[gloken40k]

Hi. I live in NH and am finishing my basement. I was wondering if anyone knows if there is a minimum distance that I need to stay away from my oil tank and oil burning furnace when installing receptacles. These are just regular household receptacles on a 20-amp breaker. Thank you for any help.

 

[seharper]

The usual rule within finished spaces is "any point along the wall must be within 6' of a receptacle (presuming the 6' appliance cable is hugging the wall, and does NOT cross thresholds)".

I don't really keep up with modern interior design, but I'm guessing oil tanks are not yet fashionable. So we can assume that the oil tank area is NOT a finished space. My advice would be stay 6' away from it, then.

If you need to slip by it with electrical cable, there's no clear Code on that, but I myself would install metal boxes on each end, and then connect them with EMT metal conduit with liquidtight fittings. That way there's zero chance of the wires taking physical damage, which could be the precursor to a fire, if say the oil tank and wires both took damage.

 

[jreagan]

My last house in NH had an oil tank/boiler. There was an outlet on the wall next to the boiler controls/loop relays/etc. Just romex stapled to the plywood backer. And right next to the talk was another outlet for the septic pump failure alarm. That was also just romex and only feet away from the tank. I never had an issue raised.

 

[Old Thomas]

Fuel oil is combustible, not flammable. That means it’s flash point is over 100 degrees. Put the plugs wherever you want.