DIYbanter - View Single Post

RBM[_3_]

On 12/31/2011 1:11 PM, wrote:
On Fri, 30 Dec 2011 22:09:05 -0500, wrote:

On 12/30/2011 10:00 PM, wrote:
On Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:21:53 -0600, wrote:

On Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:03:36 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

Do you happen to have an outlet outdoors that is connected ahead of
that big main breaker, or a subfeed to a garage or other shed? If you
do, you can run a heavy extension cord into the house for lights, and
if you use a heavy cord #14 or #12, you can wirenut a cord on the
furnace wires to get heat.

CY: I doubt it. I've suggested Tim ask a neighbor to let him use power, but
he's going to use a gasoline generator for power, instead.

I've taken 100 ft. (or other length) of
romex and put a plug on the end to make such a cord if I did not have
a suitable cord. This will work for temporary situations. If you
dont have an outdoor outlet or shed, maybe feed from a neighbor's
house.

CY: One fire department I was in, used a 250 foot roll of Romex, plug on one
end, four socket junction box on the other end, for temporary power to the
pavillion.

If none of these are an option, they make decent LED work-lights for
around $30 and when they get dim, plug them into your car's
cig-lighter to recharge. I've even run wires from my car battery into
a building to operate a 12V work-light. Of course you may need to run
the car at intervals or you'll be calling a friend to junp start it.

CY: I've got assortment of various jumper packs and such. I'd been thinking
propane lantern, for heat and light.

Those portable kerosene or propane heaters will help keep you warm,
but be careful to get enough ventilation to avoid carbon monoxide.

CY: Do also have a propane infared heater, if starts to get cold.

LED worklights are easy on the car battery compared to the 12v
incandescnt bulbs.

CY: So true. Thank you for some good ideas.

You should be able to run your furnace off that generator if it's got
enough amperage. Take the cable that feeds the furnace out of the
breaker box, wirenut a #14 cord on to it, and plug it in.

I see a lot of temporary romex made cords used at summer festivals and
fairs. Since it's plugged in and temporary I dont think it violates
any codes. Most of these cords at these events are made by licensed
electricians anyhow.

Last summer our county fair was during a severe heat spell, and the
farmers who had cattle were running around 120 fans in the barns.
Mostly those big fans with half-horse or larger motors. The
electrician was struggling to make all kinds of temporary cords, and
he was not pleased. In fact he plans to install more permanent
outlets in those barns before the next fair. I guess those 5 days of
the fair, where he was on call 24/7 must have wore him out.

Those Mr. Heater infared heaters work well. I use one on my toolshed
in winter. But they do need ventilation to be safe. My toolshed is
12X16, so it's not real big, but it's not insulated. But it stays
pretty warm with that heater. I just start the heater an hour befoere
I go in there to work.
Get everything ready to pull first. Disconnect all but the light
where you are working and the furnace.
Then do the disconnect and pull the panel.
Get the panel in and the power back on.
Hook up the work light, then the furnace, then the rest of the
circuits. You only need to be out of power, and cold, for half an
hour AT MOST.

It would be unnecessarily dangerous, and time consuming to pull all the
cables, especially NM cables with bare ground wires, from a live panel.
HOW? You are doing it in the warm, with good light and you have at
least half a brain.

Disconnecting and replacing the panel without the power disconnected
(and locked out) might be dangerous -

If you had half a brain, you'd do this more quickly and more safely,
with the power to the panel disconnected. Google can give you
information, but obviously, not experience