cfz2882
Well-known member
anybody know when the first forced air residential furnaces first appeared ? About 10 years ago,a furnace blower was brought to me to have the motor replaced-motor,an Emerson dated 1936,was said to be the original one and the blower did appear to be very old with nickel plated oilers and hardware(motor did too) that would date it to ~mid 1930s
BTW the start winding in the motor was burnt because of gummy centrifugal switch,otherwize it was in good condition after many decades on the job
I kept the motor and will rewind it if I need a 1936 1/3 HP motor.Blowers seem to have always been belt drive until a few direct drive began to appear in the early 1960s to become the norm by early 1970s.Some brands offered belt drive option as recent as the early 1980s.

