Saw something for the first time...

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drcampbell said:
From your retired-electrician neighbor, who spent a lifetime replacing fuseboxes with breaker panels, never quite figured out what to do with all those old fuses, and just left them in a box under the basement stairs for his next-of-kin to deal with.
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I have a box full of fuses in my garage. I have a fused disconnect on my work bench, but not on my furnace. My furnace has it's own lonely circuit protected by a breaker.

Never could bring myself to throw away perfectly good fuses.
 
goldstar said:
Interesting to know. My son lives in Mt Prospect and everything is in EMT. If you go to HD there is no roamex on the shelves. Only EMT and MC cable
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I've visited that particular HD many times. I like Mt Prospect, but how it got it's name with a maximum elevation above sea level of about 710 ft (with Lake Michigan at around 577 ft) I don't know. ;)
 
K8MHZ said:
All I have is the switch. The fused units may have been a good idea at one time, but where are you going to get a fuse or three on a holiday weekend? No fuse, no heat. That would suck.
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If the only thing supplied by said fuse is the furnace and it blows, chances are you are needing more than just a fuse before you have heat again.
 
kwired said:
If the only thing supplied by said fuse is the furnace and it blows, chances are you are needing more than just a fuse before you have heat again.
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True but if you can fix the problem ...the old timers figured out how to make a blown fuse work yeeaars ago...if it’s really an emergency. If you know you know. newer generation


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petersonra said:
Chances of having a spare fuse are a whole lot less than being able to figure out what circuit breaker to reset.
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Which causes me to wonder if the main reason for installing them on a furnace is to generate service calls for the installer. Is it a coincidence that the sticker with the installer’s phone number is right next to the fuse/switch on my furnace?
 
K8MHZ said:
Wouldn't a breaker on a dedicated circuit do exactly the same thing? What is the advantage of the fuse if it's fed by a breaker?
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Yes, and in most cases no true advantages.

I can't recall ever seeing any furnaces, at least since all the new ones became high efficiency models, that require fuses as overcurrent protection. I do think there is a lot of "we always done it this way" that goes on. I don't put any switch on them at all if in same room as the breaker supplying it, otherwise it usually gets a snap switch on or adjacent to the unit, depending on installation factors.
 
kwired said:
Yes, and in most cases no true advantages.

I can't recall ever seeing any furnaces, at least since all the new ones became high efficiency models, that require fuses as overcurrent protection. I do think there is a lot of "we always done it this way" that goes on. I don't put any switch on them at all if in same room as the breaker supplying it, otherwise it usually gets a snap switch on or adjacent to the unit, depending on installation factors.
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I like having the snap switch right there at the furnace. I turn it off when I change filters, do inspections and maintenance.

It saves me from walking another 25’ to the breaker.
 
Gas furnaces sort of don't have a great reason to have local disconnect other than because of code requirements, particularly high efficiency units, they always have a door switch that breaks incoming power line when the door is opened. Older units almost never have this though.
 
kwired said:
Gas furnaces sort of don't have a great reason to have local disconnect other than because of code requirements, particularly high efficiency units, they always have a door switch that breaks incoming power line when the door is opened. Older units almost never have this though.
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The compartment where the filter is housed on my furnace does not have a door switch.
 
retirede said:
The compartment where the filter is housed on my furnace does not have a door switch.
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Typically no, usually the door to the blower compartment has this switch. Often is another compartment with gas valve, combustion blower and other combustion related items that can be opened even while running.
 
K8MHZ said:
Wouldn't a breaker on a dedicated circuit do exactly the same thing? What is the advantage of the fuse if it's fed by a breaker?
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I remember seeing like 6 and 10 amp fuses for ancient furnaces not 15 and 20, probably not needed for any newer replacement gas furnace...
 
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