Add Using Pro Power to power furnace?

[kgpuzio]

If the power went out, what's the simplest way to power your furnace -- that is still safe??

This video shows an approach of adding an electrical outlet/plug between the furnace and the main panel -- essentially adding a plug connector to the electrical wires coming from the furnace. If/when the power goes out, you can unplug your furnace from the outlet and into the extension cord to your powerboost.

In the youtube comments, many commented that the outlet should be single rather than double (to comply with NEC).

Thoughts???

Sponsored

 

[notabot]

Wouldn't that oulet have power if the Utility is still operational? Best way to power your furnace is to have a licensed electrician install a breakout panel with appropriate disconnects and circuits.

FWIW, I do 99% DIY around the house and even I won't mess with new circuits and electricity in general. I've wired industrial test equipment, boats, bikes, computers and cars but I give the house stuff to the Pro.

 

[towpro]

depends on what your furnace is. to some people a furnace is just some old oil burner. to others its a complicated device with 240v ECM blower motor that speeds up and slows down as needed.

 

[cheesedogf150]

If your furnace is a forced air 120v for the blower and natural gas or propane for example you can power it with your truck.
You will have to make sure you are completely disconnected from the house wiring to avoid tripping the breakers in the truck.

 

[powerboatr]

i have a friend that has a set up like i believe your talking about
on his nat gas fired furnace
the 120 volt power to the furnace from the breaker is put into an outlet very near the furnace , then he added a plug to the furnace feed and plugged it in to the outlet, furnance works as long as house has power.
when they loose power and needs furnace, he unplugs the power plug cord from furnace into an extension cord and runs his generator outside and it powers the furnace
house is dark, but he has heat

 

[kgpuzio]

@powerboater yes. this is exactly what i was thinking .... and the basic approach laid out in the video. do you see any safety issues with this?

 

[powerboatr]

@powerboater yes. this is exactly what i was thinking .... and the basic approach laid out in the video. do you see any safety issues with this?

i am no licensed electrician and i can only
say
if you put the proper outlet in and proper plug on the furnace end it should be ok
any electrician should be able to do it up
your basically putting a switch in line to the feed for the furnace blower motor, by using the receptacle and plug

of course use proper sized extension cords and all that.
if in doubt

hire a licensed elec guy

 

[imnuts]

I just have a plug pigtail sitting around. Of I need to, I'll disconnect the power from my air handler and put the plug pigtail on to use it with a generator, then go back to normal when I'm done. For the frequency I expect to have to do it (almost never), I'll deal with the slight inconvenience when I need temp power.

 

[Blue]

Before I installed a generator panel with disconnect my electrician told me a easy temp way to do this. When power is out turn off main breaker and have an extension cord with male plugs on both ends. Plug one into generator and the other into a garage plug since they are usually 20amp, this will safely back feed the system with 120v. Since the house panel feeds from two sides you may have to try another outlet if the first doesnt feed power.

 

[powerboatr]

Before I installed a generator panel with disconnect my electrician told me a easy temp way to do this. When power is out turn off main breaker and have an extension cord with male plugs on both ends. Plug one into generator and the other into a garage plug since they are usually 20amp, this will safely back feed the system with 120v. Since the house panel feeds from two sides you may have to try another outlet if the first doesnt feed power.

back feed is ILLEGAL as you know what, turning off mains is sketchy . mainly because we humans are prone to screwing up easily

you have to have a transfer or cut off if you plan to power the panel or house
this is to prevent line workers from harm

but the running the blower motor 120 volts by way of a plug into a cord is ok, its not the best solution but it works and keeps power from going back up the line to hurt workers



our utility has a program where they will put in a certified switch if you buy it and pay the service call
it goes between the meter base and the meter. you can then run a generator through the device up to 10k watts
this will run 230 volts so you run the a/c or heat pump or pumps
or loads as you need to adjust through the panel and it protects line workers
http://www.generlink.com/generlink.html

they make the transfer switch for your generator, they have em for hundreds of portables.
not sure if they are doing the powerboost yet
http://www.generlink.com/files/138139641.pdf

 

[astrand1]

Before I installed a generator panel with disconnect my electrician told me a easy temp way to do this. When power is out turn off main breaker and have an extension cord with male plugs on both ends. Plug one into generator and the other into a garage plug since they are usually 20amp, this will safely back feed the system with 120v. Since the house panel feeds from two sides you may have to try another outlet if the first doesnt feed power.

This is exactly what I’m doing temporarily. I have a 50amp Rv plug on my shop and I just backfeed I tot he house. Of course I shut the mains off first then connect truck then turn on the pro power. It’s illegal yes. But I’m the only one who does this. So I follow my steps. Until I get around to installing a proper panel this will do in a pinch. But to the OP as others have said. If you’re not comfortable around electricity leave it to a pro.

 

[notabot]

back feed is ILLEGAL as you know what

Did the Utility Police come to your house and tell you this? FWIW, with the millions of laws on the books and given the corrupt, "bought and paid for" lawyers writing them, it wouldn't surprise me if some municipalities have enacted such a provision. Do you have a specific citation you can post?

turning off mains is sketchy

This is something that is very easy to do at your breaker panel, or are you talking about pulling the meter?

mainly because we humans are prone to screwing up easily

That is why you get a licensed pro to install the right stuff, my friend!

 

[imnuts]

I would never use a cord with two male ends on it. All it takes is you forgetting one time to kill power and you could easily electrocute yourself (or someone else) with the exposed conductors.

 

[powerboatr]

Did the Utility Police come to your house and tell you this? FWIW, with the millions of laws on the books and given the corrupt, "bought and paid for" lawyers writing them, it wouldn't surprise me if some municipalities have enacted such a provision. Do you have a specific citation you can post?


This is something that is very easy to do at your breaker panel, or are you talking about pulling the meter?


That is why you get a licensed pro to install the right stuff, my friend!

mains -= main breaker in panel. yes its easy to turn them to off, but its jsut as easy for a human to forget or act weird and while in a small crisis and leave them on,

and YES we have a very proactive coop. they see your pwr by the minute and thus....or so we are told helps them isolate outages better?? i think they like to know how much juice you are using.
we were gone once not long after we moved here, for 5 months
we had only been back about a week , cleaning up yard and the like. when a pwr truck rolled up, guy got out and looked at our meter real close like it had been tampered with.
i asked what the issue was and he said your meter is not showing normal usage last few months
i laughed and said because we were gone and only had a fridge running.
after that we left for long periods and never had anymore inspections

 

[notabot]

and YES we have a very proactive coop. they see your pwr by the minute and thus....or so we are told helps them isolate outages better??

They also look for grow operations and other "out of place" power uses.

I can't wait until we're all electric and the "Utility" can throttle power because they don't like the way the lawn was mowed.

Sponsored