Does anyone have furnace insurance?

[starwood]

We are replacing our 2nd steam boiler in 20 years and I'm tired of it. Does anyone know or have furnace insurance? What is a good company? I'm going to call State Farm who has my homeowners insurance and see if they offer it and how much. I checked into PSE&G and they don't cover replacement of the furnace and when you get a hole in the cast iron part it can't be repaired.

 

[Gigi22]

No familiar with steam boilers. We are on our second natural gas furnace--our first, a medium efficiency natural gas furnace, broke at about the 20 year point and had to be replaced. I understand that most natural gas furnaces have a lifetime expectancy of about 20 years, so we never insured it. We did have a maintenance policy on it to replace parts.
IMO you should check the average working lifetime expectancy of a steam boiler furnace and decide if it is worthwhile to insure it.

 

[starwood]

There are really no replaceable parts on a steam boiler so a maintenance contract is pretty useless. I just can't find any place that will insure it. I just spoke to our homeowners agent and he is trying to see if he can find a policy somewhere. Our local gas company has a contract but it is just for parts not replacement.

 

[akcire]

Are you getting regular maintenance on the boilers? Do you unusually,acidic water? A boiler should last much longer than 20 years.

I currently am operating many that are more than 50 years old.

 

[starwood]

We can't quite figure out why they aren't lasting. The plumber said he is considering installing a water softener and maybe that will help.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Installing a water softener absolutely made a difference for us. Calcium kept building up in the coils. It didn't destroy the whole boiler but it did cause it to fail and reuqire a plumber to come out and replace coils annually until we installed the softener. We're on well water with very hard water so it's really nice having the softener.

Talk to your plumber about what exactly is going wrong with the boiler to determine what can help.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . Does anyone know or have furnace insurance? What is a good company? . . .

1) Every natural gas company has a warranty program (it's another source of revenue).
2) Each local gas company uses there own subcontractor.
3) Go to the website of your local company.
4) The rates have different charges for items you can select
. . . line service ( street to house is your responsibility! )
. . . line service inside of house
. . . natural gas dryers
. . . natural gas furnaces or boilers
. . . natural gas ovens/stoves
. . . natural gas outside grills
. . . etc
5) Usually
. . . there is a small monthly fee on your monthly gas bill
. . . there is a fixed amount per service call
. . . there is a max-amount for any parts/labor/replacement costs

 

[starwood]

They don't cover furnace replacement (which is ridiculously expensive) only repair and there is very little to repair on a gas steam boiler.