{"id":383,"date":"2019-07-22T09:56:02","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T13:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/?p=383"},"modified":"2019-07-22T09:56:04","modified_gmt":"2019-07-22T13:56:04","slug":"wood-stoves-or-fireplaces-home-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/22\/wood-stoves-or-fireplaces-home-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Wood Stoves or Fireplaces &#038; Home Insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"701\" src=\"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/relaxing-1979674_1280-1024x701.jpg\" alt=\"Fireplace &amp; Home Insurance\" class=\"wp-image-385\" srcset=\"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/relaxing-1979674_1280-1024x701.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/relaxing-1979674_1280-300x205.jpg 300w, https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/relaxing-1979674_1280-768x526.jpg 768w, https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/relaxing-1979674_1280-624x427.jpg 624w, https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/relaxing-1979674_1280.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Heating our homes today has never been easier. We have various amounts of ways to heat our homes such as Natural Gas, Geothermal, Propane, Wood Burning Units, Radiant Heating, or even Baseboard Electric Heating to name just a few. With all of these options getting safer and safer as the years go by, it can be understandable to forget to consider that the way your home is heated will impact your house insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some\ninsurance companies will go as far as giving you further discounts on your home\ninsurance if you use one of their \u201cpreferred heating\u201d methods such as Natural\nGas or Propane. While other companies will surcharge house insurance policies\nthat have any wood burning units or oil heating methods installed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So why do insurance companies make it so hard to obtain insurance or charge you more if you heat your house using a wood burning unit? We hope to shed some light and some different perspectives about heating your home using wood when it comes to your insurance policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_83 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a01b9a7303d9\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a01b9a7303d9\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/22\/wood-stoves-or-fireplaces-home-insurance\/#Why_is_it_Harder_to_Get_Insurance_with_a_Wood_Burning_Unit\" >Why is it Harder to Get Insurance with a Wood Burning Unit?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/22\/wood-stoves-or-fireplaces-home-insurance\/#What_is_Required_to_Get_Insurance\" >What is Required to Get Insurance?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/22\/wood-stoves-or-fireplaces-home-insurance\/#The_Lesson_to_Learn\" >The Lesson to Learn<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_is_it_Harder_to_Get_Insurance_with_a_Wood_Burning_Unit\"><\/span><strong>Why is it Harder to Get Insurance with a Wood Burning Unit?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s\nunderstandable that insurance companies would want to know more information\nabout you starting fires in the house that they insure if it were to burn down.\nTo put it bluntly, your house has a higher risk of catching fire if you have\nany sort of wood burning unit installed. That doesn&#8217;t mean your wood burning\nunit is unsafe or it isn&#8217;t a good idea to have these units in your home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Insurance\ncompanies tend to just look at the statistics and make their decisions based on\nthese. Not every person is equal in their abilities or understanding of their\nwood burning units, and not every wood burning unit was manufactured to the\nsame standard. When the insurance companies make these decisions, they base it\noff of all the available data that they have, and that includes people who\nmisuse their wood stove, and it also includes those wood stoves that were not\ninstalled correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using the information they have gathered over the years from claims they have had to pay, they have deemed wood burning units to be a higher risk of a fire hazard in a house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_Required_to_Get_Insurance\"><\/span><strong>What is Required to Get Insurance?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Insurance\ncompanies usually require that the wood burning unit be professionally\ninstalled and with a current WETT Certificate showing that the wood burning\nunit is installed correctly and up to today\u2019s building code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An example of the things that a WETT Certification will require of your wood burning unit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Floor Protection<ul><li>Protection against the radiant heat from the stove<\/li><li>Protection from embers (non-combustible material)<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Appliance Clearances<ul><li>The clearances around the wood burning unit need to meet all guidelines.  There are guidelines as to how far the appliance needs to be from any combustible materials or applicable shielding installed.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>No Dangerous Locations<\/li><li>Chimney meets all requirements<\/li><li>Flue Pipe meets all requirements<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To learn more about WETT certifications, please check their website\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wettinc.ca\/about\/what.cfm\">wettinc.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Lesson_to_Learn\"><\/span><strong>The Lesson to Learn<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s\nnot impossible to get insurance with a wood burning unit in your home. You will\nmost likely get a surcharge on your policy for having a wood burning unit and\nyou will need to obtain a WETT Certificate.\n\nGive yourself ample time\nbefore you need to obtain the insurance to talk to your Insurance Broker. The\nbroker will need to find out what companies will allow wood burning units and\nwhat companies will surcharge their policies for wood burning units. Most\nimportantly, you will need the ample time to obtain the WETT Certificate that\nthe insurance company presumably requires.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Heating our homes today has never been easier. We have various amounts of ways to heat our homes such as Natural Gas, Geothermal, Propane, Wood Burning Units, Radiant Heating, or even Baseboard Electric Heating to name just a few. With all of these options getting safer and safer as the years go by, it can be understandable to forget to&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/22\/wood-stoves-or-fireplaces-home-insurance\/\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[248,2],"tags":[286,290,74,289,288,287],"class_list":["post-383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","placeholder-for-hentry","category-farm-insurance","category-home-insurance","tag-fireplace","tag-wett","tag-wett-certification","tag-wood-burning-unit","tag-wood-stove","tag-woodstove"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elliottinsuranceservices.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}