Joe wrote:
I had a 90 minute power loss last week and I noticed that my Weil
McLain oil fired boiler did not going on for the entire period. Up
until then I was under the foolish assumption that if there was a
blackout in the middle of winter my hot water boiler would continue to
heat the house. How can I protect against an extended power outage in
the middle of winter leaving me without power. Even if I had a
portable generator my electric oil pump is hard wired so there is
nothing to plug in. What do other people do in this situation?

The simplest and least expensive remedy is to install a double pole
double throw switch as the oil burner service switch. That is the
switch located quite close to the oil burner that the service technician
would use to cut off the power supply to the equipment during servicing.
The common contacts of the switch supply the oil burner. The switch
can be center off, thrown to a flanged inlet that will except a regular
extension cord from the generator, or thrown to connect to the supply
conductors coming from the panel were the branch circuit Over Current
Protective Device is installed. A flanged inlet is a plug blade
assembly rigidly mounted for installation in a box.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison