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(LIFE SAFETY WARNING! [disclaimer]

Electricity is dangerous!

You can be injured or killed!

Improper installations can cause fire, injury and death!

Should you be doing this yourself?)

Can a 12-2 wire be connected to a 20-amp 240-volt circuit breaker to power a 240-volt heater?

There are limitations.

If there is a 120-volt fan in the heater, it will be necessary to run a 12-3 wire, so that there is a conductor for the 120 load neutral.

With a strictly 240 operation, the maximum wattage that can be served by a 20-amp circuit is 3840 watts. It is allowed to continuously operate a circuit at 80% of it's rated ampacity [4800 watts]. Continuous operation is defined as 4 hours or more continual operation.

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As always, if you are in doubt about what to do, the best advice anyone should give you is to call a licensed electrician to advise what work is needed.

Before you do any work yourself,

on electrical circuits, equipment or appliances,

always use a test meter to ensure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized.

IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB

SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY

REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.

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14y ago
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13y ago

No. The ampacity of a #12 wire is 20 amps. Being connected to a 30 amp breaker means that the wire can be overloaded by 10 amps and still not trip. There are two things that can be done to stay within the electrical code. Number one, change the two pole 30 amp breaker to a two pole 20 amp breaker. The load of the heater is I = W/E, 2000/240 = 8.3 amps. That load can be run on a 14-2 cable from a two pole 15 amp breaker. Remember that the breaker protects the size of the wire that is connected to it. Number two, if you want to use the 30 amp breaker then a #10 wire rated at 30 amps is the smallest wire to connect to that breaker.

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11y ago

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Q: Can you use 12-2 with ground to wire a 2000 watt forced air heater to a 240 volt 30 amp breaker?
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What size breaker and wire for 2000 watt heater?

A 2000 watt heater draws 8.3 amps on a 240 v supply, so the cutout should be set to 10 or 12 amps. &lt;&lt;&gt;&gt; In North America a 2000 watt baseboard heater will be fed with a two pole 15 amp breaker. A two wire cable of #14 copper will be used to connect the supply voltage to the heater.


How can you plug 2000 watts 240v into a 120v 20 amp breaker with out replacing your breaker and all the plugs on the line?

You can't.


How many amps does a 2000 watt heater draw at 240 volts?

Amps * Volts = Watts So, Watts / Volts = Amps 2000 / 240 = 8.333 Amps You should run the circuit on a two pole 15 Amp breaker, using 14 AWG, 2 conductor (plus ground) wire, just so you have a little safety factor in the circuit size.


Can you use 240 volts for a 208 volt heater?

This is not recommended. The heater will operate at more than its given specified wattage. A 208 volt heater run off 220 volts will have an output increase by 11.87 percent. Similarly, a 220 volt heater can be run off of 208 but the wattage will be reduced by 10.61%. The calculations, using Ohms' Law, are shown below.Watts = volts x amps (W = V x I) and I = W / V so, if we take a 2000 watts heater designed to run on 208 volts, I = 2000 / 208 = 9.6 ampsResistance = volts / amps (R = V / I) so the heater's resistance is 208 / 9.6 = 21.632 ohmsAmps = volts / resistance (I = V / R) so, running on 220 volts, I = 220 / 21.632 = 10.17 ampsW = 220 x 10.17 = 2237 watts, which is an increase of 2237/2000 = 11.87%.W = V x I and I = W / V so, if we take a 2000 watts heater designed to run on 220 volts, I = 2000 / 220 = 9.09 ampsR = V / I so the heater's resistance is 220 / 9.09 = 24.2 ohmsI = V / R so, running on 208 volts, I = 208 / 24.2 = 8.595 ampsW = 208 x 8.595 = 1787.76 watts, which is a decrease of ( 2000-1787.76 ) / 2000 = 10.61%.


How many watts in 2000VA?

Up to 2000 watts. 2000 VA means the voltage times the current equals 2000, which must be multiplied by the power factor to find the power. The power factor depends on which type of load is being used. A heater has a power factor of 1, a motor around 0.8.

Related questions

What size breaker and wire for 2000 watt heater?

A 2000 watt heater draws 8.3 amps on a 240 v supply, so the cutout should be set to 10 or 12 amps. &lt;&lt;&gt;&gt; In North America a 2000 watt baseboard heater will be fed with a two pole 15 amp breaker. A two wire cable of #14 copper will be used to connect the supply voltage to the heater.


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In order to probably repair the heater core in your 2000 New Beetle, you will probably have to get the entire heater core replaced.


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How can you plug 2000 watts 240v into a 120v 20 amp breaker with out replacing your breaker and all the plugs on the line?

You can't.


Can you run a 2 kw convector heater through a 25 amp trip switch at 240 volts?

Yes, the total amperage load of a 2000 watt heater at 240 volts is 8.3 amps. Keep in mind that the wire feeding the heater must be a #10 because the breaker is rated at 25 amps. A wire's ampacity rating can be larger that the breaker amperage rating but never smaller. Example, a #14 rated at 15 amps or a #12 rated at 20 amps can not be connected to a 25 amp breaker. The 25 amp breaker does not trip until it reaches 25 amps well over the allowable amperage of the #14 amd #12 wire. This is why a #10 wire must be used as its rating is 30 amps.