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    Hotwater's Avatar
    Hotwater Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #1

    Oct 16, 2008, 10:00 AM
    Hot Water Heater Wiring Issue
    I have replaced a hot water heater, and I used a 12/2 wire to provide my 240 volt service to the unit. Is the 12/2 wire safe? Do I need to use 10/2 wire? There appears to be no service problems with the 12/2 wire.
    speedball1's Avatar
    speedball1 Posts: 29,301, Reputation: 1939
    Eternal Plumber
    		  
    #2

    Oct 17, 2008, 04:51 AM
    To supply a water heater use # 10 gage/2 wire and a 30 Amp circuit breaker. A two element heater with 4500 Watt elements will pull 19 Amps when it's heating. Good luck, Tom
    Milo Dolezal's Avatar
    Milo Dolezal Posts: 7,192, Reputation: 523
    Plumbing Expert
    		  
    #3

    Oct 17, 2008, 07:00 AM

    Tom is correct: the #12 wire will overheat and will be tripping breakers on you leaving you w/o hot water. 10/2 is definitely what you should have used.
    massplumber2008's Avatar
    massplumber2008 Posts: 12,832, Reputation: 1212
    Senior Plumbing Expert
    		  
    #4

    Oct 17, 2008, 02:12 PM
    All above is correct... just wanted to be clear that the breaker should be a 30 Amp DOUBLE POLE breaker... ;)

    Just for future readers... ;)
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