Electric Heater Wire Size

Some large heaters draw up to 50 amps requiring 6 gauge wire.

Electric heater wire size.

How to choose the right wattage size for an electric baseboard heater. Wire gauge refers the physical size of the wire rated with a numerical designation that runs opposite to the diameter of the conductors in other words the smaller the wire gauge number the larger the wire diameter. A common rule of thumb is to provide 10 watts of heat for every square foot of space in the room though this may vary somewhat depending on the configuration of. Dividing by 250 the normal wattage per linear foot equals 6 84 feet of baseboard heater required.

In other words a 10 x 10 room 100 square feet will require 1000 watts of electric baseboard heating. Choosing a heater size. Wire a hot water heater with wire that s sized to accommodate the heater s current requirement. Rounding up this means that 7 feet or 84 inches of heater is needed.

Common sizes include 14 12 10 8 6 and 2 gauge wire. Wire is sized by the american wire gauge awg system. For example a 20 amp hot water heater needs 12 gauge wire a 25 amp hot water heater requires 10 gauge wire and a 30 to 40 amp hot water heater requires 8 gauge wire. Standard heaters are not available in this length so in this case a single 8 foot or two 4 foot heaters would be the likely choice.

As a rule of thumb assume a room requires 10 watts of electric heating per square foot of room. When placing multiple heaters on a circuit do not exceed the wattage listed for the corresponding wire and circuit breaker size. Baseboard heaters come in many sizes to match the heating needs of the room.