Emergency Shut Off Switch For Gas Furnace

This isn t the case for gas appliances.

Emergency shut off switch for gas furnace.

Secondly the location of the switch in the furnace room is a poor choice if there is a furnace emergency such as a gas leak or fire. Houses built with gas heat from day one will not have it. When this happens the furnace will not run and all kinds of problems can arise. I for one will not be running into a fire to try to reach the shut off switch.

It ensures that power to the furnace stays disconnected even if someone unwittingly turns on the circuit breaker. In order to ensure safety while working on the furnace you can shut off the power to the furnace s circuit at either the circuit breaker or the disconnect or both. These emergency switches should have a red wall plate. The roll out switch prevents the burners flames from ever expanding beyond the burner.

The disconnect switch not only adds convenience it s also an additional safety feature. A gas fired boiler that feeds both a hydronic system and an air handler associated with a remodel done on my home see below. About 10 years ago i replaced my aging oil furnace with a new gas furnace. If this were to happen the roll out switch would cut off the gas flow.

At that time at the top of my basement stairs was an emergency cutoff switch located just inside the basement near the door. Oil fired furnaces require an emergency shut off switch outside the room with the burner. The most common is a power cutoff for the furnace located away from the appliance say at the head of the basement stairs.