My gas furnace is hard wired to the main panel. In the event of an extended power outage in winter, I'd like to have the option to run it off my small Honda generator. The only real electrical draw is the small 110V blower motor.
If we were in for an extended outage right now, I would probably just jury-rig it with wire nuts and a sacrificed 12ga extension cord. I'd like something a little more... sophisticated, something that is ready on a moment's notice.
What if I:
Cut the existing hard line above the furnace and install a box with an L5-20 twistlock socket.
Continue the hard line to the furnace from a second box adjacent to the first.
Bug a short piece of 12-3 flexible cord to the hard line in the second box.
Terminate the flexible cord with an L5-20 twistlock plug.
Is this kosher with NEC? Would running flex cable from the socket clear to the furnace be a more acceptable solution?
The suggestion I have seen is put a double pole double throw switch on the H and N wires and switch them to a male socket to which you attach an extension cord when necessary.
A better way is using a flanged inlet such as this:
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and the double pole double throw switch that Bud suggested:
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The flanged inlets are also available in twistlock if you prefer. Mount the flanged inlet in a box right on the furnace and change your existing shut off switch to the double throw.
most importantly.. do not even THINK of running the generator in the basement or near an open window...or anyplace the CO can get sucked into the furnace.
How will you route the cable in but keep the CO out?
Is that the 1000w honda, without knowing how big the blower is just remember on startup a blower motor surge will pull more, it might be all the unit can take. Have your extension cord so the gen is far away from the house, I got Co in mine being 10 ft away.
> and the double pole double throw switch that Bud suggested:
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That part is easy, the generator should be outside, period. Run the cord in under a door, through a window, and use a strip of tape to seal the rest of the gap from drafts, through a pet door, etc.
The furnace won't suck in CO, the air it sucks comes from the return duct.
> and the double pole double throw switch that Bud suggested:
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Here's what I do:
Remove the spline in order to open up a small (1 inch is adequate) corner of the screen on a window ~12 ft. from the EU2000i generator which sits outside, on a deck, with exhaust pointing into open air.
Open the storm window and the inner window to run the two 12 gauge extension cords (one 50 ft., one 75 ft.) from the generator inside.
Shut the storm window so it rests on the cords and put foam backer rod under the small remaining open space to "seal" it.
Do the same with the inner window.
Run the 75 ft. extension cord (with an added 1 ft. 12 gauge 3-outlet extension) upstairs for refrigerator-freezer, radio.
Run the 50 ft. extension cord (with an added 1 ft. 12 gauge 3-outlet extension) to the basement for furnace transfer switch, small chest freezer, sump pump.
Use 25 ft. 12 gauge extension cords, where necessary (for example, to the furnace transfer switch), to run power from the 3-outlet extensions to whatever I want to power up in the basement. So nothing is farther than 76 ft. of 12 gauge extension cord from the generator.
Keep battery-operated CO detector in room with window through which the extension cords from the generator are run. So far ZERO CO level has been measured in 80 hrs (~20 episodes) of running.
JUst make sure you have a non-corroded flashlight and batteries, because you're going to be finishing this job when there is no electricity. At least I would be.
I've found that alkaline batteries and even carbon-zinc flashlight batteries last for years when I don't use them, or only use them when I'm actually looking at something. But 2 or 3 years stretches into 5 years pretty easily. And I don't think my flashlight batteries have ever lasted longer than 5 or 6 years.
I keep my batteries, film, long candles, drugs, and paint dispensers** in my fridge. **They have those paint brushes and rollers that suck the paint into the handle. I used to clean every night, but I found I could just put the thing in the refrigerator and it was good the next day, even several days later.
I've sure had a lot of alkaline batteries leak, seems worse in the last several years. Have had several Maglites ruined by leaks, if you can get the batteries out the manufacture will usually pay for the damaged item. I'm hoping the eneloop rechargeables I use now will hold up better. Lithium is a good option for emergency flashlights too, they rarely leak.
About 99+% of gas furnaces in my area , with the exception of manufacuted houses aka mobile homes, are hooked up with a regular cord and receptacle. Of course they are located either in the attic or a closet in the house or garage--basements are VERY rare here. Don't know about code, but that's the way it is done here and has been that way for decades. Larry
I try to avoid things that use batteries, but I still have a bunch, and I've only had one or two alkalines leak, both in the same device at the same time. Carbon-zinc definitely leaked more often, but with flashlights I figured if I left the light on, I'd only waste cheaper batteries.
I've bought foreign batteries at hamfests, one batch so cheap they leaked within weeks of being put in something (without damage, somehow) so I threw them all away. (They were in the fridge until I used them. One gave hints of leaking, iirc, while still in the fridge, but theese were verrrry cheap.)
In another situation at a hamfest, the guy next to me noticed how light the "alkaline" batteries were, and he was right, they were too light to be alkaline.
Finally, in the past year, I bought some "Duracell"s at a price that seemed too low, and eventually noticed that the small circle that's supposed to have an R or TM inside had nothing but a dot inside. Maybe it t also didn't say "alkaline", which is what makes it a Duracell as opposed to some other type battery.
You have to get the batteries out? I don't know but isn't it more convincing when the batteries are stuck inside?
IIUC what it says on the batteries, they will pay for a flashlight of something of similar cost if flashlight batteries (carbon-zinc) leak, and they'll pay more money for something electronic if alkaline leak. And there are probably other rules for other kinds of batteries.
Makes sense to me.
I'm finally reading the manual for my fancy camera, and it gives several reasons why rechargeables won't have power as long as one would want. Not using them for a long time was one. (I can find the list if you want.) Maybe it's not true and they just don't want people complaining to them, the camera company, when it probably is either normal or a battery problem.
I've seen pics of those, but so far mine have been real Duracells, and I've had them leak too.
Well if you can't get them out, you have to remember what brand they were to find out where to send them. Sometimes you can tell, sometimes it is not obvious.
Rechargeable batteries have a lower nominal voltage than alkalines, for some things this is a problem, for others it is not, and more things these days are made with rechargeable batteries in mind. In my own experience, they last longer in things like cameras, but it depends on the nature of the load. The big advantage is when they go dead, you pop them in the charger and use them again over and over, I'd be perfectly willing to sacrifice some run time for that. Environmentally better than tossing out piles of dead alkalines as well.
You could probably do that, but you seem to be saying you don't have a transfer switch, making such an arrangement against code because you don't mention anything about preventing backfeeds. What you might use safely would be a double pole, triple throw (off in center) switch for break-before-make connections. I think if you check with your local code enforcement office though you will find that only a transfer switch and probably a separate outdoor disconnect point is acceptable.
If you already have a transfer switch and the only problem is exactly as stated, then a switch as described would suffice nicely. They're also fairly common switches, especially if you live around any farmland. I picked one up from Agway in fact. Mostly you just need to be sure the switch goes through an open ckit on the way from one connection to the other. Most switches are of the make before break types, meaning they temporarily connect BOTH sources for an instant as the switch is thrown. Middle-off is an easy way to avoid that. Besides, you also need a disconnect method, and the middle off provides that, too.
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