I am (was) planning on installing an Osburn 1600 freestanding woodstove in my family room as a supplemental heat source. Before doing any ordering or construction I thought it best to check with my home owner's insurance company, the agent I spoke to told me that they require a 36" clearance from any wall. Wall construction does not matter, combustible or non combustible. I was going to do the install myself, a non combustible wall made with artifical stone over cement board with a 1" airspace on a corner wall, a non combustible hearth with adequate clearance (18" in front of door, etc.), triple wall stove pipe chimney through the roof (cathedral ceiling kit) 18"-20" clearance on single wall stovepipe. I would place the stove further away than what the manufacturers suggested distance from a combustible wall is (15"rear, 17"side, 12"corner) just to be safe. The agent told me that this is their policy and cannot be changed, it doesn't matter what I build. I was also told that I could install the stove (per manufacturer's guidelines) but in case of a problem (fire) I may or not be covered. I know the easiest solution is to change insurance carriers but I would rather not do that if possible even though I hate their commercials with the guy walking around carrying a big blue telephone. Any suggestions on how to handle this, it's starting to get cold and oil prices keep going up.
jbwiz
jbwiz