240V baseboard heater - 12/2 or 10/2 ?

pmoe

Meanwhile, fixture is my foyer is now hung up without a box.

Gigs

You should make sure this guy is really an electrician and not some kind of con artist. I agree with the others that you need to talk to the inspector and stop letting this guy into your house.

pmoe

He works for a local electrical contracting company here who does work on some high brow properties that Duke owns.

Gigs

People have gotten jobs with forged credentials before. I'm not saying that's what happened here... but something is up.

beenthere

If he told you that.

Time to look for another electrician.

beenthere

He may work for an electrical contractor.
But that doesn't make him an electrician, let alone a qualified electrician.

pmoe

I'm finally getting around to completing the jobs that the contractor never did. (Funny, he did take the money.)

Here's what the foyer light wiring looks like:

rgsgww

...Oh my god

Stubbie

The best way to bring these phoney electricians out in the open is to tell them you want permits as micromind eluded to. They can't get the permit because they are not licensed electricians but pass themselves off as such.

AllanJ

>>> a 240 volt heater uses more energy than a 120 volt heater

Using 240 instead of 120 volts allows the same set of wires to carry more energy.

The 12 gauge wires allow 16 amps for heating or other continuous loads. 16 amps at 240 volts is equal to 32 amps at 120 volts. For the latter you need two circuits wired 12 gauge or one circuit wired 8 gauge.

I would expect a 240 volt baseboard heater rated for X watts to give the same amount of heat as a 120 volt baseboard heater rated for X watts, assuming no significant voltage drop in the wiring.

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