Kerosene Heater mishap

[Cypherian]

Wow,

I had my 23k kerosene heater recently go nuts and smoke up the shop. It however did not get enough time to do that much just smoked the shop and blackened the heater on one side. I have smoke detectors in the shop so I heard it . I had to crack the doors and let the smoke out, and emergency shut down the heater. Took me a few hours to tear it down and clean it up , never figured out why it did it wick and igniter were fine. Put it out in the big garage and fired it let it go for a full tank of fuel and not a bit of smoke.
So glad I do not have to deal with what you are , hope it works out . I would caution any electronic, electrical items may have carbon build up in them and fail quickly.

Cypher

 

[broncorick]

I use a salamander that fires with multi-fuels but I use diesel exclusively. Very happy with it for heating and as a small heater I have an LP garage heater that hangs from ceiling and vents outside. Still to cold to be out there right now

 

[Daniel Dudley]

I hate Kerosene heaters, and will not use them. Even when they are burning ''clean'', you are still breathing soot and fumes.

Direct vent heaters are the way to go.

 

[Jsf721]

there is a special soot and smoke sponge it is white sounds like your job it to big for that. good luck hope insurance covers everything

 

[58Yeoman]

Stick with propane, it's much cleaner than pellets, and less hassle. I had two corn/pellet stoves in 05 and 06.

 

[Catadj78]

I see no benefit to an independent adjuster .. depending on the insurance company and the loss I would not work with one. I don't think this will mater in your case with the level of loss.

Independent does not refer to the ability to be "independent". They are sub-contractors.

No benefit? Lol.

How do you think these sub-contractors get paid?

I am an independent.

 

[Catadj78]

To the OP, I am curious as to what the adjusters estimate will be? I usually write the estimates on site but I can see how he would not in this situation. I would not doubt the adjusters estimate being more than the servpro estimate.

 

[6768rogues]

When I was Facilities Director for a public school district, a couple of students discharged 5 big dry chemical fire extinguishers in the High School auditorium. Our insurer had Servpro clean it. They cleaned everything, shampooed 1600 seats and reapplied fire proofing to the seating. They were in and out in 10 days and the insurance paid the bill. I never saw the bill but it was about $60,000. Considering the number of people and equipment on site along with the fact that in NY they have to get prevailing wage, I thought the price was reasonable.

 

[yeldogt]

No benefit? Lol.

How do you think these sub-contractors get paid?

I am an independent.

They get paid by the insurance companies adjuster ...

My point was that an independent is not "Independent" .. they are working for the insurance company. It's no positive.

I had an independent show up. I was insured by Fireman's fund .. he did not understand my policy or how FF handled claims. I had the same problem with my recent Chubb loss .. the independents all think they are working for Allstate.

 

[BlueBomber]

I'm sorry for your misfortune but it could be worse. Soot and smoke makes a terrible mess, but at least there's no fire damage. When my garage caught fire in 2013, it burned inside for a few hours before the fire department arrived. The smoke and superheated air filled the two story building and melted anything plastic above knee level. When the fire burns plastics, it puts sulfuric acid into the smoke, which then condenses like "dew" on cool metal things, like your tools inside the toolbox and all of the armatures of anything with an electric motor.

Here's what my Craftsman socket set looked like:
View media item 38963
and my Bel Air...

View media item 38961
Here's what heat does to plastic things. It melted the tabs in the overhead florescent lights and dropped the bulbs to the floor.
View media item 38952
My insurance company recommended ARS for the recovery process, but the project manager they assigned was a pain in the "ars". The workers were okay but needed to be monitored for work quality and compliance with building code and such. My building was gutted to the studs, and fire damaged lumber replaced. The rest of the structure was blasted with baking soda, and I'm happy with the outcome.

Also, my insurance company (USAA) was fabulous. My homeowner's policy covered full replacement cost for household items, which included all of my tools and auto supplies, but NOT my automobiles or auto parts. Those would have fallen under my auto insurance, but I did not have comprehensive on my two older cars, so no insurance money for them.

I was advised by ARS to claim everything with an electrical circuit in it due to the corrosive nature of the smoke and soot. The insurance company accepted my claimed items without dispute and reimbursed me the depreciated market value of each item. Then, as I bought replacements, they cut a second check for the difference between the depreciated payment and the market value of the replacement item. It made for a tedious record keeping process - I had over 600 items in my claim.

Again, all of this hopefully helps to feel better that it could have been worse. You're still in for a lot of posterior pain, but at least the building is still sound. Good luck!!

 

[yeldogt]

Bluebomber: Similar experience -- most of my stuff looked like yours. Everything rusts very fast. The baking soda blasting worked wonders.

Chubb brought in a company based in Boston: Three guys with laptops for three days. Guys counted everything in the house down to the number and type of toilet tissue in the basement .. unbelievable detail. They then attached a value to each item. My insurance was full replacement value with no depreciation holdback - I was given full value.

If I had had to do the inventory myself and submit the claim .. It would not have worked out as it did.

 

[IanB]

Several years ago, I had a company clean my gas fireplace. They must have had their vacuum set to blow accidentally, because the whole room was filled with soot. They sent in cleaners who really didn't do much, and I didn't want to get insurance involved. The main damage was to books, and I read that bread dough is often used to clean things like that, and it did an amazing job - just a fairly dry mix of flour and water. I replaced the carpet, and had to prime the walls with BIN since I couldn't find way to just clean them well enough for latex paint to stick.

 

[pcpro15]

When you said 1/4" of soot, I had a completely different picture in mind. Since there isn't a lot of detail on damage (looks like an empty garage), was there much damage besides the walls, some tools, and BX?

Based on what I saw in pictures, I would fix myself. Strip out the damage and replace. Leave the floor clean up for last.

As far as the BX, clean it the best you can. My buddy's BX25 is 5 years old (in 2 months). Yours may look nice now, but give it some time. It'll get plenty of wear, tear, and in my friends case rolled once. The backhoe is pretty weak on this unit. Pretty soon you'll realize you should have went for the L45 and trade this in anyway

 

[bobss396]

I have a very similar heater from Lowes and have used it maybe 8 times this season. I'm funny about running in unattended. I'll start it up (garage door open, fuel it outside too) and keep an eye on it. I have a separate shop in the garage with an electric heater, so I can do something else as the garage heats up.

 

[mwe3302]

thanks all for your concerns, it has since been remedied, insurance covered everything minus the $500.00 deductible. they did not replace the Kubota...... everything has been cleaned by myself , like I said I did not have a lot of stuff in there at the time, my tool box , my Kubota, a few attachments and that's about it. again thanks . mike

 

[jeff lary]

Sorry for all the mess but glad that's all it was.
For the second time in the last 5 years I have looked closely at a pellet stove and each time I come across the same info. Stay away from U.S.Stove they are rated right at the bottom of all pellet stoves.
I have a wall mounted gas heater in my shop and it works well. Whatever you buy don't be cheap do your research, you will get in heating you will get what you pay for. Good luck Jeff

 

[Clik]

I hate Kerosene heaters, and will not use them. Even when they are burning ''clean'', you are still breathing soot and fumes.

Direct vent heaters are the way to go.

X2 ON THAT! All I used was K1 clear kerosene and it still left the walls brown. To think I was breathing all that....

 

[Clik]

Buddy of mine had a cordless charger cause a fire in his shop. Lots of smoke damage. After putting in his claim they refused to renew. Then he found out that he was essentially blacklisted for 2-5 years and had to self insure for that period. He had security camera footage of the charger causing the fire but didn't want to make enemies with the Snap-on man or fight for years with Snap-on. Probably a mistake.

 

[mwe3302]

Sorry for all the mess but glad that's all it was.
For the second time in the last 5 years I have looked closely at a pellet stove and each time I come across the same info. Stay away from U.S.Stove they are rated right at the bottom of all pellet stoves.
I have a wall mounted gas heater in my shop and it works well. Whatever you buy don't be cheap do your research, you will get in heating you will get what you pay for. Good luck Jeff

Hi jeff, march 12 I am having a local heating and HVAC guy install a Modine HD45, no more kerosene issues for this guy!

 

[TractorJeff]

I'm surprised they covered you for having an open flame heater that was not at least 18 inches off the floor. Of course it is probably UL listed so maybe that's why there wasn't an issue.