Feb 02
I wanna talk to Samson asked:
Will the heater work? Will it damage it? Is it less energy efficient. Help! Thanks.
Will the heater work? Will it damage it? Is it less energy efficient. Help! Thanks.
4 Responses to “Can a 240 Volt baseboard heater be hooked into a 120 Volt line?”
February 7th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Can you hook it up, yes. Should you, NO.
It will draw half the current as what it is rated for at 240V. Actually a little more than that as it will not run as hot, hence have a lower resistance than when operated at full temp on it’s correct voltage.
Very likely it will exceed the current rating of the 110V circuit you are connecting too. Rather than test out your wiring/protection circuits, “breakers” or “fuses” with this experiment, just dont do it.
If your panel will allow, run a new line of proper size and install a double pole breaker of proper size to operate the baseboard.
Unless you are familiar with these systems and proper technique, this is a job for a professional.
February 7th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
no,not really,no,yes … in that order … the heater is designed to work on a voltage of 240 v … if you want to use 120 volts get a heater thats designed for 120 volts
February 8th, 2009 at 9:02 am
yes.
get a 3ft extension cord. cut and splice the wires with the plug retained. open the back of baseboard and connect the spliced wires to the baseboard wiring. the wiring is made such that the thermostat and element in series connected to your spliced wires.
a 4ft baseboard of 1000w 240v. you will get 1/4 of the 1000w or 250w. based on heat loss calculation of 1 w per cuft heating for a bedroom i suggest use 5ft 1200w 240v which will give you 300w power. the baseboard is safe to touch and you can put it up side down.
remember heating energy is watt x time, trial and error, operate the baseboard 16h or 24h. eventually the room will be at steady state of comfort temp of 75F.
February 8th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
It will not heat up, you will pull more amps than what you should be pulling, if it has a fan inside the motor will be damage as it is supposed to run on 240 not 120. Spend the money ands buy a heater for 120 volts.