is this too much

clasact

I have a main breaker box then another box in the garege.That one only has a 60 amp main breaker I am thinking this is not enough to run a baseboard heater from its 220 .So before I go spend the money on the heater I thought I would check here first Thanks

jerryh3

What else is fed from that box? What is the rating of the heater?

clasact

the one I was looking at is 1250 watts and 5.2 amps.The box has about a dozen outlets running to it but nothing big like a stove or dryer

jerryh3

What size is the breaker in the main panel that feeds this sub-panel?

clasact

150amp I dont have any more room in that one though

jerryh3

Is the breaker(the one in the main) feeding the sub-panel a 60A?

clasact

yes it is

jerryh3

Most likely you would be ok, but you should do a load calculation of the circuits on that panel and see how close you are going to be.

clasact

thanks I will see what happens

clasact

just to update this I did go and by a 5ft baseboard heater and got it all wired in.It did not trip any breakers but i am thinking it may ahve been a waste of money since it really is not putting out much heat.I dont expect it to heat the whole house but unless you put you hand right to the fins you cant even feel it.Could it be that I just dont have enough power off of that sub panel to make it work properly or is this all you get from one of these????

jerryh3

A five foot electric might heat a small bedroom. What size room did you put it in? Did you get the 1250 watt one?

clasact

yes the 1250 one in a room about 170 sqf.Like I said I didnt expect much but thought it would put out a little more then what I am getting

theatretch85

Just out of curiosity, what size wire did you run to this heater? And is this 120 or 240 volt?

clasact

its 240 I ran two 12-2 wires on 30amp breakers

theatretch85

Whoa, first of all you cannot use 12 gauge wire on a 30 amp breaker! Second, are you running two heaters or just one? Why do you have 2 12-2 cables? If this heater is truly only 240 (no 120 volt fan or controls etc) then you only need one cable. Also, at 1250 watts this could easily be ran on a double pole 15 amp breaker (with your 12-2 wire). 1250 watts @ 240 volts is about 5 amps.

First thing you should do is change out the 30 amp breaker for a 15 amp double pole. Unless you plan on adding more heaters to this circuit, 15 amps should be enough for 2 heaters of the same size.