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rewiring upstairs K&T + heater question

1K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  mpoulton 
#1 ·
I am about to embark on the electrical stage of the upstairs remodeling project. THere are three small bedrooms which are not connected to the basement furnace, so I want to install a wall heater in each room, probably about 1000w to 1500w each.

Besides the considerations for amperage and that I may be able to run 2 heaters from one 240v circuit, are there other things I should be thinking about in deciding between 120v and 240v heaters? (like, is one kind safer, longer lasting, quieter, or more efficient than the other?)

All told I will need 6 or 7 circuits upstairs. The path I would like the cables to take is a straight forward and unfinished (on the interior) outside wall. I was planning on punching a few holes through the wall plates and stapling the cables to the sides of the studs. Is that the best way to deliver that many circuits? How many cables per are permitted per stud, and how many cables per hole?

Once I reach the attic, do the cables have to be stapled to the tops of the joists? And is there any thing I need to keep in mind if my new cables run parallel or cross the K&T that is already in the attic?

Thanks for any help. It's much appreciated.
 
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#2 ·
are there other things I should be thinking about in deciding between 120v and 240v heaters? (like, is one kind safer, longer lasting, quieter, or more efficient than the other?)
Neither are inherently longer lasting, quieter, or significantly more efficient. 240V is slightly more efficient, but the real benefit comes from running less wire / skinnier wire (read: cheaper) because amperage is halved. I would do 240V, personally.

I don't know if code requires you to run a neutral to 240V wall heaters, but even if it doesn't I'd go ahead an run one anyway so those cables can be repurposed later in life without taking down drywall.
 
#6 ·
You can run up to 3840W of electric heating on one 20A 240V circuit. So if you use 1000W heaters (or two 1kW and one 1.5kW) then you can get by with only one circuit for all three rooms. That would be convenient.
 
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