How close to my house can I place my OWB?

[OakBuster]

Hi guys, new to the forum. I ran into it while researching my OWB.
Anyways, I am getting a Woodsman 405 from earthwoodfurnace.com. I have a dealer close by which I had planned to use to have my owb installed but after discovering another dealer further away charges 1k less for installation and materials, I decided to install it myself. I am just going to have the dealer install the heat exchanger and I'll take care of everything else. Anyways, my question is how close can the furnace be to my house. I was thinking about placing it behind my house 10 ft or so away from the wall. Also there is a propane tank 30 feet away, is that going to be a problem? I'm going to install a chimney cap to prevent any sparks. Anyways, I'll appreciate the feedback, Thanks!

 

[welderboyjk]

10' from your house sounds awful close to me.
The FIRST thing you should do is call your insurance company. They should have a minimum set back requirement that they would like to see. Would really be a bummer to have something go wrong and not be covered. Be sure to get a copy of your policy and read it or get their requirements in writing.
In the rare case your OWB manufacturer has a minimum clearance stated on their unit you MAY be ale to go with that.
Insurance company requirements would trump all for me though.

 

[beerman6]

yep.

My insurance co. wanted it at least 20' away from the house.

 

[Circle B MN]

I am forty feet, and I believe my insurance minimum was thirty five feet. Keep in mind the prevailing wind when you place it close to your house,as well as stack height in comparison to surrounding structures.

 

[gwiley]

Mine is about 30 feet away.

I would be more worried about the propane tank. Our 500ga LP tank will vent in the summer sometimes - definitely when it is getting filled. I don't think you could pay me enough money to hook the tank to a delivery truck if it was within 50 feet of an OWB with a fire in it. I doubt that any sober delivery truck driver would agree to fill the tank once he realized that the furnace a few feet away is lit.

 

[OakBuster]

Mine is about 30 feet away.

I would be more worried about the propane tank. Our 500ga LP tank will vent in the summer sometimes - definitely when it is getting filled. I don't think you could pay me enough money to hook the tank to a delivery truck if it was within 50 feet of an OWB with a fire in it. I doubt that any sober delivery truck driver would agree to fill the tank once he realized that the furnace a few feet away is lit.

lol well i guess i am going to have to pick another location for it :eek2: I was hoping to save on piping. Anyways alot better than paying this guy 2900 for installation

 

[J1m]

Holy Crap!!! 30', 35', 40'???

Mine is 3 feet away from my house. Yep. Three.

 

[gwiley]

lol well i guess i am going to have to pick another location for it :eek2: I was hoping to save on piping. Anyways alot better than paying this guy 2900 for installation

Good for you on the DIY install - my son and I did it ourselves, a little of everything...HVAC, electric, plumbing, concrete - but it was well worth the time.

The lines to the house are expensive - don't skimp there though. I learned the hard way that it is worth spending money on factory assembled/insulated lines the first time I saw the snow melting above the trench containing my lines.

 

[tex]

Mine is about 3 feet from my unattached garage. The insurance company told me 20 feet min to avoid the woodburning premium, but I can have it as close as I want if I pay the premium ($44 a year). When I asked about the propane tank, they didn't have a specific distance requirment. I was told to use my best judgement.

 

[battlefordguy]

hello
in Canada my insurance required the boiler to be 50 feet from the evestrough of the house. since i have
a attached garage, i ended up 101 feet from the house and 51 feet from the evestrough on the garage.
price of pipe sucked, but worth it in the end. having a 2 story home i raised the boiler chimmey to 7 feet and the height combined with the distance raises the smoke above the house. a good thing when dealing witha south wind.



---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=53.052590,-105.963322

 

[OakBuster]

Mine is about 3 feet from my unattached garage. The insurance company told me 20 feet min to avoid the woodburning premium, but I can have it as close as I want if I pay the premium ($44 a year). When I asked about the propane tank, they didn't have a specific distance requirment. I was told to use my best judgement.

Thats a nice setup you've got there.

 

[FrichKazzone]

They should have a minimum set back requirement that they would like to see.

 

[Dustyw]

Mines 4 feet from an attached garage. I took a 4" pvc and ran that from the side of the boiler and into the garage. I drilled several holes in the pvc first and when i was all done i filled it with expand a foam. Works great and cheap too.

 

[AIM]

I can tell you from experience that you want to make sure you do it to your insurance companies specs. The headaches of getting caught cheating the system is not worth the cost of the extra lines.

As far as the propane tank. I don't think your insurance has a say, in that but a guy in the propane business told me that he is not allowed to set a tank within 25' of an open flame source.

 

[1harlowr]

As far as the propane tank. I don't think your insurance has a say, in that but a guy in the propane business told me that he is not allowed to set a tank within 25' of an open flame source.

Your insurance company can't tell you no to anything, but they have a say in about anything relating to their exposure. The say they have is whether they keep your house insured or not.

My OWB is 110' from the house. I didn't want it that far but I'm on a kind of a hillside and that was the closes level spot. Put it somewhere that you'll be happy with for the next 10-20 years. If you save $500 but regret where you put it over the next 10-20 years, not worth it to me.
Even though mine is that far from the house, uphill , and up wind from the house I can still smell it occasionally if the doors are open (no neighbor for 1/2 mile). I wouldn't want mine under say 40-50' from the house. Distance depends on the entire set up.

 

[deutzman]

Holy Crap!!! 30', 35', 40'???

Mine is 3 feet away from my house. Yep. Three.

You ever been around a OWB when it lights off from the creosote? 3 houses down from me the guy had a Taylor sitting about 10' from is house. He happened to be there when the fire started. Didn't burn the house but if he hadn't been there and got a garden hose on it the house would have been gone. It destroyed his taylor OWB. All the taylors I've seen here puke creosote. He burned all pine end cuts from 6x6's he gets from a saw mill which made it worse.

Neighbor beside me has a Central Boiler. I was visiting and saw that one with a pink glow about 6 ft. above the flu pipe. It only lasted about 4 minutes. Had sparks flying across the yard. His is 80' from the house.

I started my Central Boiler in Oct. last year. Sometime in Feb. I got home off a 12 hr. shift at 7 pm. I went out and filled with wood. In the low 20's and the wind was steady at about 15 mph. Got back in the house and saw a light outside. Took a closer look and there was a 4-5 ft. flame glowing pink out the flu. Sparks flying a good 50 ft. to the highway. I burn seasoned wood too. It had been warm the few days before this front came through and that's where the buildup came from. From what I've witnessed I wouldn't want the OWB any closer than 100 ft. from anything that'll burn.

 

[gwiley]

I have had a chimney fire in my CB 5036 - it WILL get your attention. Sounds like a freight train, great fireworks, no damage to the OWB. I cut back a few trees after that one to make certain that the fall canopy wouldn't be in danger.

I wouldn't want mine any closer to the house (about 30' right now) - I'll get the siding would melt if I had it less than 10 feet away.

 

[russhd1997]

Mine is 30' away from my house. I have never seen or heard a stack fire but have seen the creosote flakes all over the snow after it has had one.

Most of the time the smoke is blown away from the house. It is on the east side of the house so that the prevailing winds blow the smoke away from the house and into the back 40.

I would check the local laws concerning OWB's as well as checking with the insurance company. I get a 2% discount on my homeowners insurance because my main source of heat is outside the house.

I did all of the installation with the help of a friend myself. The ground was frozen when I did it which made digging the trench for the pipe the hardest part.

 

[HardyOWB]

Holy Crap!!! 30', 35', 40'???

Mine is 3 feet away from my house. Yep. Three.

Move that thing!

It looks like its brand new, so I am assuming you have not gone through a heating season yet. If the wind blows the smoke towards the house, it will be unbearable. Mine is about 150ft away, but I think your safe at 50 ft. Good Luck.

 

[1harlowr]

Move that thing!

It looks like its brand new, so I am assuming you have not gone through a heating season yet. If the wind blows the smoke towards the house, it will be unbearable. Mine is about 150ft away, but I think your safe at 50 ft. Good Luck.

The sparks I see out of mine sometimes, I wouldn't be able to sleep with it that close. I have 4-5 cords stacked within 8', down wind, of mine and that worries me a little. Even with a tall stack I'd be worried for you.

Send this picture to your dealer and see what he says.