Now I have a furnace problem; I suspect it is related. I have power past the cabinet safety switch, but the unit is unresponsive. The fault indicator light is not illuminated. (Trane XR80). I am turning this over to my HVAC contractor.
4 Likes
I had that problem in 2019. Problem solved after bitchin’ to the power company long enough.
4 Likes
Poor connections are the most common cause of electrical fires. Most of those bad connections are in places that a home inspector will not usually see. Many of the poor connections are with neutrals. A significant number are upstream of a home’s electrical service. Loose neutral connections at the utility company’s transformer (especially overhead services) are common.
A loose or missing neutral can cause the Voltage on some 120V circuits elevate to a Voltage somewhere between 120V and 240V. Kitchen circuits are often MWBCS, so they are especially susceptible to having elevated Voltages. The relationship between Voltage and temperature is nonlinear (i^2r). That’s why there so many fires are started with Pop-Tarts and other toaster pastries in toasters.
5 Likes
Great reason to report on lights flickering or dimming etc.
6 Likes
That is incorrect. The number one cause of house fires is cooking. Most of those are from unattended cooking. Half of all house fires in the US are cooking related. Approximately one out of four house fires are electrical. The NFPA and the insurance industry include lost or loose neutrals in the more general category of arc related fires. They do not differentiate specifically between arcing caused by loose or lost neutrals and other arcs, so there are no industry wide statistics available. Insulation failure is also a major cause of arc related fires. Based on my personal experience of having investigated many electrical failures and working with many other electrical fire investigators, I can attest to the fact that loose or lost neutrals are indeed a major cause of electrical fires. It just isn’t possible to say that they outnumber other causes.
The insurance industry collectively decided 30 or so years ago to engage electrical investigators on a wider range of fires than had been done historically. The reason is that fire service personnel who have no electrical expertise tended to classify any fire that they could not identify the cause of as being electrical. Consequently, much of the historical data is skewed and cannot be relied upon. Probably half of the investigations I’ve participated in were not suspected to be electrical. My role as an electrical expert is often to rule out the possibility of the fire having been electrical.
4 Likes
Sorry I worded that poorly. It was electrical house fires.
Good point.
4 Likes