"Garage" heaters in a store....

[Gilles Larin]

I strictly perform residential inspections. A colleague of mine who does commercial inspections recently inspected a residential/commercial building (2 commercial, one residential). This is an older building (1950's) and the smaller commercial unit, occupied for the last 20 years by a shoemaker, is heater by 2 "garage fan heaters" (240v 30A) hung from the ceiling on individual circuits.

The inspector noted in his inspection that these were unusual but he did not see any inherent danger in them as this was a shop and these heaters were on their own circuits. More to the point, they had been there for 20 years, according to the shoemaker occupant who has been the tenant for that time and have been accepted bythe insurance co!

Now, with the change in property owners, the SAME insurance company now sees these heaters as a fire hazard and refuses to insure the property, insisting these heaters be removed.

Has anyone had any experience with a similar case?

BTW the Toronto "Bash" August 14 was great!

Gilles R.Larin
www.inspectapro.net

[Claude Lawrenson]

Are they CSA approved? Any assemblance of an inspection/approval by the "hydro authority" (AHJ)? Is the age of the equipment a concern?

That type is was fairly common in shop areas in lieu of gas fired space heaters.

[Gilles Larin]

Yes they are CSA approved and have been used in the very same shop - and insured by the insurance company who just outlawed them - for that period! This is a shoemaker's shop.

G.