Advice for wiring 2 baseboard heaters

[DanM]

Hi All.

I am about to wire in two new electric baseboard heaters in the family room. They are 240v, 6.25amp 1500w each. I can wire them in parallel, per the instruction manual. I am trying to decide if I should run each heater on separate 10amp breakers with 12awg wire or together on a 20amp breaker with 10awg wire. Having two breakers is more work, but adds security if one unit goes bad. The thermostat is wireless, so I dont need to worry about wiring it inline.

Thoughts?

Dan

 

[Jadnashua]

FWIW, a 20A circuit does not need more than 12g wire. Now, if the run length is quite long, you could make it larger gauge, but it's not required. I think I'd just run them in parallel unless you want to be able to turn one off independently. I guess it would somewhat depend on the thermostat used and whether they have an individual shut off. For the current you are describing, even when applying the 80% rule, you're still well within the limits of the two on one circuit UNLESS they instructions differ, then they override the general rule.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[DanM]

FWIW, a 20A circuit does not need more than 12g wire. Now, if the run length is quite long, you could make it larger gauge, but it's not required. I think I'd just run them in parallel unless you want to be able to turn one off independently. I guess it would somewhat depend on the thermostat used and whether they have an individual shut off. For the current you are describing, even when applying the 80% rule, you're still well within the limits of the two on one circuit UNLESS they instructions differ, then they override the general rule.

Thanks for the advice. I checked my numbers on http://wiresizecalculator.net. The room is on the other side of the house, about 60ft away. I calculated for 70ft to be safe and came up with a 10awg wire.

The baseboards I purchased are made by Dimplex and have digital temperature settings for each unit and are compatible with their wireless programmable thermostat. I chose this so I can turn one off when I don't need that much heat.

 

[DanM]

I try to correct my mistakes....

I verified the numbers again before buying a 100ft roll of wire. I forgot to calculate for voltage loss. Yes, at 0 voltage loss, I should use 10awg. 12awg is just fine with a 2% voltage loss with a 70 ft run. The heaters arrive tomorrow and will be set up probably on Friday.

 

[Reach4]

Yes, at 0 voltage loss, I should use 10awg. 12awg is just fine with a 2% voltage loss with a 70 ft run.

If the resistance heating wiring is inside the heated space, the loss is not really a loss anyway. It is heat that adds to the heating task.