I would like to connect a sauna heater in my garage. It is a 240v 23amp heater. This picture is my box. Will it work?
- posted
7 years ago
I would like to connect a sauna heater in my garage. It is a 240v 23amp heater. This picture is my box. Will it work?
Short answer No You have 15a fuses (plug breakers) in there indicating 14ga wire. You need 10 ga wire and 30a fuses. The disconnect will handle it, just not the wire.
Correct. I'd put in an appropriate breaker box, those circuit breakers that screw into a fuse slot are prone to failure.
You would need at least a 30 amp feed to that existing fuse box. I cannot tell what size wire is there from your photos, but something doesn't seem r ight. You may only have 120 volts there and no ground. I suggest that you have an electrician in to give you an estimate of what it would cost to co nnect a sauna.
John Grabowski http;//
NO it looks like you only have 110 volts split to both fuse holders.
replying to John G, charliesal7 wrote: It is a 10 guage wire. If i connected the wire to a 240v switch in the house could i replace the box on the garage without having to put in a thicker wire?
Why do people like to make themselves too hot, but not too cold?
replying to John G, charliesal7 wrote: It is a 10 guage wire. If i connected the wire to a 240v switch in the house could i replace the box on the garage without having to put in a thicker wire?
replying to charliesal7, CHARLES SALAMONE wrote: It is a 10 guage wire going from my house to the garage fuse box. If i connected the wire to a 240v switch in the house could i replace the box in the garage with one suitable for that sauna without having to put in a thicker wire?
This is the right answer
replying to philo, CHARLES SALAMONE wrote: do you know if the current 10 gauge wire that runs from my house will be sufficient? the garage is about 50 feet away
Possibly. You will need four conductors unless the sauna does not require a neutral. The other end will need to be connected to a two pole 30 amp ci rcuit breaker. You will need a grounding conductor. You will also need to follow the manufacturer's installation instructions in addition to the Nat ional Electrical Code and local codes.
I am assuming that the existing circuits in that fuse box are no longer in use.
John Grabowski
Not to mention the sauna installation WILL require a GFI breaker (at least according to Ontario code)
If the wire coming in is really 10 ga (it really does not look like it) and you do not need a neutral in the sauna, it could work. As was posted above, it is better to put in a breaker style disconnect. Reidentify the white wire to red on both ends, connect them to the line side of the breaker, connect the wires to a 2 pole breaker in the main panel. You will have 240v but no 120v loads can be served.
replying to gfretwell, CHARLES SALAMONE wrote: I am sorry, but what do you mean by "no 120v loads can be served?" When I replace the garage fuse box with a breaker box I would like to have one 240v switch for the sauna heater and two 120v switches for lights and outlets. And the new breaker box will be connected to the 240v switch in the house through the current 10 ga wire. Will that work?
It looks like your "box" is only supplied by 2 wires ( line and neutral ) but I don't see a ground.
Installing a sauna heater without a ground would be against code and really quite dangerous.
I think there is a ground in the picture. It is hard to see.
As there seems to be just the line and neutral, isn't having 2 of the 15 amp fuses (they look like the breaker type) going to be too much if the wires are # 12 or maybe # 14 ?
You don't have enough wires. With the 2 wire plus ground UF you have, you can only serve one circuit, 120 or 240. If you want both you need
3 wire +g..+1
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