ok friends and sports fans....

[myvalk]

gonna run wires soon for elect. heat in my addition.
i bought two 8' 2000 watt baseboards, and two 6' 1500 watt bb. both 220 v
.
suggestions as to wires. im going to hook them up seperatly. maybe the 6's together and the 8's also, or mix them up.

question : can 3500 watts go on 12 ga. wire, or must i use 10?
thanx
new york by the way.

[bkrahmer]

3500 is right at your limit for 12 ga & a 20A breaker. Depends on how they're rated. Look at the amps. You can generally go to 80% of the breaker, so 16A. That would be 3520 at 220V, or 3840 at 240V. Personally, I would run three circuits, each of the 8' on their own circuit, and the two 6' together on the third; all on 12ga w/ 20A breakers.

[myvalk]

sounds like a plan... thanx

[Sparks]

Waste of money. 3500 watts, 240 volts is 14.5 amps. No problem at all on a 20 amp 240 volt circuit. 3500 watts x 125% is 4375 divided by 240 v is 18 amps . 12 gauge wire, 20 amp breaker, 2 circuits. There will be a lot of other things to spend your money on rather than wasting it on circuits you do not need.

[bkrahmer]

Not the answer I was expecting from sparks. I was expecting to hear 4 circuits, 30A, with 10ga wire... :)

I would go on the side of caution with heaters considering they are probably the majority cause of fires in homes in the US.

[Sparks]

:lol: Well, I guess it's different when there is a definitive plan and we're all just not guessing at eventualities. For the record, I'm generally not into overkill and wasting. Either plan would work in this case. Although I would bet that most fires related to electric heaters are probably either due to poor workmanship, lack of frequent cleaning, or having flammables too close to the heater. If properly wired, installed and maintained, an electric baseboard heater is no more dangerous than a forced air furnace, possibly even less when you consider the silent killer, carbon monoxide. If properly wired, if there is a problem, the circuit breaker will trip and clear the fault, albeit overload, short circuit or ground fault. Just never listen to the advice from employees at the Home Depot :) I was just there yesterday and overheard a conversation between one employee who was training a new guy and he said ' Just wait till it gets busy and you got everybody asking technical questions that you have no idea about, well I just make up whatever sounds good and tell em that, you're gonna have to learn how to do that too'. True story. Was that how it was when you were there?

[roger g]

What sparks said really brought back some memories. When I got out of this trade school I got a job with a company who immediatetly sent me out on a service call. When I got to the call I realized I didn't have a clue as to how I was even going to get into this unit let alone fix it. At trade school all we learned was how to fix it: circuits mechannical etc etc NOT how to get into it because all the panels were already off and lost years before. The owner was beside me and the only thing I could do was to start removing every screw that I could see. Lucky for me his phone rang and when he left I put all the screws back in and told him I had to go back to the shop.
When I first started I found I had to have a huge list of excuses (parts, wiring diagram, new model, unique problem etc) but as time wore on I found I used the excuses less and less untill I didn't use them at all. Now that I am older and look honest AND friendly I can really get away with saying " wow! I have never seen one of these before and I haven't a clue what wrong with it and what planet did you buy this from" They really think I'm joking.
When I came across something I really never had seen before or knew how to operate I would ask the owner " Let me watch you try to start it and I see if you are doing anything wrong".
Gotta have lots of excuses. I've been married for 34 years and I still have to think of better ones.



roger

[Sparks]

:lol: That's funny. I guess all of us who are in the 'FIX IT BIZ' can relate to that story. 'Can you fix it? Of course I can fix it, what the hell is it?'

[myvalk]

thanx again all youse guys for the advice.
by the way... leading cause of house fires in the USA......... home depot employees. ;-)

[Sparks]

:lol: :lol: :lol: But it's true. :cry: