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Ed Pawlowski[_2_] Ed Pawlowski[_2_] is offline
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Default Running Boiler During Power Outage


"RBM" wrote in message
...
On 9/10/2011 1:58 PM, Selk Perkner wrote:
I have an older Weil Mclain gas steam boiler for the radiators in my
house. If the electricity goes out, it won't run -- I believe it needs
electricity to operate the gas valve, and the thermostat is also wired
into a circuit.



There is a single electical conduit running into the boiler which is
connected to a box with an on-off switch above the boiler, as well as a
line running from the thermostat.




First, the thermostat doesn't use a separate power supply, it gets
whatever electricity it needs, through the boiler power supply. The type
of system you have probably requires very little current, but not knowing
the actual components involved, I couldn't tell if you could back it up
with a low voltage power source. The easiest way would be to Install a
switch in the 120 volt circuit that feeds the boiler, in conjunction with
a male plug wired to the switch. With the switch in one position, the
boiler would get it's power from the utility company circuit. With the
switch in the other position, the boiler would get it's power from an
alternate source that would be connected to the male plug. You could use a
very small generator, like 1000 watts, or even use a battery backup pack,
that delivers 120 volts AC.


That would work. Can we also assume you have city water that is not
interrupted to feed the boiler?