Transformers are rated in VA or volt amps. If you are adding equipment like an air conditioner or a heat pump to your existing electric furnace, it would be a good time to check the load limit on your 24 volt transformer. If the reset continues to trip it’s time to find the problem before more damage is done. Some transformers also come with a reset button that will allow it to try again. Three to five amp fuses are sometimes in the transformer circuit to prevent the burn out. They can cause quite a stink when they burn up. If those limits are exceeded then the transformer will run warm, hot or even burn up. Transformers have load limits just like a breaker. At least then you’re not running to the auto parts or hardware store trying to find the replacement. I prefer transformers with the push button reset. This transformer has a glass fuse to protect itself and other low voltage components like your thermostat. Also the wire is less expensive to run wires to items like thermostats and other controls like dampers and zoning systems. This lower voltage is a safer voltage to handle and more convenient to work with. A transformer is necessary to step that voltage down. Most controls like thermostats and relays that control the furnace are rated at 24 volts. The 24 Volt Transformer Reduces The Voltage From 240V to 24V For Furnace ControlsĮlectric furnaces are fed from the main panel to the furnace with 240 volts. You should contact your electrician or HVAC expert and get it examined. If it feels warm or hot it’s a sign of a loose connection or an overload. The back of my fingers are more sensitive to temperature than my finger tips. Some breaker manufacturers label the breaker on the face instead of the switch toggle.Ī little safety tip to use on your breakers is to hold the back of your finger on the outside surface of the breaker. Those are the skinnier or thinner breakers in the panel and rated from 15 or 20 amps on the toggle of the breaker. The breakers that feed your lights and plugins throughout your house will be 115 volt or single breakers. Your main service panel will have two types of breakers. Those breakers, according to code, should be plainly labeled “furnace” so that anybody could identify them. If your furnace has two 60 amp breakers then your panel should have two 60 amp breakers. When you look into your main breaker panel you should see breaker ratings that match the breaker ratings in your furnace. This list is not complete but will give you an idea of the principle behind wire size and breakers. Wire size is also important to each breaker. The 60 amp breaker usually feeds power to 2 elements which draw about 20 amps each. Or, a 30 amp and 60 amp would feed three elements adding up to 15 KW furnace and a fan motor. One 60 amp would feed two elements at 10 KW each and a fan. In our area I’ve seen a few 90 amp breakers fed from one circuit. You could have a few combinations of those breakers. Then when they turned on the heat that night the elements overheated, drooped down onto the elements frame to ground and the element wire burned in two.įortunately the breakers tripped and saved the wires from overheating and possibly the house from a fire.īreakers in electric furnaces are generally rated at 30 or 60 amps. So they ran their AC during the day and ice formed on the coil which dramatically cut down the flow of air across the elements. This was one of those times in the high desert when you want some cooling in the day and some heat in the night. The filter wasn’t installed correctly and lots of stuff collected in the blower and on the indoor air conditioning coil. I have a perfect example out in my shop where a customer let his maintenance get behind. Their has been some argument about the breakers in a furnace being just a switch, but if that switch has an amp rating on the toggle then it’s a breaker and it can trip.īreakers are an automatic switch that detect heat, excessive current or shorts circuits to a ground. What Would Cause A Furnace To Trip A Breaker? Turns On Fan Motor From Thermostats Fan On/Auto Switch. Turns Elements & Fan On In Sequence Upon A Call For Heat.ĭisconnects Element From Power When Air Flow Is Reduced. Reduces Voltage From 240V to 24V for controls. Protect Wires Feeding Furnace From Main Breaker Panel.
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