Renters and wood heat

if you rent where you live, does your landlord allow you to heat with wood? Whats the arrangement concerning the wood heat?

If you are a landlord do you or would you allow your tenants to heat with wood? Do you make any special arrangements concerning the wood heat, does this affect your insurance?

 

I am a landlord and if my homes had the ability to be heated by wood I would allow them to do so AFTER i trained them on how I wanted it done. I am not sure how it would change anything with insurance though. I`d make them have an extra smoke detector or 2 though. If they burn the place down I stand to make more money on insurance than I ever did with rent checks! This is assuming they make it out alive... not trying to sound harsh but it`s the truth.

 

It is against the law in the State of Maine to have a rental unit heated by "solid fuel".

 

My daughter rented a house which had a wood stove already in it. When she asked, the landlord informed her that it was OK to use.
They (landlord) did have the chimney inspected but the stove was never used....she moved out of the house as it ended up having an infestation of black widow spiders!

Myself, I don't think I would let tenants burn. Burning practices/beliefs are just too hard to change and/or try to change. Heck, there are members on this site that I wouldn't let burn if they were my tenants!

 

That sounds like an iffy combo.

 

A landlord in Maine had tenants that did not make it out alive, and while he did get his check for $200, he also went straight to jail; Monopoly in real life! He is appealing that jail sentence now, and I can feel for him, but that is what we are down to in society. Laws are no longer really "just", but more based on emotion; 6 people died and so someone has to pay for that loss of life...warranted or not. (This is not my mindset, just of society now it seems).

Katie and I are thinking about selling/renting this house out, but if we do we will rip out the pot bellied stove and boiler. They will just have to eat the cost of heating the house with propane. It is kind of silly, and is a costly way to go, but I am not doing time in jail because of an unfortunate event. Sale or rent, this house will NOT have a stove in it without me here.

 

It looks like the requirements for Maine rental guidelines, any type of heating system has to be tested to be rated at 82% efficient.

Yeah, wood is listed on there also. But just by looking at the form, looks like there are a lot of other requirements that I bet aren't met also.

https://www.portlandmaine.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/2806

 

I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV either...but I'm pretty sure this statement is incorrect. Perhaps you meant to say ONLY, as in the only source of heat is a wood stove, even that I am not sure would be illegal but it would likely be impossible to obtain insurance as a landlord.

 

I used to rent a condo in the city (Philadelphia). We had an open fireplace with permission to burn. My landlord put about five packs of grocery store splits through it in the five years he lived there and got the chimney swept once a year. I rented for two years and burned one cord a year. We were on the third floor so we almost never turned on the electric heat. It was "fun" schlepping a cord of wood up two flights of stairs onto our back Balcony.

If I were a landlord I don't think I would let the tenants burn wood, especially not in an open fireplace.

 

Is this the case that you're talking about?

Portland landlord sentenced to jail for role in deadly fire denied new trial

It talks about having windows that are too small to be considered good for a secondary escape.. Nothing about a wood stove in the article. Not saying that they weren't using one, but it's not mentioned..

To the OP. I'd consider letting a tenant use a wood stove but I'd definitely ensure that the appliance was installed to code and that the tenants were properly trained.. I'd do the cleaning myself (to ensure that they didn't skip it to save money) AND would require that they only burned wood provided by me to ensure that they are burning properly seasoned wood...

For people with modest income, it is often very difficult to get ahead.. I was there at one point in my life and would happily take any break someone was willing to offer me.. Almost feel like I need to pay it forward whenever I get the chance..... So if I had the opportunity to allow a tenant to reduce the bill on one of the highest costs they could have in the winter time, I think I would do so...

 

Got a quote from my local agent today, wood stove use by a tenant is no issue, costs an extra $25 on the policy. The house is relatively new construction and has oil fired hwbb so the insurance company considers the wood stove secondary, same for my current homeowners policy, I told the agent I haven't used the oil as the primary heat in years...doesn't matter to them. No inspection, certification, proof of chimney sweeping needed.

 

That's good news. I suspect between the various insurance companies and if its a fireplace or stove could greatly change the outcome.

Where I live there is roughly a little over 1,000 rental cabins, some have fireplaces a few have wood stoves. Most of the newly built properties have neither due to liability issues with weekend tennents that don't know how to use them correctly. We have had a quite a few burn down because people who rented didn't know how to operate the woodburning appliances correctly.

If I were to rent for weekend use, I don't think I would want them using my stove.... Too much risk for the insurance company and me. Rentals around here are for 2 - 3 night on average which is different than a longer rental.

Your situation is obviously different..

 

I'm a landlord, for me it would really depend on the Tenant! I have some that can't figure out how to shut a door at 20 below. Another I gave a pellet stove too that they use.

 

I guess it would depend on the renters. You know them better than anybody. Good conscientious ones maybe. Problem ones late on rent all the time I wouldn't as they would probably be burning trash and everything else.

Gary

 

No Way Would I Do It. All it takes is one child to fall on the stove or open the door and get burned and there will be a law suit coming as sure as can be. When I sold my first house the bank would not even finance it for the buyer until there was an independent safety inspection of the wood stove/hearth/etc. I showed them that I pulled a permit and that the installation passed, they would not accept that and I would not pay for the independent inspection. In the end the guy who wanted the house paid for it and in the report it said that the hearth and install were an excellent example of safety and quality. Years later I sold off my Father's house when he passed. The Real Estate person told me to pull the wood stove and block of the chimney or that it would be a hard road for a buyer to get financing..I didn't really care at the time and did as he suggested to get it on the market and sold...that first winter I helped the new owner install a wood burner there. All worked well.

 

We rented in Gorham, ME, many moons ago, and burned wood in a setup they provided. They asked us quite a few questions, but it was the same stove I had run at home through my high school years, so they were pretty comfortable with it. No discussions of insurance then. (Portland Stove Foundary)

Today I’d want to be pretty sure about letting a renter burn. Heck, even in our own home now we didn’t let one of the girls tend the stove when we were away, but my youngest has my complete confidence.

 

My policy increased $40 annually. Not bad, but $25 is a lot better!