Commercial exhaust fan switching

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

Blbracer

Member
Location
Wv
Occupation
Electrician
Recently a contractor installed 7 exhaust fans in 3 different barns were I'm at. At first they didn't have any switches on the fans at all just ran the wire straight from the panel to the fans. I mentioned that I thought there needed to be switches installed because the NEC didn't allow you to use a breaker as a switch. They came back and installed switches by the exhaust fan and said that the only thing that you had to have was a service disconnect within sight and that you would still have to use the breaker as a switch. Is this allowed by the NEC? I know that if you use a breaker as a switch for lighting it has to be one that is switch rated. Thanks in advance
 
infinity

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
I don't see an issue using the CB to control the fans.

404.11 Circuit Breakers as Switches. A hand-operable circuit breaker equipped with a lever or handle, or a power-operated
circuit breaker capable of being opened by hand in the event of a power failure, shall be permitted to serve as a switch if it
has the required number of poles.
Informational Note: See the provisions contained in 240.81 and 240.83.
Click to expand...
 
Little Bill

Little Bill

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee NEC:2017
Occupation
Semi-Retired Electrician
I believe there used to be a code that said the breakers had to be listed to be used as a switch but that has changed.

ETA: The rule is for breakers used as switches for 120V and 277V lighting circuits must have the marking SWD or HID
240.83(D)
 
Last edited:
infinity

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
Little Bill said:
I believe there used to be a code that said the breakers had to be listed to be used as a switch but that has changed.

ETA: The rule is for breakers used as switches for 120V and 277V lighting circuits must have the marking SWD or HID
240.83(D)
Click to expand...
Yes that is for lighting. Fans do not need to be so rated. Aren't most modern CB' s SWD rated?
 
J

jap

Senior Member
Occupation
Electrician
Yes, most are.

And, although it's a good Idea, I would venture a guess that if the breakers in the panels were capable of being locked in the off position, they probably wouldn't have even had to come back to install a switch as a so called disconnect ahead of the exhaust fans.

There's also a distance factor that needs to be considered for a disconnecting means.

Not only "within sight".

JAP>
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top