I bought an 8' Marley Electric Baseboard Heater to replace the old one in our family room. The new heater has a single black wire plus a copper ground wire. However, the old one was wired with a black and white wire, plus a ground. They're both the same type of heater. Which wire coming out of the wall should I use....the white or the black?
Thanks! Scott
I just realized the old baseboard heater had a control knob right on it so one could turn the heat up or down manually. The new one has no knob and is meant to be used only with with a thermostat, which we do not have in this room. Am I looking at hiring an electrician to do the installation? The heater is 240V.
Scott
Scott wrote:
I'll bet there is another conductor (Blk) at the opposite end. If fed from one end, this conductor has to be looped back to the opposite end.
Marley probably has a thermostat kit to be added to one end.
You may however be in over your head on this one. Don't take a chance.
Jim
Speedy Jim,
Yes, the black lead loops to the other end, so either end could be used for the hot lead. I did check Marley's website and they do have a thermostat kit that can be integrated into the heater case. The wiring diagram seems fairly straighforward, or should I call in a professional, it being 240V?
Thanks! Scott
Scott
Speedy Jim wrote:
Follow the directions and you should be OK. Verify that the replacement heater is actually rated for 240V (you probably already did this).
BTW, if the circuit feeding this is 240V, the Wh wire should be taped (or otherwise) to appear Black. And the breaker should be a 2-pole (common trip) unit. Jim
Speedy Jim,
How do you mean the white wire should be taped to appear black. I assume I need to use it somewhere in the circuit? I believe (but I can't remember for sure) that on the old heater, both the white and black leads were connected.
Yes, the heater is rated for 240V, and the breaker is twice the height of all the other breakers, meaning it's 240V (just like the well pump breaker).
Scott
Speedy Jim wrote:
It's a fine technical point having nothing to do with the heater working or not. Normally, the Wh wire is Neutral in a 2-cond cable. In this case, *both* wires are Hot and Code stipulates that the Wh wire may be used as Hot *if* it is labeled so at both ends.
That's to help prevent accidents where someone assumes the Wh wire to be Neutral when in fact it's Hot. Jim
Speedy Jim,
Are you saying that I should cap the white wire and only use the black wire? I'm not sure what you mean by "neutral".
Thanks! Scott
Speedy Jim wrote:
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No, you need the "Wh". Only paint it Black or tape it with Black tape so that it "appears" to be Blk. That way you will have 2 "Black" wires to connect to the heater. On a 120V circuit (lamp/receptacle), the Wh wire is the Grounded or "Neutral" wire (not to be confused with the bare "Grounding" wire). Your heater circuit doesn't use the "Neutral" wire, so a Wh wire would be inappropriate. But if we paint it Black, then it won't "look" White. HTH Jim
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Speedy Jim,
Okay, NOW I get it! Because it's 240V, both the black and white wires are hot... correct?
Scott
Speedy Jim wrote:
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Yes.
Jim,
Update: I stopped by a local electrical contractor's business and showed an electrician there the wiring diagram for the double-break thermostat/switch that mounts on the end of the baseboard heater. He confirmed the correct way to hook up the leads... L1 and L2 go to the red leads coming out of the thermostat, and the other two leads connect to the heater (the wire loops through the length of the heater). Now I feel very confident about doing this job myself.
Scott
Speedy Jim wrote:
Note that on 240 volt electric heat thermostats, only one line opens and closes according to the temperature setting. The other is always live unless the stat is dialed all the way down to the "click - off" position.
Ok, I hear you. Is that something I should worry about?
Thanks! Scott
HA HA Budys Here wrote:
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