Furnace Switch

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wedlock

Member
I moderate physical plant issues for the independent living groups at MIT. We recently had an insurance inspection and were informed we need to install a shut off switch for the gas furnace. I asked an electician friend who said that a while back, switches for gas furnaces were included in the NEC.

Being engineers, my constituents like to know the facts. Can you provide the following answers?

When was this added to the NEC?

What is the code reference for this?

Are there any special conditions other than location outside the furnace room for this switch installation?

I assume oil furnaces were previously required to have such shut offs?

Thank you for your wisdom!

Bruce Wedlock
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
Bruce, the rules in MA for an oil burner switch are in the Oil Burner regulations.

Here is an unofficial pdf copy

http://www.mass.gov/Eeops/docs/dfs/osfm/cmr/527004.pdf

Look at the top of pdf page 16

I have worked in MA for more than 20 years and have never heard of a required switch for a gas burner.

Of course almost all equipment is required by the NEC to have a disconnecting means within sight.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
donselectric said:
in haverhill and surrounding towns they get wired just like an oil burner fire-o-matic and all

Do they have to be or is just 'how we always do it'?

I am willing to bet there is no written rule requiring it.

The reason for a firematic and the remote switch with an oil burner is to stop the oil pump which may or may not be part of the burner.

A gas fired unit has no pump to shutdown.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
donselectric said:
quote from insp "wire it just like an ob
i just did two hot dawg propanes and had to use
them.

"Had to use them"

I am not trying to give you a hard time but did the inspector tell you a code section that required it?

It is not required by the MA amendments.

It is not required by the NEC.

It is not required by the MA Oil Burner Regulations.

The point of this thread was that Wedlock wanted to see a code reference that specifically required this switch for a gas fired unit.

The fact that you say "Had to use them" is hardly a code reference.
 

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
I recently had a fire inspector say that I "had to use them" for a gas fired boiler in a single family home. Although the electrical panel which was right next to the boiler he wouldn't accept the CB as the disconnect and stated that a fireman wouldn't have time to look for the proper breaker in an emergency and that the red cover was required. I argued that this wasn't an NEC requirement. He claimed that it was "in the fire code". I asked for a reference and he said he would get back to me. Still waiting....
 

Bea

Senior Member
1-Furnace an airhandler with either heat stripes or gas burner.
2-This piece of equipment contains a blower motor and controller
3- NEC 430.012 applies
 

donselectric

Senior Member
Location
nh
it maybe a building code or a town ordinance not sure
but i usually do whatever the insp wants it dont matter to me
as long as i know before hand..
 

racerdave3

Senior Member
On oil burners I have always wired them with a fire-o-matic over the burner, a switch on the boiler which is actually a work switch, and then the actual oil burner emergency switch upstairs. Now I am not quoting code here, but I have always thought the rule of thumb was to install the emergency switch somewhere so that there is 1 door between the boiler and the switch. Back to the question of gas burners, it is not required, but as always, we can do better than minimum requirements, with that being said, it is not a bad idea to have an emergency switch upstairs to provide a shut off means in the event of some sort of failure.
 

lowryder88h

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
furnace switch

furnace switch

Ran into a town once that requires a emerg stair switch and a fire-o-matic, installed as per request. (USELESS) one oil company inthis area has this sign on all his vehicles "Go modern, go gas, GO BOOM, then call ----- Oil Co.:cool:
 

JohnE

Senior Member
Location
Milford, MA
donselectric said:
it maybe a building code or a town ordinance not sure
but i usually do whatever the insp wants it dont matter to me
as long as i know before hand..

Don, it would matter to me. I do what I want or my customer wants providing it is in compliance with code. If it didn't matter to me and I did what the inspector wanted, I'd have to do things different for each jurisdiction.
 

racerdave3

Senior Member
j_erickson said:
Don, it would matter to me. I do what I want or my customer wants providing it is in compliance with code. If it didn't matter to me and I did what the inspector wanted, I'd have to do things different for each jurisdiction.

John, isn't that really what we do now? For the most part we have to do what the inspector wants. I agree with you that it should matter to the contractor and the job should be ok as long as it is code compliant, HOWEVER, depending on what the AHJ is calling for, it is sometimes easier for you in the long run to just give them what they want to apease them. There are some inspectors that you don't want to get into a p-$$ing contest with because even if you push the issue and win the battle, they will win the war by dogging you for years to come. Usually if it is not a huge cost issue, I'll go ahead and do it, especially IF they can give me a good agruement supporting their decision. There have been many cases where this approach makes lfe easier in the long run.
 

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
Dave58er said:
Does Jersey have a separate fire inspector for single family dwellings?
I don't think we do. Just a general building inspector, I think.


The fire inspector signs off on the smoke/co detectors so he's already there to poke his head around. I'm still waiting for a reference then I will install it. Right now the CB next to the boiler is the disconnecting means.
 
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