Electric Heater Advice

[saba007]

Hi All

There is a lot of information in this section of the forum that became a bit overwhelming for me to answer all three questions:

1- Any recommended brands for a 5000 watt electric heater? Answered: Sounds like NewAir, Dayton and Fahrenheat are the top 3 from my search.

2- I am early enough in my build to make a decision on the electric panel. The plan - which adheres to code - states that I will have a 100amp panel. I will be using the room above the garage for office, recreation and hooking up currently two wall mounted electric fireplaces (1500 watts each). If I were to add one of the units in Q1, do you'all recommend bumping up to a 150amp panel, or is 100amp OK? I will be adding one 240v outlet on a 30amp circuit upstairs for the heater.

3- My search on GJ showed a few different installs for these 5000w electric units. Is there a best practice as to whether plug into an outlet or hardwire the heater?

Thanks
Saba

 

[pattenp]

I think 100A panel is enough. If the unit you are looking at comes corded then use the heater on an outlet.

 

[Rookie2]

100amp should be fine, hard wire all heaters .

 

[pattenp]

Why?

100amp should be fine, hard wire all heaters .

 

[Gary S]

Both my heaters came with factory installed cords and plugs. I used them as the factory intended.

 

[saba007]

Thanks guys. More research shows that most 240v are recommended to be hard wired. I will stick with 100a for the panel and hardwire a newair g73, which I just picked for a sweet 170.

 

[jbeenthere]

Is your electric rate cheap.

 

[saba007]

Not terribly expensive. With no ACs, I fork out about 120 a month with stay at home wife and myself working from home. Two kids with the tv on for about 6 hours a day. 3 for us and three for them. We cook at home almost everyday and we do one load of laundry a day.

 

[Rookie2]

I repair blow dryers and heaters in a friends dog grooming business. plugs and receptacles fail due to long hours under load and movement of the cord set.

 

[Topdwnz]

Thanks guys. More research shows that most 240v are recommended to be hard wired. I will stick with 100a for the panel and hardwire a newair g73, which I just picked for a sweet 170.

Got to ask, where did you find the NewAir G73 for $170? Also, did you consider any others? The best I've seen is $233 on Amazon.

 

[toofart]

I went with the Farenheat 7500W after much shopping. It's nice and fairly compact, throws out a ton of heat and, most importantly, it's quiet.

 

[rinker1]

I went with the Farenheat 7500W after much shopping. It's nice and fairly compact, throws out a ton of heat and, most importantly, it's quiet.

TooFart, Hows that heater do in cold weather? I have a Dayton 5000 in my 30x32 with 10 foot ceilings and never thought it was big enough.

 

[toofart]

I also have a 4800W heater that I used last year, and it was definitely underpowered for the size of my garage. When I installed the Farenheat 7500 a few weeks ago, I noticed it was considerably more effective than the 4800W unit, which seems to make more noise than heat. Time will tell, but it hasn't been cold enough yet to require heat.

 

[saba007]

Got to ask, where did you find the NewAir G73 for $170? Also, did you consider any others? The best I've seen is $233 on Amazon.

Picked it up on eBay. It was an open box/refurb. Haven't used it in the winter yet but it fired right up. Pretty compact too. Here it is hard wired.