What's the best type of furnace?

[LazyPup]

Dawg...i just looked real close at the diagram for your mystery plug....that is not an old plug,,it is still used today...

Looks like a standard wall plug but one slot is vertical and one horizontal. I am sure Hazee or Imudec will correctly me if I am wrong, but if memory serves me, if the right slot is horizontal it is a 110v 30A plug and if the left slot is horizontal it is a 220v 10A plug. They are often used for dedicated circuits for window AC units.

The 110v plug sometimes has a T shaped slot on the right side so you can run a 20a or less device on that circuit too. There is also another plug that has both slots on the horizontal plane which i believe is 220v 15a but dont quote me on the ratings

[Dawg]

I've read up on the knob and tube wiring. The only thing is every article I've read no one seems to be sure when it was last used. Some say the 1930's, some say the 1940's and others say the 1950's.

The house I grew up in had sheathed wiring but it didn't have the plastic that you see now. It looked like woven fabric that covered both the wires. I think the individual wires were covered in rubber but I don't remember. It was built in 1948 so I'm guessing knob and tube was gone by then. That and I do believe this house was constructed with electricity as there are outlet boxes in the walls. We didn't have any outlets/boxes mounted on the outside of the wall. Our walls were constructed of plaster/drywall. The exterior walls are contructed from cement block with 2X4's turned on their sides and anchor bolted to the cement block.

I recall my grandmother had an old chicken coop about 30 feet from the house. It had one electric light inside of it and it had knob and tube wiring ran from the house to it. She also had an old pidgeon coop even further back that also had knob and tube wiring. The pigeon coop even had those porcelain light sockets. I'm not talking about the ones that you can buy now that require a juncion box but rather the ones that were flat on the underside....you install these on a board, wall, ceiling, etc. and the wires ran inside.

Here's a pic to the receptacle I was referring to. I have been informed these were used for both 120 volt and 240 volt applications:

[LazyPup]

Dawg,,

Out of curiosity i ran a search for Bryant wiring devices and found an email address for their customer support dept. I sent them an inquiry with the photo attached and i would like to share the reply with all here.....(I might add that i received the reply within 4 hours.)..Hats off to Hubbel wiring devices...

Richard,

Part # 4832 or #9260 depending on wiring terminals (can't tell from the front view picture) I don't know exact manufacturing dates but it wasn't in a 1920 catalog and it disappeared in 1961. It is not a current NEMA configuration. Attached are two pages of the 1958 catalog showing the configuration. The house I grew up in had them in the garage. It was built in 1939.

Hope that helps!

Best regards

Patrick Close
Straight Blade Product Manager
Hubbell Wiring Systems

[Dawg]

Does that attachment have any pics?

Looking at this pic it looks like it says 10 amps, 250 volts. Also if you notice the tandem slots....looks like if you took a 15 amp window air conditioner and cut off the ground prong it would fit this receptacle.

So '61 was the last year eh? Interesting. My grandfather bought a model ranch house around that time and it had those type installed in it.

[LazyPup]

i took your pic and enlarged it,,it sayw Bryant,,,and 125v 15A on upper side....220v 10a on lower side

[saunD]

I dont even know unfortunately I use a wood stove...

[Johnson25]

electric furnace

Although the electric furnace might have not delivered as much as you would have liked, it is still a good route to look. Possibly it could have been an issue with your specific unit as I have an electric furnace and it works great. Also with the price of solar energy panels decreasing, it will soon be an advantage to attach a solar panel and save alot of $$$ on heating.

[Jim-Martin]

The best type of furnace

The best system is one that is properly sized and installed. All manufacturers have efficiency ranges from 13 SEER to 21 SEER. 21 SEER is the Highest or "BEST" in terms of efficiency. Look for a quality contractor that has a proven track record of customer satisfaction. Look for at least 1 10 year warranty and purchase the highest SEER Rating you can afford. If you do those things, then you are insuring your satisfaction on your purchase.