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Tazman · Mar 25, 2008, 10:31 AM

I am finishing my basement and have run all of the wiring from the panel to the wall where the thermostat will be and from there I have run the wire to the two locations where the heaters will be mounted. I am going to use a 6ft Fahrenheat and an 8ft Fahrenheat. They are 240v and I will be using the thermostat to control both together. My question is did I make a major mistake by running 10/3? As I have been reading here the last couple of days, it seems everyone is using 12/2. When I first decided to run the wires a couple of months ago, I thought I needed 10/3 since both heaters would be wired together. Please let me know if I can just wire nut the white or if I have to re-run all of the wire. Re-running the wire would not be good since I have already put up the wallboard and taped and spackled.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks!

Tazman

:D :D :D

stanfortyman · Mar 25, 2008, 12:23 PM

The 10/3 will work, but you could have used 12/2. First off, #10 is oversized for what you are doing. Also, there was no need for "3-wire". You are allowed to use the white as a hot conductor for a straight 240v circuit such as you electric heat.

Tazman · Mar 26, 2008, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by stanfortyman

The 10/3 will work, but you could have used 12/2. First off, #10 is oversized for what you are doing. Also, there was no need for "3-wire". You are allowed to use the white as a hot conductor for a straight 240v circuit such as you electric heat.

Thanks for the reply. Am I safe to assume then that I can just terminate the white as I will not need it?

:D :D :D

donf · Mar 26, 2008, 01:36 PM

Taz,

Just curious, what is the amperage required by these heaters? It should stamped on the manufactures tag on each unit.

What white wire you talking about?

Tazman · Mar 26, 2008, 01:48 PM

The amperage is as follows:
8ft heater - 8.3 amps
6ft heater - 6.3 amps

I used 10/3 wire which if I am not mistaken has RED, WHITE, BLACK, and GROUND.

Tazman · Mar 27, 2008, 05:45 AM

Okay. So I am a HUGE idiot! I went down in to the basement last night to look at my wiring and I rememebered that I had done a fair amount of research before wiring the basement. I did in fact use 10/2 wire for the baseboard heaters. I think the reason I had bought the 10/2 originally was because I thought I was going to have more amperage than what I have actually wound up with. Anyway, I have it all taken care of. It has just been a few months since I did the wiring so I had forgotten.
Thanks for the input anyway guys!

Taz