In a multi-family building each tenant has their own panel. The common area is supplied by a "house panel". The landlord wants to install a back-up generator on the "house panel" and supply each tenant with a circuit out of this "house panel" that he can use for their furnace in the event of a power outage. I know 210.25 prohibits supplying the common area out of an individual tenant space but this would be kinda a reverse of that. Does code allow this? Assuming Article 702 compliance.
I don't imagine that there would be code problems. I can think of plenty of (non-residential) places where there are receptacles powered by different systems .... they're usually a different color device and cover plate then the rest.
Even in residential, many places have certain systems ... heat, hot water, fire alarms ... powered independent of anything the tenant controls.
George, The receptacle should be clearly labeled to prevent someone from getting zapped. What happens when the tenant decides to use a suicide cord with two male plugs to enegrize his whole apartment ? Good idea but dangerous.
Why doesn't the owner power up all of the furnaces off of the common panel? That reduces the chance of tenants doing something silly like the plug-plug jumper trick. How much power does each furnace draw? Up the rent by a buck a month to cover the additional electrical cost.
I can't think of any prohibition against this as long as all tenants have access to the circuit breaker that controls the receptacle in question or there is continuoous management personnel available to control that breaker. 240.2(B)
Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.
