duct in between the high ceiling of our great room, where the wood stove is, and our master bath. I also installed some baffling at the base of our stairs to prevent hot air from going up the stairway, directing the hot air instead into our bath. (a fire would quickly burn through this barrier)
The system works very well but I am concerned about the spread of fire.
I put another smoke alarm near the duct thinking that since the hot air is directed there so would be the smoke. My thinking is that I may have increased the potential for the spread of fires between floors but I probably also allowed us to get an earlier alarm if fire breaks out. Since our sleeping area is far from the floor duct I feel we are perhaps even more protected.

 

[milleo]

Used to be able to vent your stove into the chimney with your oil furnace. Maybe you still can, but I think I read that it is no longer permitted.

The insurance co. told my neighbor that his furnace flue was not suppose to be in the wood stove chimney so I guess it's not legal anymore. I can see why now because his chimney got blocked up with creosote one night and the smoke was coming back through the wood stove and he had to take the burning log out and throw it outside, he then had to use the furnace and was worried the exhaust from that was going to come back in the house, fortuneatley it didn't because the furnace pipe happened to be above the part of of the chimney that was clogged...".Close call"

 

[Wildo]

I'm going to install some regardless for my own piece of mind and for the extra time to get everyone out if there was a problem. It's cheap insurance really. We are less than 1,000 ft. from the VFD which did get us a healthy ins. discount, but it does take a while for everyone to get there and then to get somewhere. I think being prepared might help close that window as much as possible. There is no such thing as overkill in this area even if the ins. says do whatever you want.

 

[firefighterjake]

Since we bought our house I have been planning on putting in a couple cold air returns on the cold walls and an additional grate between the basement and 1st floor to help get heat up from the woodstove below when not burning the cookstove. On here I have come across much talk of fire dampers to meet code etc. etc. I agree that it is much wiser to do it this way for safety so I checked with the state fire marshalls office as well. I was told that they have no power to enforce such things, but it is a good idea but this is Maine so do what you want but check with the ins. co. so I did. My agent had never heard of this so she called the underwriter for my ins. co. who responded that she had never heard of this either. She said that there was no credit for doing so nor a problem for just cutting a hole and putting in a grate for better heat transfer, and to go ahead but thanks for checking first since most people don't. Are we really that free in Maine?

Yes . . . depending on where you live.

 

[firefighterjake]

I'm going to install some regardless for my own piece of mind and for the extra time to get everyone out if there was a problem. It's cheap insurance really. We are less than 1,000 ft. from the VFD which did get us a healthy ins. discount, but it does take a while for everyone to get there and then to get somewhere. I think being prepared might help close that window as much as possible. There is no such thing as overkill in this area even if the ins. says do whatever you want.

Good thinking . . . close distance is good . . . but as noted . . . it still takes folks time to get from wherever they are to get to the fire station and then get to you . . . and time is the enemy when it comes to fire.

 

[firefighterjake]

The insurance co. told my neighbor that his furnace flue was not suppose to be in the wood stove chimney so I guess it's not legal anymore. I can see why now because his chimney got blocked up with creosote one night and the smoke was coming back through the wood stove and he had to take the burning log out and throw it outside, he then had to use the furnace and was worried the exhaust from that was going to come back in the house, fortuneatley it didn't because the furnace pipe happened to be above the part of of the chimney that was clogged...".Close call"

Actually last I knew the Maine law allowing the use of two heating units into one flue is still on the books . . . when it comes to Maine Fire Marshals/Inspectors enforcing the fire code . . . however, the kicker is some many most insurance companies will continue to go with the old code/requirements which forbade two units venting into a single appliance . . . and this is where a person could run into trouble.

 

[mepellet]

Actually last I knew the Maine law allowing the use of two heating units into one flue is still on the books . . . when it comes to Maine Fire Marshals/Inspectors enforcing the fire code . . . however, the kicker is some many most insurance companies will continue to go with the old code/requirements which forbade two units venting into a single appliance . . . and this is where a person could run into trouble.

firefighterjake- could you give me the code reference where maine says that two heating units in one flue is acceptable in maine? Thanks.

 

[weatherguy]

I had a guy I know put in a fire damper for me between my first and second floors, hes a heating guy and has been doing this for years, theres no code requiring a fire damper and he said most people just cut a hole in between floors and put a vent. The guy where he ordered my fire damper was telling him about someone else that had a fire and ins co refused to pay because he didnt have a fire damper, even though its not required by law, ins co have their own laws when it comes do dishing out money so I would always go the safest route.

 

[clr8ter]

What if you put a sprinkler above the wood stove? There are ones that burst with a specific ammount of heat applied, so to plumb it into a cold water pipe above you wood stove wouldn't be that hard.

 

[rijim]

As mentioned, fire dampers are typically found in commercial buildings where ductwork passes between floors or through fire rated walls. In a residential application they may not be required but it will buy valuable time to evacuate the house safely. If you can, install them and add interconnected combination smoke detectors and a heat detector in the vacinity of the stove. Early detection and slowing the spread is worth every penny.

 

[firefighterjake]

firefighterjake- could you give me the code reference where maine says that two heating units in one flue is acceptable in maine? Thanks.

It's not a code . . . it was a bill/law passed by legislators about three or four years ago when the price of oil went through the roof.

 

[firefighterjake]

It's not a code . . . it was a bill/law passed by legislators about three or four years ago when the price of oil went through the roof.

Found this from a 2009 publication from the Maine Fire Marshal's Office.

This

legislation, Chapter 250 “An Act to Permit the

Use of a Common Flue for Oil and Solid Fuel

Burning Equipment” allows people in Maine to

use a common flue to discharge exhaust from

both an oil burning heating appliance and wood

burning stove provided there is sufficient draft

from each appliance, the chimney is lined and

structurally intact, and a carbon monoxide

alarm is installed near a bedroom. The chimney

flue must also have been in use prior to February

2, 1998. Though the Fire Marshal’s Office,

insurance interests, and manufacturers of wood

burning and pellet stoves (in their literature)

may not have supported the bill directly for

various reasons, we recognize it is the law of the

land in Maine and therefore believe it should be

brought to your attention. Future rules made by

this office will reflect the intent of this legislation.

=====

And an article in the Bangor Daily News:

http://bangordailynews.com/2009/02/18/politics/flue-bill-seeks-to-allow-easier-furnace-upgrades/

 

[mepellet]

It's not a code . . . it was a bill/law passed by legislators about three or four years ago when the price of oil went through the roof.

Do you know the law or bill name?

EDIT: Thanks. You posted the information I was looking for while I was writing this post. Thanks again.

 

[firefighterjake]

Do you know the law or bill name?

EDIT: Thanks. You posted the information I was looking for while I was writing this post. Thanks again.

No problem. As far as I know this is still on the books.