Garage Heater

[Andy Kaminski]

Could adding a heating or modifying heating system in your area possibly change your insurance needs or obligations?

We have a large out building on one of our properties.
Large shop with a decent sized apartment on the second floor.
It has electric heating and I wanted to add a fire place or possibly wood burning stove.
The wife shot me down due to the rate increase we would fall victim to.
She also said that if we modified or replaced some or all of our electric heating without a permit we might not be covered.

California and the West Coast is not very consumer friendly right now when it comes to fire or insurance in general.

I know you’re not West Coast.
My thinking was/is that other states have not had it easy either when it comes to insurance needs this last several years.

 

[Steve Hoch]

Good points Andy. I think everyone needs to be aware of possible insurance company fallout over any modifications done to your home. Many municipalities require permits for that type of work and I could see where an insurance company might not want to cover a loss if proper permits were not pulled. When I had my pool installed I pulled all the necessary permits because I knew that the installation would not escape the attention of my town. On the other hand, I installed my own water heater and was confident in my own abilities that it was done properly and would stand up to any future scrutiny without the expense or hassle of the required permit and inspection.

 

[LMichaels]

My area does not require a permit to do the work you're indicating. We've had total roof replacement and modified to incorporate ridge venting and chimney removal from our old wood burning fireplace, I did my own water heater replacement to tankless including my own gas plumbing upgraded to the higher BTU needed, we had total HVAC system replaced and wood burning fireplace removed and replaced with sealed gas unit direct vent out the back with outside air intake. And my buddy and I did the full replacement of our burned up breaker box upgraded the wiring from the meter to the 2 new panels from aluminum to copper, upgraded service from 100 to 200 amps as well. Again no permit. When I was nearly ready to hire an electrical company to do that work, no permit was required for them either.
now if we lived in city of Rockford then likely would have been needed.
Thank heavens I don't live in an area that requires all these draconian permits and useless taxes. And along with that in my opinion these people who give the permits and do the so called inspections don't know their from a hole in the ground or from Shinola.
The workmanship I've seen them approve is downright awful and IMO even dangerous!
So the further I keep gummint officials "looking out for me" away, the better I feel.