Electric Furnace

Originally Posted By: gwiggins
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I have never inspected an electric furnace and found one in the crawl of an A frame home. There was one 60amp breaker on the furnace and a missing knock out like there was room for another breaker. The furnace was operating and putting out heat. Can anyone inform me what I was seeing.


Thanks for any input.


Originally Posted By: Blaine Wiley
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What you are looking at is an electric strip heat furnace or resistance heat.


If you are the type of inspector who does not remove the screwed on cover plates on furnaces or air handlers, then turn on the furnace and check for the temperature differential between supply and return air. It should be greater than 35 degrees.

If you remove the cover panels, you should check the amperage draw on each of the strip heaters . They should draw between 15 and 22 amps when on. There may be a sequencer in the system which turns on the elements one or two at a time. If they don't come on, they may be nonfunctional, or there may be an outdoor thermostat. If there is an outdoor thermostat it would have to be returned to it's initial set point, which is usually better left to an HVAC tech. It is also important that the blower comes on with or just prior to the first element.

Look for the usual items such as blown fuses, blower operation, burned or corroded wires, filter, etc. If you provide a BTU output to your buyer, each kilowatt is equal to 3412 BTU. Most, but not all strip heaters are 5kw each. (3 strips = 15 kw, etc) Often, the KW is listed on the outside of the furnace cabinet.

These are very common in my area. We have very few gas furnaces.

Hope that helps. ![icon_biggrin.gif](upload://iKNGSw3qcRIEmXySa8gItY6Gczg.gif)


Originally Posted By: gwiggins
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.



Thanks for the help. Yes I did remove the cover and the temp was fine, I didn’t check the amps but the furnace was puttong out considerable heat.


I don’t know why there is only one 60 amp breaker when the knock out is large enough for two. Any suggestions?


The furnace is the least of the problems on this home I want to be sure I report it like it is or ferer them to an HVAC man. The sills, band board and band joists have considerable rot. The 100 amp panel has three double taps and the floor joists spaned to the max.


Thank you for the advice.


Originally Posted By: dhartke
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Gabe,


I don't know much about resistance heat furnaces except they are expensive to run in your neck of the woods.

The 60 amp breaker sounds about right though for a 15kw system.
15000 watts divided by 240 volts equals 62.5 amps.


Dave


Originally Posted By: gwiggins
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Dave,


They are expensive to operate here! The seller just had it installed a year ago to make the house more saleable. This is an A-Frame on a lake and prior to this it was only a summer house with no heat at all. I appreciate the response.


Gabe