240V circuit for thermostat

[Harris150]

Need help please, I am drywalling a bedroom and ran into a 240V thermostat for wall heater. I would like to get rid of wall heater. My plan is to place a 120V outlet where the thermostat sits in the wall. Can I use the existing 12-2 that is already there? And do I need to change out the breakers? Thanks.

 

[Mustang51js]

Yes you can and yes you need to change the breaker to a single pole breaker,take the white wire off the breaker and put it on the neutral bar

 

[wyliesdiesels]

What size breaker? Hopefully 20a. If u put in a duplex 15a receptacle, then the 20a breaker is fine.

 

[Harris150]

Yes the breaker is a 20A. I'm not sure what you call it ( a double pole 20A breaker)?

 

[finn]

Make sure there are no other devices tapped into the circuit.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Make sure there are no other devices tapped into the circuit.

Why? Typically heater circuits are dedicated...

 

[volleyball]

The baseboards are dedicated circuits but there may be more than one thermostat and baseboards on the circuit.
Your other rooms may get cold next winter.

 

[Harris150]

I believe the breaker for the bedroom heater is the only heater on that circuit. There are three other wall heaters in different rooms and I identified them on different breakers. So can I now re-use one of the 20A breakers if I put the white on the neutral bar? And take the second 20A amp breaker out?

 

[volleyball]

Yes. As a bonus you can wire an outlet at the thermostat and then continue and put a box and outlet where the baseboard was.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I believe the breaker for the bedroom heater is the only heater on that circuit. There are three other wall heaters in different rooms and I identified them on different breakers. So can I now re-use one of the 20A breakers if I put the white on the neutral bar? And take the second 20A amp breaker out?

You need to pull that 20amp double pole out of the panel (or mark it unused) and install a 20 amp single pole. Usually less than $4 at Home Depot or Lowes, depending on the panel brand.

The double pole breaker is like two breakers RIVETED together, and the handles connected. No way to separate them, and for a couple of bucks, not worth worrying about it. Save it to run something else like your new shop air compressor or the like someday.

 

[Harris150]

Excellent I will go buy a new 20A breaker and try it out. Thanks for everyone's input I can finally fix it and move on. I will update and tell you how it went.

 

[justsam]

Need help please, I am drywalling a bedroom and ran into a 240V thermostat for wall heater. I would like to get rid of wall heater. My plan is to place a 120V outlet where the thermostat sits in the wall. Can I use the existing 12-2 that is already there? And do I need to change out the breakers? Thanks.

How is this wired? Does power come into the thermostat location, one leg is switched by the thermostat and then to heater and the other leg passed directly to the heater?

Or is the thermostat wired as a switch leg, with power going first to the heater, and one leg wired from there through the thermostat.

The first case makes it pretty easy to install the receptacle at the old thermostat location. The second case will require a junction box or the like at the old heater location.

 

[Harris150]

There is one 12-2 coming to the thermostat, and one 12-2 wire going to the heater.. The black wires are connected to the thermostat, while the whites are tied together and the grounds are tied together. So I am guessing that the 12-2 wire going to the heater was only 120V while the power coming into the thermostat from panel was 220V.

 

[Mustang51js]

No it's still 240 volts. Need to swap out the breaker and either put an outlet where the t-stat was,or splice the wires and put a cover on it, then add an outlet where the heater was

 

[Harris150]

Yes you are right it was 240V still going to heater so now the plan is swap out the breaker, add an 120V outlet where the thermostat was, and the old Romex going to the heater will now be spliced from outlet and routed in the attic to outside for lights.

 

[volleyball]

So you will have the switch for the lights by the baseboard where the heater was?
Might to be best to start fresh with the outdoor power as it needs to be gfci protected. Unless the tstat outlet is gfci

 

[Harris150]

No, there will be no switch, the Romex that went to the heater from the thermostat will now be spliced from new outlet up the wall across the attic to the outside gable where I will put it up for Christmas lights with a Gfci outlet

 

[justsam]

No, there will be no switch, the Romex that went to the heater from the thermostat will now be spliced from new outlet up the wall across the attic to the outside gable where I will put it up for Christmas lights with a Gfci outlet

Sounds like a great repurposing of existing wiring!

You can put the GFCI at the old thermostat location, since it will be feeding the roof outlet. Use the LINE/LOAD terminals on it. That way both outlets will be GFCI protected. Or since you are changing the breaker anyway you could use a GFCI breaker, but that is a little more costly.

On the outside, the latest code is for a Weather Resistant (WR) receptacle with an IN USE cover.

 

[Harris150]

Okay thanks I will look into the WR receptacle. And of course I already bought a square D breaker or I would just put the Gfci breaker in it!