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Keep Your Family Warm During A Power Outage By Installing This $5 Part
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ส.ค. 2024
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This is a great idea. Just try doing it in the dark and you will wished that you had done it before the power outage.
I'm currently gathering all parts to do this LOL! definitely a great idea
Oh like me rn?
@@kevins6277 Do you have a high capacity PowerBank that is sufficient to drive the furnace blower?
That is what flashlights are for.
Well when the power is out definitely don't have to worry about messing with the breaker box lol
Absolutely fantastic, thank you. We are on day nine of a power outage and in the very beginning, temperatures got down to below 20 Fahrenheit. After a few days of this, I finally found a generator a couple hours away and when I got home with it, my wife worked on setting it up while I followed your directions and made this change to our furnace.
Super straightforward, and while our house may still be dark, it is WARM!
Thank you.
Wait, 9 days? Where do you live (general area) and your pipes didn’t freeze? How long was it before you got power since your 9 day comment is now 6 days old?
@@VOODOOphgSpringfield, OR, and there are still some folks without power as our utility mops up the last of the damage. An ice storm brought down limbs all over and wreaked havoc on our power system.
My pipes didn’t burst because we kept a faucet running slightly so if any exposed pipes froze there would be some give in the system. The temp inside the house didn’t get below freezing, but it got coooold.
@@VOODOOphgOh and we got our power back a couple days ago, and thank goodness.
@@BenHallertget a wood stove. The best
@@RadioRich100 Why is that? Be specific, I wonder how well you understand what’s happening here.
electrician here. That was the first thing I did when we bought our house. way easier to hook up the generator.
My Dad did this back in the '70s. Still got his old Sears alternator.
I've been telling clients that extension cords are far cheaper than a transfer switch fo year, and never once thought of this.
This, combined with a roughly $200 dollar UPS that's had an external battery added can be a lifesaver.
Can you make a similar connection with an oil burner boiler?
@@dpatt45 absolutely.
I would imagine you'd have to power the circulator pump and control circuit as well.
I like this set- up better than the first one mostly because of the simplicity of the wiring. One minor add-on to consider would be a tag or small sign indicating that the furnace disconnect IS the plug and they aren’t looking for a switch that isn’t there.
Nice job. 👍👍👍👍
My thought exactly about the tag/sign. It is not obvious to a furnace tech-they would be looking for a switch!
I kept the switch anyway even though I disconnected it. that will really mess them up.
I was also thinking the same thing. I work in HVAC and I would naturally think that that plug would be for the condensation pump and not main power. We like for everything to be labeled if it's not straightforward or the way every other unit is set up. Also, if you know which pipes go to which parts of the building, PLEASE label those, too! It makes servicing a problem way easier on our end!
It's not only the furnace tech, but the electrical inspector. Both are looking for a *disconnect switch* and/or a *single* outlet: NEC 422.31(C) - The furnace disconnecting means shall be within sight of the equipment. NEC 210.8(A)(5) - Receptacle outlets for the associated equipment of a furnace installed in an unfinished portion of the basement shall be GFCI protected, and if installed on the furnace circuit shall have no other outlets. Also, depending on your installation, the NEC code and local codes may require an AFCI circuit for the furnace blower. Eg. finished basements.
@@milofonbil So basically, in an unfinished basement, the only thing you'd need to do differently from this video is replace the standard outlet with a GFCI? Seems simple enough
Watched this video when it first came out and thought this is a great idea. I put it on the list to get done in the future. Well, storm showed up first. Went to Home depot and got the supplies. Took me 30 minutes to have the gas furnace back on. Thank you!
Good Idea. I am an HVAC tech and I have been doing this for home owners for years. The only thing tomake sure of is if you are going to want to run the furnace off of a generator make sure it actually works. Some gens have a floating neutral and some furnaces wont operate on those types of gens. There is a fix for that so research it and test it out. Dont just assune it will work.
My champion generator has a floating neutral. What would be more appropriate? 1. Use a ground neutral plug with the generator to make the furnace think the generator has a bonded neutral? OR 2. Tying the neutral from the plug and furnace together with the neutral from the main panel?
@@derreklees never bond neutral to ground anywhere except the main panel. It's an electrocution risk. That idea might work while connected to the generator but you wouldn't want to have it like that while it's connected to your main power.
I did this 10 years ago for my hot water baseboard system. I also ran a bunch of secondary outlets that ran back to a main connect for my generator so when in use I could unplug my baseboard furnace, frig, etc and plug them into the generator fed outlets and we were good to go. Simple project with a ton of benefits.
I use ORANGE colored OUTLETS to IDENTIFY GENERATOR FED
Yep. I used dark grey since the orange stood out a bit too much. :)@@erickajander1139
Always tighten the extra screws on the outlet.
Always use a pigtail for the ground.
Always wrap the side terminals of the outlet with tape.
Curious. What would the reason be to tighten the unused terminal screws?
@@easyas314
As a remodeler working with live power during demo I thank the sparky before me who tightened the unused terminals AND for wrapping them up with tape. Have you ever accidentally touched a live terminal to a metal gang box? If so, THAT answers THAT question. 😵💫
Caught this immediately, always tighten and tape. Tape not as necessary in plastic boxes but good practice all around. Ground wire is normally not insulated so it can potentially touch the exposed lugs and spark. If the outlet loosens over time it can wiggle a bit, those loose lugs sticking out can hit ground wire or the box causing sparks. These metal boxes have a decent amount of space in em but some are incredibly tight and amplifies the risk. Like the metal wing boxes or those ones with the Romex knock outs and the screw down wire holder. Plus if the box doesn't have a good ground connection and lugs make contact with the sides somehow the whole box is live now with no path to ground. The outlet should always just be grounded don't know why he did that. I mean I know it's screwed to the grounded box but it takes like a minute to legit ground the outlet... It's been a pet peeve of mine with people putting in switches too, I know a lot of electricians don't bother but it takes two seconds come on.
@@burtenplays I'm with you. I just takes a second...done!
On finish electrical some sparkies will strip the wires and leave the sleeving and wire in the floor and walk away. Drives me nuts! I may be the GC but I'm NOT your maid! Respect the clients home!
@@easyas314 So they don't short on the box or have anything possibly coming into contact. And ignore the OP, always ground your outlets. Never know where a floating ground is.
To add to this, I’ve converted my generator to run on natural gas as well, and had a plumber run a gas line for me, with a quick connect fitting. This way, if I have gas to run the furnace, I have gas to run the generator to power the furnace electrical.
Just so everyone knows when you have a high efficiency furnace with 2 stage adjustable blower it will not work properly because of the generator adjusting. However I was successful with a lifepro4 battery with a pure sine inverter and this functioned perfectly. Great idea and great back-up plan for power outages.
Are you using a 12V battery, and what wattage inverter???
I have a couple set-ups in my home but for this note I will go with the cheaper set-up because it works. I have a 12 v deep cycle battery from Bass Pro shop for a boat, and then used a Lyvuan model F-1500P pure sine wave inverter. I honestly believe that the battery causes no fluctuations like a generator does and that’s the reason this works with my Lennox high efficiency furnace with a 2 stage blower. The salesman from Lennox originally thought this might/might not work because of the computer in the furnace but it does work and I’m happy I have this back-up.
For those homeowners that have a lithium battery powered RV, you can use one of its power outlets to run your home heating and other items in an emergency. I have one with a 600 amp hour Lithionics battery bank and 3k Victron inverter and was able to use it three times in the past year. It kept the heat/ac and refrigerator going for days. I did have to start the RV's engine to recharge the battery bank. But, it was essentially endless power...
If using a generator as your power source, I highly recommend an inverter generator. As opposed to standard generators, inverters have very low harmonic distortion. Although furnaces have many mechanical parts, they also have complex circuit boards which can be damaged by regular generators producing high percentage harmonic distortions. Inverter generators produce clean electricity much like that of the power grid supplying your home. As a general rule, any electronic device should be powered by an inverter generator or a means supplying clean electricity.
100%
@@dermatt3457Absolutely correct! 💯
This is what I have in case of a power outage. Ran my furnace with my refrigerator no issues.
We had no power for 5 days and the generator ran the heat and freezer and ice box
With only 2 50 watt led flood lights
In think you mean you want a true sine wave inverter. The cheap "modified sine wave" inverters just put out a square wave; which have the odd harmonics that you mention.
You do a really good job with these videos. Great camera work, excellent lighting and very good audio.
I agree! Good, clear audio is way more important than a lot of people think. Keep it up!
I live in Oakland, CA and have been using a small 2000 watt gas generator for years during the annual summer PG&E electrical shutdowns. I normally just run long extension cords to my fridge, freezer, wifi router and computers but if I get a power shutdown during the winter this would be an easy DIY upgrade for my gas furnace.
100% . You don't want to use a regular generator for furnace power unless it's an inverter generator. Furnace motherboards need clean power which an invertor will provide. Otherwise u may be replacing an expensive board.
I watched one of your older videos and decided to do the outlet last year. My furnace was less then a year old and was told if I pulled the furnace cover and altered the wiring in any way I would forfeit my warranty. I chose to follow the wiring from the main panel to about 6 feet from the furnace and put an outlet there. I was told it had to be a circuit and single outlet designated to the furnace only. So someone couldn't accidentally plug something else in with it. I did actually have to add 2 boxes, one for the outlet and the other a junksion box because I had to add wire.
Great hack! Careful leaving any of the outlet's power terminal screws loose when installing them, especially in a metal gang box. I made that mistake once and almost burned my house down. Even if the screws aren't connected to any wires, they have power running to them based on the outlet's pass-through design. If they aren't screwed down, they can arc to the gang box and cause electric shock and fire.
Great advice to tighten down any unused screw terminals.
I was looking for this comment.
Unless the device yoke has been damaged or modified, it would be impossible for an arc to occur at those voltages.
You'd need 10s of thousands of volts to jump a gap (like a spark plug)
@@jsimanella Not the point. If the clearance is small enough, the screw could vibrate loose and contact the case, or something else conductive. Vibration could come from the blower motor, for example.
@@LoanwordEggcornAgreed, in fact I have tripped circuit breakers during installation by letting the hot screws touch the box. It much less likely if you tighten the screws. Some recommend taping the screws, as well. That’s up to you. 😊
I installed a plug on mine and it was $8 .Worth the money and a lot cheaper than buying a $5500 back up generator I just bought a 2200 inverter generator for $450 and bought some old 5 gallon metal gas cans at a flea market and I’m set .
Use a Velcro cable tie and he won’t have to keep cutting off the wire tie each time you need to use it
I just did this procedure yesterday! Power's out in my area of Wisconsin right now. This was literally a 10 minute job and I can now plug the furnace into a generator and everything works as it's supposed to.
I made sure all the wires were secured using Wagos, even the ground. Furnace works fine, NO 'flame sensor' probs or anything else.
Thank you for this vid, it's a real game changer!
30 yr Electrician here.... NEC (electrical code) requires a minimum or 6 inches of wire from the back of the box. I would strongly suggest if anyone were to try this, to "carefully" strip back 7" of sheathing from the cord as to make sure you can make the electrical connection properly. Just a tip from a Licensed Electrician. : ))
TY for your post, but I don't know what you are talking about. What wire from what box? The pigtail and the switch box, I assume? Also, Mr 30 yr Electrician, :-), I only have a hot and neutral at the box/switch, the switch is on a sheetrock wall. There is/are no ground wire/s. (HUH?) The switch box is plastic.
Can I get a metal switch box,
attach it to furnace metal enclosure,
run the wires out of the wall to it/through it,
and attach a ground wire from both the (new commercial grade) switch and the pig-tail to the furnace enclosure?
I just got (semi) destroyed from a hurricane, and I am trying to get on my feet. Dead presidents are killing me, I have a lot to do, and winter is coming, but I wanted to do this, also.
Thank you in advance.
Oh, heck, where is my brain? Heh heh. Welcome home! (Yeah, after 50 years, I still say that.) EDIT Are you and your son mil/separated? Not sure from your moniker.
$5 + power station = depends on what power station you would provide ....truly helpful for the one has power station .....
This definitely cost more than $5 for the parts. I mean, the outlet and connector could be found together for under that but the cord had to be $10-15. I've got a computer cord lying around though so I'll just cut the end off and use that for free.
Yeah, I appreciate his information, but the power cord alone is more like $15.
Another point that, unfortunately, needs to be stressed is the alternative power source. He demonstrated with some power station that I wasn't previously familiar with. I assumed he was going to use a traditional gas generator which you would not be stationing by the furnace, or even in the house. There are still way too many people in this world who do not know better than to set up a generator in a safe place.
For all the detail he invested in the installation of the outlet, he really glossed over the actual power source consideration.
Guys, here is The Savior
HalleluYAH translates “Praise ye YaH”
YaH is The Heavenly Father
YaH arrives via the TENT OF MEETING
YaH was Who they Crucified for our sins
YaH was Crucified on an Almond TREE
- Ancient Semitic Cuneiform of Moshe (Moses)
- Isa Scroll (The Original Isaiah)
Isaiah 42:8
"I am YaH; that is my Name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.
Isaiah 43:11
I, I am YAH, and there is no other Savior but Me.
Isaiah 45:5
I am YaH, and there is none else.
I never thought I'd be subbing to an HVAC channel, but I've been through a couple of furnace "things" lately, and this video was useful, too. Thanks.
Before I ran a generator plug outside along with a lockout plate on main panel, I did exactly this, along with the same setup for my well pump (20 amp 120v). I used a single instead of duplex, so no one can plug in anything else while furnace is running.
NEC 210.8(A)(5) *requires* a single outlet or a outlet/switch.
Guys, here is The Savior
HalleluYAH translates “Praise ye YaH”
YaH is The Heavenly Father
YaH arrives via the TENT OF MEETING
YaH was Who they Crucified for our sins
YaH was Crucified on an Almond TREE
- Ancient Semitic Cuneiform of Moshe (Moses)
- Isa Scroll (The Original Isaiah)
Isaiah 42:8
"I am YaH; that is my Name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.
Isaiah 43:11
I, I am YAH, and there is no other Savior but Me.
Isaiah 45:5
I am YaH, and there is none else.
This is honestly such a fantastic way to approach this. Prevents any possibility of back feeding your secondary power source no matter what it is. if I lived further north you bet I would have one of these on my house with a battery generator and maybe even install some decent solar panels somewhere covered that I could deploy if needed. Obviously gas would still need to be running but from my experience gas is far more reliable than electric. I've actually never had a gas inturuption that I can remember but had power go out probably well over 100 times.
Same here. Thanks for your input
Yep
I had my gas shut off when i couldn't pay the bill. They put a lock on the gas valve thing outside. I cut the lock off. They were not happy.
You could run a generator on natural gas, too.
@@diyhvacguy 1:]
It's great to have people putting this kind of info on for homeowners. Especially when it's tuff to get anyone to come out or answer the phone. I don't have gas (no pun intended) but I do like that set up. thanks I just subscribed and will be looking for tips I may need for my boiler.
I modified ours years ago. Originally the 120v power cord went into a single size outlet box with a solid face via a knockout. I installed a duplex outlet in the box and a matching plug on the cord. Then if the power was out in winter, I just chained one of my 2 Honda EU2000 generators to my large trailer and ran a 12 gauge cord about 20' to the furnace in the basement. Normal heat and to switch back, just unplug from cord and re-insert plug into the normal outlet. Our furnace is natural gas so basically the power is for the fan and control board and is only a few amps (6.8 amps rated - actual is less after startup). Yeah, I'm sure "code" requires it to be hardwired, but I don't see an inspector checking for any reason in my lifetime.
I did something like this once on a house I owned. I used a twist lock plug. I also didn’t use a Romex fitting on the furnace but a fitting designed for a cord with a rubber grommet that tightens on the cord.. The current home I built I put in a whole house transfer switch and also a sub panel with a transfer switch. I put the furnace, internet, tv, lights, refrigerator and freezer on the sub panel. I can run the sub panel loads on a few gallons of gas a day with a 2000 W generator. When we need the pump or other high load items we can start the big generator that is hooked to the whole house transfer switch remotely
Use a square driver instead a Phillips as you are less likely to strip the screw or stab your hand.
Some furnace controls are sensitive to the sine wave of power stations/ inverters. Make sure you have a true sine wave.
Uh oh something you should make a video about maybe or fill us in with the info please?
Great video! Only thing I would have done differently is strip the jacket on the pigtail back some and make the it and the furnace wires the same length. It'll make splicing the 2 together easier and make tucking the wires into the box cleaner with less stress on the wago/wire nut
great video, excellent idea. just 2 minor safety points. When installing the outlet, since its in a metal box, use electrical tape around the neutral and live terminals. also its good practice to screw down the unused terminal screws before putting bsck into the box, helps limit the amount of potential shorts.
I did the switched outlet version. Easy as I do a ton of DIY electric work installing a 240V circuits for EVSEs. This is great if you have an EV for power outages. We have a Ford Lightning and Ioniq 5, so a lot of accessible power and far quieter when needed than a generator. I didn't do the whole house backup integration with the Ford, but a couple long 12 and 14 Gauge extension cords and we are covered for a multiday power outage if it happens.
One of the best practical setups IMO.
Wow. Just found this video and I remember your previous one. This new video takes all or most of the mistakes listed in the comments by electricians from the previous video (like the ground, switch, wiring,) and fixes/explain them plus its much easier to follow. Awesome channel man. Thanks for your hard work.
Thanks so much! 🙏🏻
Omg, stop. There are so many code violations here and potential for fire. Your local fire department would ask you to stop, your local code enforcement would ask you to stop, and your national electric code would ask you to stop. You are creating fire situations. Please stop and take this video down.
And look for my comment for further information on your violations
@@markanderson1335 can you provide all the violations? Need actual sources.
@@tmn15, Wouldn't, the first violation, be , that you removed it from the main breaker ?
And over by passed the Furnace Breaker, which the breaker is there ?
To prevent anomalies, or electrical fires ?
We had to replace our furnace a couple years ago. I told installers to do something very similar to this as we have a generator for emergencies. He refused to do it for me , but did instruct me on how to do it and left all the materials so I could do it later myself.
did they just not want to touch electrical?
@@victorphilip875
I think it was more that they didn’t want to do something not really recommend by the manufacturer and be liable if something went wrong or wasn’t right. But we hooked it up like he said and tested it. It works fine.
liability
I have been curious for a couple years on how I would deal with an extended winter power outage. This video solves the issue with incredible simplicity along with being a completely safe way to power the furnace multiple ways. We had a five day power outage in the June of 2021 which was not a big deal because we had a generator which kept everything critical running and temps were not crazy hot. Now if we have an extended winter outage it will not be a big deal either! Thanks DIY HVAC Guy!
Thank you guys for your loyal support! I hope this video helps people to stay warm this winter during future power outages :) cheers
He's *AWESOME!*
He has a lot of other great videos too.
This is his first video I've seen but I just subscribed. Awesome job explaining it in a simple way that isn't intimidating. 10/10
If you've got natural gas, get a whole house generator. It hurts to write the check, but the power grid isn't getting any better, and neither is the weather.
Guys, here is The Savior
HalleluYAH translates “Praise ye YaH”
YaH is The Heavenly Father
YaH arrives via the TENT OF MEETING
YaH was Who they Crucified for our sins
YaH was Crucified on an Almond TREE
- Ancient Semitic Cuneiform of Moshe (Moses)
- Isa Scroll (The Original Isaiah)
Isaiah 42:8
"I am YaH; that is my Name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.
Isaiah 43:11
I, I am YAH, and there is no other Savior but Me.
Isaiah 45:5
I am YaH, and there is none else.
This has to be my favorite video of yours and have sent it to probably two dozen other guys. We all live in souther Ohio and have boilers that heat our house (ours is still the steam boiler from 1911 and yes, that’s the correct date). We have 3” water lines that hold the steam and is controlled by an electric thermostat. Now that we have this, a small 2200 watt inverter generator will run it with ease, as well as a few lights, a pressure cooker, and also charge our laptop. I’ll occasionally watch this with our girls - clean language and educational!
Who would have thought a fix like this could be so simply easy. Thanks brother!
These videos always bring out the keyboard 'experts' in the comments lol. Awesome stuff and simple to follow along, thanks.
Local code here requires a dedicated circuit(s) for HVAC. Our inspector was satisfied by installing the switched outlet within the furnace cabinet and leaving a grommeted access (standard metal stud grommet) to pass the cord out of the cabinet when needed. This way the outlet would not be easily accessible for any other use.
Good point. No special receptacle need be purchased. Simply break off the jumpers on the back. This renders one half dead. Just a thought.
Swap the receptacle for a single outlet receptacle.
I did this a couple of years ago. Haven’t lost power in cold weather yet, so…… good to know I’ll have heat when I do.
Brilliant! I just added battery backup to my whole house and left the furnaces off the panel as i saw them as “nice to have” - this is an easy way for me to put them back in action as my power banks are 3 feet away and have a 120 outlet in addition to providing power to the smart panel!
I did this back during the big Texas freeze, but ran an extension cord to my generator outside, which I had to run for several days. A battery backup wouldn't have lasted that long. My unit draws several hundred watts, so a gasoline/propane/natural gas generator is a must if the outage persists more than a couple hours.
My Vtoman lasted 20 hours of cycling the furnace off and on. But a generator is definitely preferred
Q: 20 hours at what temp, at the thermostat@@diyhvacguy
In Canada a forced air furnace must have hardwired electrical. It can't have a plug like that. However I understand why you'd use this. I personally have one of those "EZ Generator" style boxes on my furnace so it is still hardwired and it does the same thing you show here.
I too have built a 'rocker switch box', similar to the *EZ Generator Switch* so that way I don't have to mess around with plugs. *All* the wiring (12ga) is contained in a 4x4 junction box with a mud ring to mount the double pole double throw rocker switch marked LINE, OFF, GEN. I have a small dual fuel _inverter generator_ sitting outside with proper connection from Gen to Furnace. It was suggested that newer _Furnaces with electronic furnace boards_ needs that bonding back to the main panel and separating neutral and bare ground. The gen is floating neutral, but by sending neutral and ground separately, makes the furnace happy. To bad I didn't have in the 2021 freeze out in TX. Only took one time to learn that lesson. Plus I can still use an extension cord to power sensitive electronics like TV's, Modem, Router, Computers, and charge portable electronics. Just NO big amp loads.
I think it's against code in the US too but tell that to your freezing cold family in an outage.
@@peterfairlie2296 The code doesnt specifically say you cannot but it also doesnt say you can. It would be up to the authority having jurisdiction to decide if its allowable. for example North Dakota has an amendment to the NEC that specifically allows this. but like you said its your house so do as you please. Its not dangerous at all to do it..
@@FosterFarmsOk It's a bit sketchy as section 110.3(B) of the NEC requires that listed or labeled products be installed in accordance with any instructions included in their listing or labeling. This makes compliance with those restrictions part of the requirements of the NEC. Clearly this is a hack and you'd be called out on it in an inspection. However don't get me wrong as I'm all for doing this in an emergency to keep my family warm and safe.
@@peterfairlie2296 that's why I said it's up to the AHJ. Some places allow it.
Great project to knock out and be prepared for when the power drops. I had a switch and single outlet. I kept that setup but rewired it up as you got here. I added a 1 to 3 outlet cube to it so I could plug in my pump, furnace, and UV light.
We made the same modification on our boiler. In case of a long term power outage we simply unplug it from the wall outlet and plug it in to our portable LiFePO4 2400 watt power station.
Wow, for many of us out here in normieland this is great information. Thank you DI HVAC Guy!
WAGO's are the best! Especially for homeowners who may not install a wire nut perfectly.
Great simple video!
Your heat source is coming from either natural gas or propane. All you need to do is have power to the blower and what electronics are required to run the furnace. Whatever the needs of power to do this is minimal. A small gas generator (check requirements on furnace), 5 gal of gas (I'd use "no ethanol) and run it sparingly you've got heat for a week or so!
I set up this installation today. Thanks for your video. I know just about nothing with electric and your video was easy to understand.
It will cost you a bit more than $5 but it's a minimal cost to have this ability. I have had my furnaces done this way for many years. We get a lot of outages year round, but in winter, it is usually related to blizzard conditions, so even a few hours without heat can get bad pretty quick.
I have a big generator, but it takes a bit to get it set up especially when the weather is bad. If I get lucky, I might get power back in a couple hours. But running the furnace on a self contained battery style power supply, buys some time to evaluate the situation. If I have to work outside in the cold, crappy weather to get the generator set up. Being able to come in and warm up is priceless!
You did a very nice job explaining and you covered everything of importance, quite well. The only suggestion I have is to talk about having an adequate sized emergency supply. You connected to a 1000 watt supply, which I'm sure was adequate if you had checked the nameplate actual input values of the furnace. And when a blower starts, it draws a bit more current. Most emergency power sources have a surge capacity that will handle that. The main thing is to test your power source to make sure it will work when you need it and maybe run for a while to get an idea of the usage time you can expect. My suggestion is to start with a 1500 watt supply for a 15 amp circuit. The actual input level value is likely about half, but it's good to have a little extra margin. They over hype these battery style self contained back up supplies, making it sound like it will supply endless power! f it is small and lightweight, it will have pretty limited power. So it's a good idea to do some testing to see just what you will have when you need it. The idea of using your car as a generator with an adequate sized inverter and a heavy duty extension cord, can make a pretty good emergency back up. Having this kind of knowledge and capability, can be a life saver in major outages, and the cost of getting the capability is relatively low.
As for code compliance. It's a matter of interpretation. What you are doing is perfectly fine and safe. But you could run into an inspector who interprets it differently. Ideally you can explain its use and reasoning and get agreement. Alternatively, you could use an EZ Generator Switch, which is UL listed and approved for this very situation. I'd argue that your approach is actually better, but sometimes you run into an a-hole who really doesn't have a solid understanding of why the code is what it is.
My only other comment is about using Wagos. I'm an electric engineer who takes issue with them. No because they can come loose, which is unlikely. My issue with them is that when properly installed, they provide a relatively high resistance connection. This is not a huge issue in low current applications like in a lighting fixture. but in higher current situations, the issue increase exponentially. I won't claim they are dangerous, but you should know that UL lowered the ratings considerably from the European IEC standards.
The Wagos are easy which helps for DIY work, however, I strongly suggest that electrical work is not something for for DIY unless the person, fully and completely understands electrical theory and have had some formal training. I have seen far to many DIY mistakes. Electricity can kill you and/or your family and burn down your house if you make a mistake. You did a good job of explaining in detail how to make this pretty simple modification.
I will just finish the Wago comment with the simple fact that wire nuts are far superior for a good connection. This is well proved by engineering level testing. As an HVAC guy, I suggest yo research the Wago issue in depth, I'm sure you know well that easier is not necessarily better.
But short these fairly minor points, I think you produced a very fine video and covered all the bases,
Wago are fine, for this case especially fine. Feel free to leave links to prove how poor wagos are.
@@ClanMcCormick What are your credentials that make you believable, Are you an electrical engineer? Do you know what the inherent resistance is for these connections. I don't need links, even though there are more than a few credible ones out there. I'm an Electrical Engineer with decades of experience and have conducted ample tests to laboratory standards. What does fine or especially fine mean in your definition? Are you a professional? Trained? Certified?
I gave my professional opinion that these are a bad choice for connections of any substantial currents because as current doubles, heating goes up 4 times. D you understand that and know why? They probably won't cause a fire but will most likely fail open. UL rated them OK but at reduced currents. So they probably won't cause a fire at or below these derated currents.
Heat does not rise exponentially with current: only parabolically (variable (current) raised to a fixed power of 2). P=I^2R
That is a pet peeve of mine when people claim something rises exponentially just because a fixed power is involved. Exponential growth is when you have a fixed based raised to a variable power (like 2^x). That grows much faster than (x^2).
@@jamesphillips2285 For the purposes of the issue at hand, I'll stick with what I said. If you want to play mathematical semantics with it, I don't see the point. The issue is that dissipated heat is a function of the current squared. This "functionality" is often overlooked by many in the electrical world. I don't wish to get hung up on terminology. It doesn't change the formula or the results. Sorry if your interpretation is 'pet peeve" of yours.
@@professorg8383 I see it more commonly with formulas involving 4th power terms (road wear due to axle weight, black body radiation)..
Calling everything "exponential" reduces the impact when the growth is ACTUALLY exponential (loans, spread of diseases like Covid).
Exponential growth sneaks up on you. In the short-term it is less than you may expect. But long term it is far faster than you expect.
Doesn’t get more easier than that. Nice fix👍. Take it a bit further I’d add a combination SW/ receptacle. This way no one can plug into the other outlet on the duplex receptacle.
I was going to say "use a single outlet or use a plastic plug for the extra outlet so no one plugs something else in there". But yours is the best. Solves any arcing if you turn it off before unplugging the cord.
Our house uses a pigtail cord from the furnace motor to a wall outlet as the normal power. If our power goes out, I simply unplug it from the outlet and to my generator extension cord. Not all furnaces are hard-wired like the one in your video. It is a good video for the average homeowner to use for this purpose.
Great video. I just shut off main breaker to my electrical panel and bad feed the entire panel from generator. This way I have control over every appliance and can turn on what I need during power outages
Don't forget (to the viewer) to plug in your condensation pump also if you have one!
you dont need it for heat
@@clementgoetke2385 tell me you know nothing anything about high efficiency furnaces without telling me you know nothing about high efficiency furnaces... Most are condensing, they produce condensate...
Great video. One small niggle - never coil an AC mains power cable. Inductive heating can melt the cable and may cause a fire.
Always zig-zag the excess cable and tie the bundle.
I just did this, it was a piece of cake-- much easier than installing a ceiling fan!!! I will be ready for an outage as I have extension cords and a back up generator ready to go!!
Awesome sauce
I just power my furnace through a transfer switch with my power station everyday! 👍💯♥️🇺🇸😎
I like this concept a lot. I don't like that metal clamp on the pigtail personally. They make proper fittings for that. I also don't know why the pigtail goes into the furnace just to come back out, making no connections inside. Also why is it so long? Last, should always tighten the other screws sticking out on an outlet and reduce the chance of a short. Thanks for the video!
That metal clamp is a proper fitting.
The pig tail is "so long" so you can reach your alternate power supply, like a portable power station or a generator.
@@jasonbroom7147 if you could reach a generator with the length of that cord then it's too close
@@jim5k - Bullcrap. My furnace sits in a room right off my garage and a 15' cable would reach out to a generator, running in the garage with the door open. It isn't a complicated topic, you just didn't understand it, initially. Just say, "Oh, that makes sense", and move on.
@@jasonbroom7147 you sound like someone who would run a generator in a garage
THANK YOU very much for equipping us homeowners with knowledge to either doing it ourselves of hiring someone to do exactly what we want. You just earned my subscription to your channel, all the best to you.
I hired an electrician and he installed a transfer switch. I have every electric appliance ( including my fan forced gas furnace) attached to the switch. If the power goes out we plug it into the generator.
The only thing he didnt hook up was the central air conditioner because it would put a strain on the generator.
This is a clever trick to use with a garage door opener too. If the power is out and your generator is in your garage, you can set it up similarly for the garage door opener.
You have 2 code violations, easy to correct both. Can't use the romex connector as a means of support, shoot a couple self tappers from the handy box to the furnace side. The box is over filled, the pigtail and furnace connecting wires can be pulled back into the furnace.
Don't garage door openers usually already have plugs?
Appreciate the video- this is a great idea! However- you should ALWAYS run a ground pigtail to the outlet from the feed ground, and not rely upon the screw connections for your ground.
Agreed - at minimum he should have removed the fiber/plastic square washers that serve to insulate the outlet from the box.
I like the previous version with outlet AND switch much better. Without switch, when you pull out while furnace is operating, you create a spark within the outlet. It will destroy this outlet soon if you have to do it often. Outlets are not replacement for switches, they should be used for connecting or disconnecting devices in a turned off state.
Valid point, although the current draw is not very high. I would simply use the breaker for disconnecting means in the event I have to isolate the furnace from normal power.
The videos you make are very easy to follow along and understand to the average homeowner. Giving me ideas how keep my furnace on during power outages. Thank you very much and keep up the good work.
Always take pictures of how the wires are connected AND then label them for what they are. IE: power from CB, power to furnace. Ground to finish labeling.
A furnace fan draws about 400 watts on average. The battery in that backup power supply is rated to 1,408 Wh, which equates to 3.5 hours of runtime. With the other electronics and whatnot in the furnace, 3 hours is a good ballpark estimate, though inductive loss in the fan motor may degrade the estimate.
How many hours of heating would 3 hours of runtime give you? What if you were feeding power into the backup power supply, using a small gas generator?
You're also not likely to be running full bore for those 3hrs. Assuming a 50% duty cycle (for example) that means 6hrs of heating using your figures.
@@slip0n0fall Excellent point.
more than enough time to keep the family warm while running extension cords outside to a small generator if it looks like it'll be a longer-term event
There is no "proper" orientation of an outlet (8:36). However, in this case ground up would be the safest orientation. A top ground prong better holds the plug in the outlet and the top ground protects any metal object falling onto the hot prong. You have great video content. Keep them coming.
That's how hospitals are wired.
@@kenhurley4441 Yep. And they wouldn't be using that orientation for no reason. While it may not be code it's still "best practice" and in most instances, considered standard.
@@Watchyn_Yarwood - Well, it _"may not be code"_ as you say, except when it *was* code (2005 NEC or thereabouts).... until it *wasn't* code again (NEC dropped the 'ground prong up' requirement). And you could say _"in most instances it's considered standard",_ aside from most instances that it's *not.* Very few of the manufacturers of things like power adaptors and GFCI plugs ever changed from the original ground prong down to ground prong up. So, for *years* now anyone who did change their outlet orientation has to have that awkward cord pointing toward the ceiling situation with certain devices.
@@gatsbylight4766 🤣😆😆🤣
But it will confuse most homeowners because the standard meaning for a ground up outlet is to be a visual clue that that outlet is switched from elsewhere; builders have been doing that since at least the 1980s.
This is exactly the way I wired mine years ago...still waiting on the battery tech to shake out (which would be way easier to use) but for now, I run the power to a gas generator.
I had my HVAC company estimate this change. They wanted about $500. It's not the parts that are expensive, it's the knowledge and ability to do the job right. If you're going to use a portable generator, there is a whole list of cautions on connecting to an ungrounded generator.
No one should operating a Generator without a ground.... Yes, there are idiots out there, but if someone cannot make this very simple setup, they should not be pushing a lawnmower or driving a car.
Your outlet should be grounded already back to breaker box that is grounded to home ground rod. Am I missing something
@@westvirginiaminer3046 When you pull the pigtail out of the outlet, the pigtail will see no ground. That is why you need to ground the generator, by code to a dedicated ground... You should not use an outlet ground as he did here, it is against code...
You're a life saver, again and not just for me but for a bunch of my friends and neighbors. Did this last year in the NW during a three day ice storm and power outage IN THE CITY. I have a really really small home (basically a large apartment in size, with a basement) and had about 8-12 people staying here for a couple of days since no one else had a second means of heat. I 'sort of' thought of doing this hack, but never put time into working it out. Appreciate this immensely. I need to figure out how much power (amp-ohm-watt) the furnace is pulling though.
I installed a wall plug and outlet box
Simple to unplug and plug in to extension cord
Tested and worked great during Texas 2021 big freeze
Thanks for the great videos! I just did this modification to our boiler. Last winter, we darned near froze during a power outage, even though we have a generator. A previous owner had a generator transfer switch installed with a number of circuits, but unfortunately, the heating plant wasn't one of them! I don't know why I didn't think of this fix myself, but at least it is done now.
Have you ever run a test to see how long a furnace will run on a 90 Amp hour battery? I have a generator, but getting it out of the garage, wheeling it behind my house and connecting the ground can be a lot of work depending on the weather conditions here in Ohio. 15 Amps at 120 volts is 1,800 watts. With an 1,800 watt inverter I would not think that I cold get more than 1 hour furnace run time from a 100 Amp Hour battery.
A home furnace doesn't use 1800 watts. More like 500 or so. If the battery is 1000 watt-hours, it would run that for 2 hours continuously.
BUT furnace motors don't usually run 100% of the time, so that's really about 2 hours of motor run time. If a furnace runs 10 minutes every hour it would last for 12 hours.
Also inverter power is not the same as battery capacity. Power is measured in Watts and capacity is measure in Watt hours.
@@LoanwordEggcorn That is unrealistic to assume a furnace will only run 10 minutes per hour. That assumes the house didn't get cold before you got this running. And it assumes it's not very cold outside. When it's 10 deg below zero, my furnace runs 100% of the time. i found out that is how the furnace was specified.
@@8546Ken Yes, it varies by season, weather, local climate, etc.
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About 8:40 into the video, I would recommend wrapping the outlet screw terminals in electrical tape before inserting and seating. That way, in the event that someone is working on the outlet and power is not properly cut, they're less likely to touch the exposed terminals and shock themselves.
Electrical tape is an insulator. Insulators hold in heat. Heat causes melting or worse, fire.
I did this and it works great, now i can see the power use of the gas heater. Never realized the heater draws 850 watts on full draw.
I've recently been considering do this, but adding a UPS so that there is no interruption during a power outage. Mostly out of laziness of not having to do anything once the power is out.
Most UPS are not rated for inductive (i.e. blower) loads; I would not expect it to last long/reliably.
That's an advantage of having natural gas supply to your home. Some places like NYC have banned natural gas connection to new construction homes.
Why would that be???
Wow!! Thanks this is a fantastic post!!
Something most can do and it is handy as hell to have in case of an outage. Having a nice battery bank to run it is the breaker for most being cost of a unit the primary driver
A deep cycle lead-acid trolling motor battery and a 1,000w pure sine wave inverter, plus some way to charge the battery if you plan for extended outages.
Great D.I.Y. idea to power a gas furnace when there is an electrical power outage.
(This should also work if you wanted central A/C during the summer.)
Maybe you covered this in this video and I missed it.
[1] Since there was an 'On/Off' switch originally on and for the furnace, why eliminate it.?
Keep it by buying one of those 'combo switch/outlet'.
That way the switch is still there, but now you've got an independent outlet/source
to connect your 'pigtail extension cord' to, which will be used for the generator.
[2] That generator (which runs on fuel and is noisy) ought to be outside the dwelling/basement and delivers
electrical power to the furnace's pigtail cord via a long enough and similarly rated extension cord.
[3] Plan ahead. What would the outdoor extn. cord 'go thru' to enter the home, while still keeping the cold
weather/temperature from coming inside. And, also provide safety & security for the residents.
If you wanted to dedicate a battery pack to the furnace, could you just leave it plugged in and plug in the battery pack to the power so it stays charged, like you would with a UPS on a computer.
Thanks for showing us an easy, safe way to add auxiliary power to the furnace. 😀 This project has been on my to-do list for a few years... I'm, now, accumulating the necessary parts.
I should’ve read the comments first. I might have a floating neutral or a dirty sign wave! Thanks for the channel it’s great
More great information!!Thanks again! 😊
For those that feel bound by the hardwire requirement and don't mind spending more; There are single circuit cord fed generator changeover panels available exactly for this purpose. It's going to cost you more than the $5-$10 of this method though
Hello do you have a link to one?as googling "single circuit cord fed generator changeover panels " just bring up a whole bunch of inlet boxes and transfer switches that have nothing to do with furnace.
@@KeithOlbermannn A transfer switch is actually what you need. The name of one that you would want is Reliance Controls TF151W Transfer Switch. It's a single circuit transfer switch that would be fed by an extension cord plugged into your generator and the other side by utility power. It's gonna cost you around $150-200 and would be mounted next to your furnace.
Although with the cost I'd rather go with a 30 amp transfer switch/sub panel combo at your main panel. These cost $500+, but then you can back up your fridge, lights, furnace, etc... with one 30 amp cord from your generator.
And where do you find one for that price? Are you living in 1970? The cheapest out there are about $150 up to $600...
@@thoryan946I’m have actually been looking into this recently. Was also leaning towards a Reliance ten circuit panel. I have an electrician coming this week to look at my panel and setup to advise if it’s the best solution. I know the Reliance has a lot of helpful videos and is supposed to be DIY, I could probably handle it but will likely have a pro do it.
@@michaelholliday100 There's one called the EZ Transfer switch or something to that effect (it has a green cover) for about $100. Good for this furnace application.
You earned another subscriber. Showing people useful information without trying to sell a course. I just dropped economic ninja due to him trying to sell a course on every video. Keep up the great work!
I had this set up more than ten years ago the plug was plugged into a wall outlet.And beside I had another outlet extension(I forget the cable size, bigger than regular orange extension cords) out to a generator,it worked very well.I would recommend every furnace be set up like this.
Maybe I overlooked a step, but when power is up, would the prongs of the plug be energized/dangerous?
Edit: never mind. I just realized you said it’s isolated from the grid, so it must be plugged in to be powered in either situation.
YOU ALWAYS HAVE OPTIONS! 1. lower your thermostat 5 degrees. 2. Using drywall screws and twine, hang blankets up on the outer walls of the bedroom and bathroom then close off as much of the house as your can. You'd be surprised how much energy can be saved hanging up 4 or 5 blankets (Blanket then plastic sheet then another blanket) on a few walls! 3. Do you have a charged up trolling motor batt to use? 4. An option would to keep a small Gen on hand just powerful enough to keep your furnace firing up. 5. Hook up your vehicles for power, but keep enough gas in vehicle in case you have to bugout! 6. As last option, just keep your home temp above 50 DGREES! Paint starts peeling below 50! 7. Out of power? Fill up anything that will hold water and turn off the water supply outside the house to keep your pipes from rupturing. Break out the tent placing it in the center of the house and throw a blanket or two over the tent!
No thanks. I want heat. Period.
Do not cut off heat to the bathroom unless you want frozen pipes and a flood. Common sense is the other half of the battle bud.
For N.E.C. compliance, use mc-lite for the pig-tail, since it's shielded.
This Has GOT to Be My Favorite Channel on TH-cam! Thanks!
Do you have a set up for an oil furnace? I would like to see something on that.
It should work exactly the same. You may have to also power a small oil pump, but it should be already tied in. Not hard.
Thank you Pat
What's the biggest difference between this and your last version with the switch. From a safety standpoint?
Solves any arcing if you turn it off before unplugging the cord.
This has been on my mind since I saw the last video, but I never did it because of generator/inverter decisions. And now were going to have a week of wind and frigid temperatures.
"Keep Your Family Warm During A Power Outage By Installing This $5 Part..... *and Buying this $700 Part."*
huh?
@@consciousobjector2507 he's implying the title is click bait because even after installing the $5 plug you still need to buy a generator ("$700 part")
But if you already have a generator, (because you’re prepared) it’s a $5 upgrade.
@@jonnyincognito899 who doesn't have a good inverter/generator? Only ill -prepared people, if they're watching this.
You gotta pay to play.
@@tabcobra *EXACTLY.*
I just answered somewhat the same way
OMG... the $5 part doesn't do anything to keep your family warm or the lights on without spending a lot of money on an auxiliary power source. This can be either batteries, a portable generator or a stationary standby generator. He knows this and he really should have done a better job pointing that out.
Ok, this is a good idea for the average person but I would like to offer another approach. simply open the box and take that romex connector and put it at the bottom of the box after removing the KO from it and install the new cord....(mind you there is no drilling a hole into the furnace) just a new male end cord coming into the switch box from the bottom. Now you simply take of the spst switch and replace it with a 3-way switch (SPDT) and boom. you now have a normal on/off switch when servicing the furnace - up for on as usual, down for OFF - or generator as it will be coming from the new cord end.....simply plug it into your generator and switch it down for AUX source. I use a lot of cord ends and do this to a few of these "service disconnect" boxes like what you have there. Just makes life a little simpler having a 3-way select between the power sources and very visible and easy to grab while it is just hanging there. Love the videos...keep up the good work!!
I have always used a power cord on my furnace for this purpose and just plugged it in to a standard outlet. Living our in the country on a farm, we always experienced power outages, so your fix is a very good idea. I would've just put the romex connector on to the handy box, but it is just a preference. If you have a standard outlet near by, just pigtail the furnace. This can be done in a short time as it may be done during an outage, but it will require you to have the stuff to do it with, even if you have to swipe a cord off an appliance like a toaster, etc. I think the thing to keep in mind is this fix will only last as long as your power source, so plan accordingly. When this happens, you may want to make alt arrangements to relocate if the power will be out for a long period as most alt power sources will not last for long periods as your fuel runs out.
What if I don't have a family? Would this still work just for me?
No, families only unfortunately
Single people are much colder than married people so this wouldn't work for you, sorry.
@@diyhvacguy😂
Спасибо большое :/
Great idea but those wagu connectors should NOT be used. They do not give you a tight connection and will heat up with a high or long running load and actually melt. Use good old fashioned wire nuts.
They are time proven and don’t fail.
Do you really want to risk burning your house down?
I disagree. But to each his own 👍🏼
If you disagree you haven’t been using them long enough. Wait and see my friend. You’ll find out. Remember old school brings us to new school but sometimes new isn’t better.
Wire nuts are time proven and do not fail.
Wire nuts DO fail, they corrode, become loose, Wago nuts have been tested with much higher than rated loads and they did fine, there's even videos showing it.
"Can loose wire nuts cause a fire?"
", a loose electrical wire can cause a fire. When electrical wires are loose, the current flowing through them can generate heat. Over time, this heat can cause the insulation around the wire to melt or become damaged, increasing the risk of a short circuit or electrical arcing.Mar 31, 2023"
Wago lever connectors are UL listed and approved for use. Mar 27, 2022
All electrical devices used in America must be listed/tested by one of a few orgs, like UL/ETL/CSA.
@@bobcumbers3624
@bobcumbers3624 I only use wire nuts,but they absolutely fail. Youve never seen one melt?
I have had bad experiences with wire nuts melting also. Nothing is fool proof.
Fantastic! Thank you for this helpful video for keeping our family warm in the event of a power outage. We always use gas along with electricity as a 2-way security measure. 👍