Insurance Co. Refuse To Insure Houses With Fuses
The last 3 rehabs I have done the insurance co. has required me to switch over from fuses to breakers within 30 days of purchase as a condition of obtaining insurance. I dont have a problem with this as I had intended to make the upgrade anyway but I thought it was strange that they do not address the knob and tubing wiring also.
John,
The knob & tube wiring provided it is still in good shape, is safer then other type of wiring. The Net & hot are normally 6-12" away from each other
Terry
The insurers are very sticky with the fuses. I have seen a lot of "foreign objects" (pennies, etc...) lodged therein. There are some carriers that will write the fuses, but at a premium. Good to hear you are upgrading anyway.[ Edited by norrist on Date 02/29/2004 ]
It cost me $50 for a 100 amp square D "contractor Special" 20 space Breaker box. (small rental house don't need 200 amp) Here in northern NH I have a Master electrician that charges $30 an hr. So the whole thing will cost me under $200. A far cry from the $2000 I was paying in MA.
John's got the scoop. Also, most insurers require minimum of 100 amp anyway.
i've never heard of this from insurance companies but thanks for the scoop. the home i'm doing now is fuses. i've changed to breakers before myself, so it's not big deal if you're adventurous - but i have a crazy neighborhood electrician dude who climbed on the roof to disconnect the service to the house so i could get busy. overall, a 2 hour job (since i didn't know what i was doing). $45 panel box and $30 to rent the ladder from a neighbor with him climbing it and disconnecting and reconnecting afterwards for $20.