Red Emergency Switch In Basement

I recently had a home inspection for a house i am buying and the inspector said that because the 25 year old oil boiler in the basement does not have an emergency shut off switch at the top of the basement stairs he has to write it up.

Red emergency switch in basement. For example if the furnace is spewing carbon monoxide due to some fault you could die going down in the basement to shut it off. I for one will not be running into a fire to try to reach the shut off switch. It should have a red switch plate labeled gas burner or oil burner. First of all i usually need to get a broom or jump up to flip the switch for testing purposes.

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. How the furnace switch works. According to building codes a furnace must be supplied by a dedicated circuit meaning the circuit cannot supply power to anything other than the furnace. This switch is normally located at the top of the basement stairs or by the unit.

The most annoying problem of course is. Did someone accidentally bump the emergency switch off. If the furnace does not come on look for an emergency on off switch at the top of a basement stairway at the entrance to the room that houses the furnace or on the furnace itself. These emergency switches should have a red wall plate.

It s higher than a normal light switch however so i ve never accidentally flipped it. This circuit is served by its own circuit breaker in the breaker box properly called the main service panel the circuit wiring runs from the service panel to the disconnect switch and from there to the furnace. The most common is a power cutoff for the furnace located away from the appliance say at the head of the basement stairs.