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+-- Thread: light switch ? Average age (/showthread.php?tid=7324640)
RE: light switch ? Average age - Roly - 11-08-2016
What was the purpose of installing it at the top of the stairs rather than close to furnace ? Around here all gas furnaces have a switch near by, but electric furnaces do not. They just use the breakers which in many cases are not in sight from furnace. Roly
RE: light switch ? Average age - Bob10 - 11-08-2016
(11-08-2016, 10:05 AM)TDKPE Wrote: Once the fuse is removed, there is a shock hazard if someone closes the switch. I wouldn't use it for that purpose. Central heating equipment is supposed to be on its own circuit (NEC 422-7), so opening the breaker would be safer than removing the fuse, as backup to opening the disconnect switch.
This is in addition to the breaker and mostly there to protect the furnace at a lower than 15amp breaker and within in a few feet of device
RE: light switch ? Average age - TDKPE - 11-08-2016
(11-08-2016, 10:19 AM)Roly Wrote: What was the purpose of installing it at the top of the stairs rather than close to furnace ? Around here all gas furnaces have a switch near by, but electric furnaces do not. They just use the breakers which in many cases are not in sight from furnace. Roly
Only a guess on my part, but I suspect that started in the early days of oil burners, replacing coal furnaces or boilers. Which people probably felt uncomfortable with, down in their basements. So a remote shut-off would make sense. I'm talking 1930's vintage; plaster walls; little or no insulation; cinder block (not cement block) foundation walls; oil tank in the basement. I've seen a lot of them, in Connecticut, when I used to ride with a friend who was an oil burner repair guy doing house calls all night long, when I had nothing better to do (late teens). But I know of no code requirements for that; just convention (which doesn't mean it wasn't a requirement, possibly building code rather than electrical code, or no requirement at all and just 'how it's done').
RE: light switch ? Average age - TDKPE - 11-08-2016
(11-08-2016, 11:35 AM)Bob10 Wrote: This is in addition to the breaker and mostly there to protect the furnace at a lower than 15amp breaker and within in a few feet of device
I mentioned that earlier in the thread. I was just referring to pulling the fuse as a means of disconnect, which creates a potential shock hazard with that open socket, should someone mess with the switch, trading one hazard for another. I'm just suggesting opening the branch circuit breaker, which should supply only the heating equipment and nothing else, and shutting off the toggle switch (local disconnect) would be the most prudent way to disconnect it for service or repair, if belt and suspenders are desired.
RE: light switch ? Average age - geek2me - 11-09-2016
(11-07-2016, 01:08 AM)MikeBob Wrote: all my years in WI never seen one like that on a furnace, just a light switch in a metal box.
I have seen them, but rarely, usually on low end installs. It's a cheaper work-around than properly sizing the breaker. The furnace should be on its own breaker so the fuse is not needed. Not even sure the fuse/switch combo meets code now, would have to check.
RE: light switch ? Average age - geek2me - 11-09-2016
(11-07-2016, 12:43 PM)Phil Thien Wrote: But fuses trip faster than breakers and it seems like a sensible idea to me.
FWIW, fuses don't necessarily trip faster than a breaker, it depends on the device and the amount of overcurrent.
RE: light switch ? Average age - JTTHECLOCKMAN - 11-09-2016
(11-09-2016, 06:50 AM)geek2me Wrote: FWIW, fuses don't necessarily trip faster than a breaker, it depends on the device and the amount of overcurrent.
It is always amazing how topics can take on different segments as they continue on and this is another case. Just wanted to comment on the fuse, breaker thing. Fuses are more reliable to blow or trip as you may, compared to breakers which in a sense is a switch and we see here the reliability of a switch from posters.
To get back on topic, I believe a switch is a device that will wear out and how fast is determined by the use or abuse it gets and the quality of its parts. So there is no set of time a device will need repair but when it does use a good quality replacement.
RE: light switch ? Average age - Bob10 - 11-09-2016
(11-09-2016, 06:47 AM)geek2me Wrote: I have seen them, but rarely, usually on low end installs. It's a cheaper work-around than properly sizing the breaker. The furnace should be on its own breaker so the fuse is not needed. Not even sure the fuse/switch combo meets code now, would have to check.
how is it a low end install if it provides protection to the device at a lower amp than the 15 amp breaker also required at the panel. I think you are only seeing what you want to see. These are in addition to the breaker so I guess in your neck of the woods this would be considered a more than high end job