1967 Electrical furnace

Older than some of the inspectors on this board. I do my load test on the electrical panel before I check any furnace. This furnace being electric I fired it off to put amps on the panel and from the amp reading on the main breaker I knew the furnace was not operating all elements

Sure enough when I open the panel on the furnace front like all good inspectors should low and behold I needed not my amp meter to check the elements I could see two elements with burnt off wires

Charlie,

I don’t insert tools inside electrical panel nor open cover of electric furnaces.

A temperature differential measurement should have identified this deficiency in my opinion.

I don’t think so to much guessing man up and buy a amp meter:D;-)

I have an amp meter but have no need for it for a home inspection.

If every home inspector would be inserting tools in electrical panel, we would quickly be banned from opening them in my opinion.

Breakers at the panel should indicate how many banks are present in the furnace and temperature rise should indicate if they are working as intended.

Well to each his own but I can guarantee you will miss some elements that are bad such as on the one in my pic it has one 70 amp breaker in the main panel none at the furnace hard wired in and two elements were not working and the discharge air temp was above a 100 degrees. I wish you lived next door to me and were my competition :p:p

70 amp breakers in the main panel, two elements out of four not working and discharge air temp above 100 degrees…

There appear to be more of a problem than a couple of burned elements…