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?

On May 26, 10:44*pm, 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?

Get a transfer panel put in you can get a 6 circuit pre wired for
about 2-300

Joe wrote in news:7ae01607-64b1-4759-81b9-
:

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?


Assuming you need 120v to run your furnace?...

You feed power from the generator outlet into your house by plugging it
into an house outlet. That outlet will feed the breakers through the
panel box. Make a 20A cord with two male ends.

IMPORTANT and LEGALLY REQUIRED. ALSO MORALLY SANE. You are required to
have a "TRANSFER SWITCH". This disconnects your panel box from the meter
while your generator is running. Besides the generator feeding your
house, it will feed power back to the "pole" or wherever. If someone is
working on the line trying to restore power and thinks the line is dead,
your generator could hurt/kill them. You would be liable. And even if the
lineman scenario didn't happen, I think things would get nasty when the
power came back on and the generator was running too.

For 120v, the generator must be plugged into an outlet that is on the
same side of the panel box bus (not physical side of breakers) as the
furnace. Power will be supplied to all house outlets/hardwired things on
that side of the bus. Make sure everything is turned off so it doesn't
bog down the generator. Someone running like a hair dryer will bog it
down and maybe trip generator breaker.

No personal experience but I've heard you can't plug the generator into a
house GFCI outlet like say in a garage.

DO NOT have anything on in the house that is 220v. It will only get 120
and burn stuff up.

I've never done this part but if you do this with a generator that has
220 output and can plug into a 220 house outlet, you should get power to
both sides of the panel box and all house outlets.

Hopefully some more savy electrical people in this group will shoot holes
or add good info to this post. This is welcomed from my POV so no one
gets hurt and you don't cause any damage on your end.

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

On 2008-05-27, 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?

There are problems with portable generators; they have to be
regularly maintained and the fuel kept fresh. (People have
a tendency to store them away and forget about them).

So the alternative is a portable kerosene or propane heater.

--
Jonathan Grobe Books
Browse our inventory of thousands of used books at:
http://www.grobebooks.com

On May 26, 11:39*pm, Red Green wrote:
Joe wrote in news:7ae01607-64b1-4759-81b9-
:

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?

Assuming you need 120v to run your furnace?...

You feed power from the generator outlet into your house by plugging it
into an house outlet. That outlet will feed the breakers through the
panel box. Make a 20A cord with two male ends.

IMPORTANT and LEGALLY REQUIRED. ALSO MORALLY SANE. You are required to
have a "TRANSFER SWITCH". This disconnects your panel box from the meter
while your generator is running. Besides the generator feeding your
house, it will feed power back to the "pole" or wherever. If someone is
working on the line trying to restore power and thinks the line is dead,
your generator could hurt/kill them. You would be liable. And even if the
lineman scenario didn't happen, I think things would get nasty when the
power came back on and the generator was running too.

For 120v, the generator must be plugged into an outlet that is on the
same side of the panel box bus (not physical side of breakers) as the
furnace. Power will be supplied to all house outlets/hardwired things on
that side of the bus. Make sure everything is turned off so it doesn't
bog down the generator. Someone running like a hair dryer will bog it
down and maybe trip generator breaker.

No personal experience but I've heard you can't plug the generator into a
house GFCI outlet like say in a garage.

DO NOT have anything on in the house that is 220v. It will only get 120
and burn stuff up.

I've never done this part but if you do this with a generator that has
220 output and can plug into a 220 house outlet, you should get power to
both sides of the panel box and all house outlets.

Hopefully some more savy electrical people in this group will shoot holes
or add good info to this post. This is welcomed from my POV so no one
gets hurt and you don't cause any damage on your end.

You dont plug it into a house outlet-backfeed a house, a transfer
panel has its own exterior box and plug. My 7500w uses 4 prong, 8ga
wire, weatherproof box, Look at a Generac Transfer Panel kit, its all
included at about 2-300. But if you want real cheap put the boiler on
a plug in outlet and unplug the boiler and gop to the generator with
an extension cord. Backfeeding a house is dumb and probably illegal

On May 27, 7:32�am, ransley wrote:
On May 26, 11:39�pm, Red Green wrote:





Joe wrote in news:7ae01607-64b1-4759-81b9-
:

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?

Assuming you need 120v to run your furnace?...

You feed power from the generator outlet into your house by plugging it
into an house outlet. That outlet will feed the breakers through the
panel box. Make a 20A cord with two male ends.

IMPORTANT and LEGALLY REQUIRED. ALSO MORALLY SANE. You are required to
have a "TRANSFER SWITCH". This disconnects your panel box from the meter
while your generator is running. Besides the generator feeding your
house, it will feed power back to the "pole" or wherever. If someone is
working on the line trying to restore power and thinks the line is dead,
your generator could hurt/kill them. You would be liable. And even if the
lineman scenario didn't happen, I think things would get nasty when the
power came back on and the generator was running too.

For 120v, the generator must be plugged into an outlet that is on the
same side of the panel box bus (not physical side of breakers) as the
furnace. Power will be supplied to all house outlets/hardwired things on
that side of the bus. Make sure everything is turned off so it doesn't
bog down the generator. Someone running like a hair dryer will bog it
down and maybe trip generator breaker.

No personal experience but I've heard you can't plug the generator into a
house GFCI outlet like say in a garage.

DO NOT have anything on in the house that is 220v. It will only get 120
and burn stuff up.

I've never done this part but if you do this with a generator that has
220 output and can plug into a 220 house outlet, you should get power to
both sides of the panel box and all house outlets.

Hopefully some more savy electrical people in this group will shoot holes
or add good info to this post. This is welcomed from my POV so no one
gets hurt and you don't cause any damage on your end.

You dont plug it into a house outlet-backfeed a house, a transfer
panel has its own exterior box and plug. My 7500w uses 4 prong, �8ga
wire, weatherproof box, Look at a Generac Transfer Panel kit, its all
included at about 2-300. But if you want real cheap put the boiler on
a plug in outlet and unplug the boiler and gop to the generator with
an extension cord. Backfeeding a house is dumb and probably illegal- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

oh more costly but nice, a natural gas or propane automatic back up
generator, will run most stuff in house for about 4 grand.

if your away and a major storm takes out power in freezing weather
your entire home could freeze, ruin bolier, burst pipes etc.

such things can happen and today power companies take much longer to
restore service, and more storms appear to be occuring.

auto backup is looking more attractive

ransley wrote in
:

On May 26, 11:39*pm, Red Green wrote:
Joe wrote in news:7ae01607-64b1-4759-81b9-
:

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?

Assuming you need 120v to run your furnace?...

You feed power from the generator outlet into your house by plugging
it into an house outlet. That outlet will feed the breakers through
the panel box. Make a 20A cord with two male ends.

IMPORTANT and LEGALLY REQUIRED. ALSO MORALLY SANE. You are required
to have a "TRANSFER SWITCH". This disconnects your panel box from the
meter while your generator is running. Besides the generator feeding
your house, it will feed power back to the "pole" or wherever. If
someone is working on the line trying to restore power and thinks the
line is dead, your generator could hurt/kill them. You would be
liable. And even if the lineman scenario didn't happen, I think
things would get nasty when the power came back on and the generator
was running too.

For 120v, the generator must be plugged into an outlet that is on the
same side of the panel box bus (not physical side of breakers) as the
furnace. Power will be supplied to all house outlets/hardwired things
on that side of the bus. Make sure everything is turned off so it
doesn't bog down the generator. Someone running like a hair dryer
will bog it down and maybe trip generator breaker.

No personal experience but I've heard you can't plug the generator
into a house GFCI outlet like say in a garage.

DO NOT have anything on in the house that is 220v. It will only get
120 and burn stuff up.

I've never done this part but if you do this with a generator that
has 220 output and can plug into a 220 house outlet, you should get
power to both sides of the panel box and all house outlets.

Hopefully some more savy electrical people in this group will shoot
holes or add good info to this post. This is welcomed from my POV so
no one gets hurt and you don't cause any damage on your end.

You dont plug it into a house outlet-backfeed a house, a transfer
panel has its own exterior box and plug. My 7500w uses 4 prong, 8ga
wire, weatherproof box, Look at a Generac Transfer Panel kit, its all
included at about 2-300. But if you want real cheap put the boiler on
a plug in outlet and unplug the boiler and gop to the generator with
an extension cord. Backfeeding a house is dumb and probably illegal

Illegal? Not where I was anyway. Power company said as long as I was
disconnected from the meter it was not illegal. I was in northern VT just
south of Montreal in the January 1998 ice storm. No power for 5 days. Few
miles north and they were out for weeks. Montreal had huge transmission
towers dropping.

I had limited power backfeeding. Enough to keep furnace running, some
lights, frig, microwave, etc. Dumb? Maybe, maybe not. You try no power
for a week in the middle of winter in that location.

On Tue, 27 May 2008 06:37:53 +0000 (UTC), Jonathan Grobe
wrote:

So the alternative is a portable kerosene or propane heater.

Careful. Carbon monoxide poisoning and fire hazard always to
consider.

On May 27, 7:49Â*am, " wrote:
On May 27, 7:32�am, ransley wrote:





On May 26, 11:39�pm, Red Green wrote:

Joe wrote in news:7ae01607-64b1-4759-81b9-
:

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?

Assuming you need 120v to run your furnace?...

You feed power from the generator outlet into your house by plugging it
into an house outlet. That outlet will feed the breakers through the
panel box. Make a 20A cord with two male ends.

IMPORTANT and LEGALLY REQUIRED. ALSO MORALLY SANE. You are required to
have a "TRANSFER SWITCH". This disconnects your panel box from the meter
while your generator is running. Besides the generator feeding your
house, it will feed power back to the "pole" or wherever. If someone is
working on the line trying to restore power and thinks the line is dead,
your generator could hurt/kill them. You would be liable. And even if the
lineman scenario didn't happen, I think things would get nasty when the
power came back on and the generator was running too.

For 120v, the generator must be plugged into an outlet that is on the
same side of the panel box bus (not physical side of breakers) as the
furnace. Power will be supplied to all house outlets/hardwired things on
that side of the bus. Make sure everything is turned off so it doesn't
bog down the generator. Someone running like a hair dryer will bog it
down and maybe trip generator breaker.

No personal experience but I've heard you can't plug the generator into a
house GFCI outlet like say in a garage.

DO NOT have anything on in the house that is 220v. It will only get 120
and burn stuff up.

I've never done this part but if you do this with a generator that has
220 output and can plug into a 220 house outlet, you should get power to
both sides of the panel box and all house outlets.

Hopefully some more savy electrical people in this group will shoot holes
or add good info to this post. This is welcomed from my POV so no one
gets hurt and you don't cause any damage on your end.

You dont plug it into a house outlet-backfeed a house, a transfer
panel has its own exterior box and plug. My 7500w uses 4 prong, �8ga
wire, weatherproof box, Look at a Generac Transfer Panel kit, its all
included at about 2-300. But if you want real cheap put the boiler on
a plug in outlet and unplug the boiler and gop to the generator with
an extension cord. Backfeeding a house is dumb and probably illegal- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

oh more costly but nice, a natural gas or propane automatic back up
generator, will run most stuff in house for about 4 grand.

if your away and a major storm takes out power in freezing weather
your entire home could freeze, ruin bolier, burst pipes etc.

such things can happen and today power companies take much longer to
restore service, and more storms appear to be occuring.

auto backup is looking more attractive- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

If you live in an area that gets at least one 24hr outage a year then
it might be a good option in just the food you could loose in your
frige and other apliances needing power. But I wonder on the life and
cost to maintain these basicly lower grade exterior units. They
automaticly cycle every month or so, there is an added cost for that,
and oil changes, battery. Having a generator and all the electronics
stored outdoors cant be good over a period of 10 years for the relays,
bearings, connections, and any component that will over many years be
affected by weather and corrode. I imagine alot of no starts after
5-10 years where a repairman is necessary. I keep my portable in a
garage where its not affected by rain and high humidities. If it does
not start one day there is no provision to plug in a portable to an
exterior box on the auto units, I bet its alot extra. I just have a
simple weatherproof exterior box any portable could be plugged into if
my gen breaks, and a 6 circuit with 2 V meter transfer switch. At
least getting a 2-300$ transfer switch and box instaled might be a
better idea to do now rather than buying a Gen first. I can always
borrow one for a few hours or get a cheap 400$ one at 3am at wallmart.
4000 is alot and I guess maintenance and testing could cost 50-200$ a
year, and how long do those units realy last or cost over 10-20 years,
with salt air not long, but for many they are great.

In article ,
Stephen King wrote:

PaPaPeng wrote in
:

On Tue, 27 May 2008 06:37:53 +0000 (UTC), Jonathan Grobe
wrote:

So the alternative is a portable kerosene or propane heater.

Careful. Carbon monoxide poisoning and fire hazard always to
consider.


yeah, if U R stupid.

Which relatively high numbers of people are. Never hurts to remind
people.

On May 26, 11:44*pm, 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?

Other's have offered suggestions...I'll just offer a story.

Many years ago, my old Perfection furnace had a lever on the gas valve
that allowed the user to turn on the gas manually during a power
failure. Since the blower would obviously not work, the manual said to
use a 10 minute on - 30 minute off duty cycle to avoid damaging the
furnace. I guess they trusted people to follow instructions back
then.

One year I noticed that my furnace would not kick on consistantly and
had to have it repaired. It turned out to be a sticky gas valve which
they replaced. Unfortunately, new codes did not allowed gas valves
with manual controls since people must have gotten stupid since the
furnace was originally installed.

The following winter we had an ice storm that left us without power
for 5 days. Kerosene heaters kept the house barely livable since the
weather cooperated to some extent, but had I not had a furnace problem
the year before, I would have had a much more comfortable experience.

On May 28, 12:47*pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On May 26, 11:44*pm, 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?

Other's have offered suggestions...I'll just offer a story.

Many years ago, my old Perfection furnace had a lever on the gas valve
that allowed the user to turn on the gas manually during a power
failure. Since the blower would obviously not work, the manual said to
use a 10 minute on - 30 minute off duty cycle to avoid damaging the
furnace. *I guess they trusted people to follow instructions back
then.

One year I noticed that my furnace would not kick on consistantly and
had to have it repaired. It turned out to be a sticky gas valve which
they replaced. Unfortunately, new codes did not allowed gas valves
with manual controls since people must have gotten stupid since the
furnace was originally installed.

The following winter we had an ice storm that left us without power
for 5 days. Kerosene heaters kept the house barely livable since the
weather cooperated to some extent, but had I not had a furnace problem
the year before, I would have had a much more comfortable experience.

Running any modern furnace to heat without a blower is plain ol, as
stupid as it gets, moron dumb.

Kurt Ullman wrote in news:kurtullman-
:

In article ,
Stephen King wrote:

PaPaPeng wrote in
:

On Tue, 27 May 2008 06:37:53 +0000 (UTC), Jonathan Grobe
wrote:

So the alternative is a portable kerosene or propane heater.

Careful. Carbon monoxide poisoning and fire hazard always to
consider.


yeah, if U R stupid.

Which relatively high numbers of people are.

LOL!!! Ain't that the truth!

Never hurts to remind
people.

ransley wrote in
:

On May 27, 7:49Â*am, " wrote:
On May 27, 7:32�am, ransley wrote:





On May 26, 11:39�pm, Red Green wrote:

Joe wrote in news:7ae01607-64b1-4759-81b9-
:

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 i
n
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?

Assuming you need 120v to run your furnace?...

You feed power from the generator outlet into your house by
plugging i
t
into an house outlet. That outlet will feed the breakers through
the panel box. Make a 20A cord with two male ends.

IMPORTANT and LEGALLY REQUIRED. ALSO MORALLY SANE. You are
required to

have a "TRANSFER SWITCH". This disconnects your panel box from
the met
er
while your generator is running. Besides the generator feeding
your house, it will feed power back to the "pole" or wherever. If
someone i
s
working on the line trying to restore power and thinks the line
is dea
d,
your generator could hurt/kill them. You would be liable. And
even if
the
lineman scenario didn't happen, I think things would get nasty
when th
e
power came back on and the generator was running too.

For 120v, the generator must be plugged into an outlet that is on
the same side of the panel box bus (not physical side of
breakers) as the furnace. Power will be supplied to all house
outlets/hardwired things
on
that side of the bus. Make sure everything is turned off so it
doesn't

bog down the generator. Someone running like a hair dryer will
bog it down and maybe trip generator breaker.

No personal experience but I've heard you can't plug the
generator int
o a
house GFCI outlet like say in a garage.

DO NOT have anything on in the house that is 220v. It will only
get 12
0
and burn stuff up.

I've never done this part but if you do this with a generator
that has

220 output and can plug into a 220 house outlet, you should get
power
to
both sides of the panel box and all house outlets.

Hopefully some more savy electrical people in this group will
shoot ho
les
or add good info to this post. This is welcomed from my POV so no
one gets hurt and you don't cause any damage on your end.

You dont plug it into a house outlet-backfeed a house, a transfer
panel has its own exterior box and plug. My 7500w uses 4 prong, ï¿
½8ga
wire, weatherproof box, Look at a Generac Transfer Panel kit, its
all included at about 2-300. But if you want real cheap put the
boiler on a plug in outlet and unplug the boiler and gop to the
generator with an extension cord. Backfeeding a house is dumb and
probably illegal- Hid
e quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

oh more costly but nice, a natural gas or propane automatic back up
generator, will run most stuff in house for about 4 grand.

if your away and a major storm takes out power in freezing weather
your entire home could freeze, ruin bolier, burst pipes etc.

such things can happen and today power companies take much longer to
restore service, and more storms appear to be occuring.

auto backup is looking more attractive- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

If you live in an area that gets at least one 24hr outage a year then
it might be a good option in just the food you could loose in your
frige and other apliances needing power. But I wonder on the life and
cost to maintain these basicly lower grade exterior units. They
automaticly cycle every month or so, there is an added cost for that,
and oil changes, battery. Having a generator and all the electronics
stored outdoors cant be good over a period of 10 years for the relays,
bearings, connections, and any component that will over many years be
affected by weather and corrode. I imagine alot of no starts after
5-10 years where a repairman is necessary. I keep my portable in a
garage where its not affected by rain and high humidities. If it does
not start one day there is no provision to plug in a portable to an
exterior box on the auto units, I bet its alot extra. I just have a
simple weatherproof exterior box any portable could be plugged into if
my gen breaks, and a 6 circuit with 2 V meter transfer switch. At
least getting a 2-300$ transfer switch and box instaled might be a
better idea to do now rather than buying a Gen first. I can always
borrow one for a few hours

That was impossible during the storm.

or get a cheap 400$ one at 3am at wallmart.

Absolutely no store had any. HD had some scheduled to come in. The day
people were told the truck would arrive, there was a large crowd and a
couple of local police cars to discourage any issues.

Good hearted people/businesses were donating some to the farmers in NY to
keep their animals alive & milked.

Many scumbags were going way out of the northeast where they were able to
latch on to a bunch, load on a truck and drive back to these desparate
farmers to offer them like $500 generators at rumored $4000-5000 because
they knew farmers losses without them was much more costly.


4000 is alot and I guess maintenance and testing could cost 50-200$ a
year, and how long do those units realy last or cost over 10-20 years,
with salt air not long, but for many they are great.

"ransley" wrote in message
One year I noticed that my furnace would not kick on consistantly and
had to have it repaired. It turned out to be a sticky gas valve which
they replaced. Unfortunately, new codes did not allowed gas valves
with manual controls since people must have gotten stupid since the
furnace was originally installed.

The following winter we had an ice storm that left us without power
for 5 days. Kerosene heaters kept the house barely livable since the
weather cooperated to some extent, but had I not had a furnace problem
the year before, I would have had a much more comfortable experience.

Running any modern furnace to heat without a blower is plain ol, as
stupid as it gets, moron dumb.

********************************

Maybe. My old furnace never had a blower to worry about. It was 1950's
vintage, relied on gravity and worked very well.

On May 28, 4:54*pm, ransley wrote:
On May 28, 12:47*pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:





On May 26, 11:44*pm, 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?

Other's have offered suggestions...I'll just offer a story.

Many years ago, my old Perfection furnace had a lever on the gas valve
that allowed the user to turn on the gas manually during a power
failure. Since the blower would obviously not work, the manual said to
use a 10 minute on - 30 minute off duty cycle to avoid damaging the
furnace. *I guess they trusted people to follow instructions back
then.

One year I noticed that my furnace would not kick on consistantly and
had to have it repaired. It turned out to be a sticky gas valve which
they replaced. Unfortunately, new codes did not allowed gas valves
with manual controls since people must have gotten stupid since the
furnace was originally installed.

The following winter we had an ice storm that left us without power
for 5 days. Kerosene heaters kept the house barely livable since the
weather cooperated to some extent, but had I not had a furnace problem
the year before, I would have had a much more comfortable experience.

Running any modern furnace to heat without a blower is plain ol, as
stupid as it gets, moron dumb.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Running any modern furnace to heat without a blower is plain ol,
as stupid as it gets

Define "modern" in terms of furnaces

On May 28, 8:41*pm, "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:
"ransley" wrote in message
One year I noticed that my furnace would not kick on consistantly and
had to have it repaired. It turned out to be a sticky gas valve which
they replaced. Unfortunately, new codes did not allowed gas valves
with manual controls since people must have gotten stupid since the
furnace was originally installed.

The following winter we had an ice storm that left us without power
for 5 days. Kerosene heaters kept the house barely livable since the
weather cooperated to some extent, but had I not had a furnace problem
the year before, I would have had a much more comfortable experience.

Running any modern furnace to heat without a blower is plain ol, as
stupid as it gets, moron dumb.

********************************

Maybe. *My old furnace never had a blower to worry about. *It was 1950's
vintage, relied on gravity and worked very well.

On a blowerless unit, 40-55% efficency is the best you would get out
of those " tanks" , they are best in the garbage. Today aint yesterday
in utility prices, its all new as in a babys ass.

The simplest and least expensive remedy is to install a double pole double
throw switch as the oil burner service switch.

And where does one find such a switch?

I can find DPDT switches in "electronics" but they don't have the "form
factor" as your regular AC switches.



** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

What you need is an alternative heat source that doesn't use AC power.

Kerocene heaters are one possibility.

A "ventless" LPG heaters are also OK.

They can keep one room confortable and a house from freezing in most
conditions.

A generator will cost much more than a "backup" heat source and may be
difficult to impossible to start when you really need it.


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

On May 28, 10:34*am, Kurt Ullman wrote:


yeah, if U R stupid.

* Which relatively high numbers of people are. Never hurts to remind
people.

When we protect stupid people from hurting themselves, aren't we
screwing up nature's natural selection process? Shouldn't we let
nature weed out stupidity instead of encouraging it's growth in the
human populace?? ;)

Red

On May 27, 4:44 am, 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?

I have a simple system.
After the power enters the house, the line is split one line has a
light bulb and siren - this is left on to tell me when the power is
restored. The other serves the contents of the house. No chance of
running the generator longer than necessary.

On May 29, 1:31*pm, PerryOne wrote:
On May 27, 4:44 am, 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?

I have a simple system.
After the power enters the house, the line is split one line has a
light bulb and siren - this is left on to tell me when the power is
restored. The other serves the contents of the house. No chance of
running the generator longer than necessary.

No chance of running the generator longer than necessary.

I assume part of your plan is to never leave home during a power
outage. g

John Gilmer wrote:
The simplest and least expensive remedy is to install a double pole double
throw switch as the oil burner service switch.

And where does one find such a switch?

I can find DPDT switches in "electronics" but they don't have the "form
factor" as your regular AC switches.



** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

Any electrical supply house will order you one for about twenty dollars
for the public and somewhat less to an electrician that they deal with
regularly. They're a stock item at RV repair and parts outlets but they
price them outrageously. Leviton # 1286 is one twenty ampere model that
is readily ordered through a supply house.
--
Tom Horne

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

Stormin Mormon wrote:
My power cord was free. The wire nuts are already in the junction box. I
already own the extension cord.

So, a transfer switch and more wiring is less expensive?


Perhaps I should have said the simplest and least expensive code
compliant method.
--
Tom Horne

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

John Gilmer wrote:
What you need is an alternative heat source that doesn't use AC power.

Kerocene heaters are one possibility.

A "ventless" LPG heaters are also OK.

They can keep one room confortable and a house from freezing in most
conditions.

A generator will cost much more than a "backup" heat source and may be
difficult to impossible to start when you really need it.


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

If you are going to spend money on an alternative heater then spend it
smart. Buy a vented cabinet gas heater with a window venting kit.
Those heaters take their combustion air from the middle layer of the
triple walled vent pipe and exhaust their products of combustion through
the center pipe of the same assembly. They burn no heated air and leave
nothing inside the home but heat. They do cost more then a portable or
unvented combustion heater but they don't have the long track record of
causing and aggravating respiratory ailments in children and the
elderly. They also lack the portable combustion heater's long record of
death by fire or asphyxia.
--
Tom Horne

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