So, we endured a short power outage that other day, but it was long enough to bleed the comfort from the air in the place. Fortunately, the power was restored long before there were any issues, but I was going through my mental checklist to get get the furnace running by backfeeding power from an inverter from my battery pack, realized I didn't know as much about it as I should.
I got wondering whether the thermostats would be on the the furnace's power loop, or if they had their own feed. I realize this may be different for every house, but generally speaking, does anyone know if thermostats are tied into the same electrical feed that powers the air movers in a natgas furnace? You would think a furnace could be run and managed from a single electrical feed...
.
The electron bon bons go from the furnace to the thermostat, the furnace takes 120 volts and steps it down to 24 volts AC to feed the thermostat where your fingers go....almost nothing is fed 120 volts where the silly consumer can put his fingers or tongue on it. Feed the furnace and you have fed the thermostat, trust me....
Give a man a gun, and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world.
Great, thanks. I figured as much, saw a transformer-rectifier stuck to the outside of the furnace, seemed that was likely what it was for.
.