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Posted by Robert Hancock on October 21, 2007, 2:53 pm
Jesse wrote:
> In brief, is it OK for a gas furnace to run off a GFI circuit?
>
> We have a gas furnace that's about 20 years old in the basement. (It
> also has a more recent central A/C unit coil on it.) The furnace is
> on a 15 amp circuit. The cable to the furnace runs through a junction
> box that has a duplex outlet. (The only things on this circuit are
> the furnace and this outlet.) While it is grandfathered under the
> local electrical code, code now calls for a GFI outlet (or circuit)
> and we are installing one.
>
> Is it OK to run the furnace _through_ the GFI outlet or should we
> bypass it? I know that some things don't play well with GFI circuits,
> such as some fluorescent lamps. What about gas furnaces? Thanks. -
> Jesse
Electrical code wants the furnace on a dedicated circuit serving no
other load (other than auxiliary equipment to the furnace like an air
cleaner or humidifer), so technically that outlet should not be on that
circuit at all. If you really want to keep it for whatever reason,
however, then it would be better to not run the furnace through the
GFCI. There is no real safety advantage to it for a furnace and there's
the risk of nuisance tripping.
--
Robert Hancock Saskatoon, SK, Canada
To email, remove "nospam" from hancockr@nospamshaw.ca
Home Page: http://www.roberthancock.com/
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