What Size Wire Do I Need For A 4500 Watt Water Heater

Most electric heaters will be 4500-watts or higher. Low ability models are non usually a stock particular.

Yous won't necessarily need to increment the wire size if you lot are looking for a temporary gear up. It would likewise exist odd to use a 10,000W chemical element when you lot have plans for the near future. One of the original sizes will suffice for now.

What size wire for a 4500-watt water heater?

1 of the only reasons to pick 3600-watt elements over 2400 watt elements is if your heater has more than than good wires for them. If this is the case, so a thirty amp billow will cause an unsafe condition. The way information technology's geared upwardly now is a 12/ii, 20 amp twin breaker. The Rheem tank I have takes 3500 watts.

You can't crusade a burn down with 10 wires and a 20 amp breaker. The fire hazard happens when you have 12 wires and a 30 amp breaker.

My water heater volition need 65 feet of cable. Are 10 wires enough for a 50 gallon? Rheem seems to be far from the principal breaker box. Find out the answer in the next section!

Can 10/2 wire be used for a h2o heater?

Your breaker size would be 25 when using wire 10/two when upgrading from a 60 gallon to a 40 gallon.

And so a xx amp would be okay for 3000 watts? 10/2 should be expert for all those scenarios.

Remember to sleeve ten/2 cable as it comes from the wall or from an outlet to connect to your water heater. Yous can't have "exposed" not-metallic. This short section of flexible conduit is easy to deal with if you don't use an EMT conduit.

The previous possessor used a 10/2 cablevision with a 30 amp DP billow with the 60-gallon 4500w tank.

Can 12/ii wire be used for a h2o heater?

For your electric h2o heater to work properly, you'll need a xxx-ampere grounded 240-volt connection. 12/2 wire is rated for just 20-amperes; to power the water heater, you lot'll need 12/3 wire.

Even a small 6-gallon, the 1500-watt water heater would crave a 12/2 plus basis wire. 12 judge wire volition be limited to 20 amps, and nigh normal-sized water heaters will await more current than that.

An electric h2o heater is typically 220/240 volt which ways it has 2 hots, 1 neutral, and 1 ground. Both your cerise and blackness are hot leads. With no more knowledge than it appears that you have, I strongly advise that y'all consider hiring a professional.

A twenty-amp water heater requires 12-gauge wire. A 25-amp water heater requires 10-gauge wire.

I recently bought a house, and my inspector showed me a 12 gauge wire connected to a 30 amp breaker. He didn't know that the breaker was designed for xx amp use.

The h2o heater you accept is chosen the Reliance 602. It has a 4500W heating element, which is okay. The wiring at the superlative is besides fine, at 12MV/24AWG.

What's better: 20A or 30A breaker?

And so, is it better to install a 12G wire and a 20A breaker or go back to the 30A breaker??

The National Electrical Lawmaking (NEC) requires fixed heating organization branch circuits sized for 125% of the connected load. This arrangement also applies to domestic electric water heaters. In your case of a 4500-watt heater, the minimum size for the circuit would exist 23.

Y'all need ten gauge wiring for your heater and either a 25 or 30 amp breaker. Your local codes may be flexible hither, but not xxx amp wiring with 12 guess.

Use a twenty Ampere breaker. You lot may take nuisance trips on.

It'll take quite some fourth dimension to fix the 20A. I desire to stick with the safest possible configuration. Remove the 20A breaker and remove the 12 wire! Wire up 10 AWG & connect it with a 30A breaker.

A twenty-ampere circuit billow on a 12 wire will non be a fire take a chance. The max power describe of the water heater is 18.75 amps. I already stated that the installation of WH complied with relevant codes and regulations, including those regarding electricity.

Does 20A work well with 12G wire?

Y'all can have a 20 amp breaker with 12 wires if it's for a water heater that's up to 30 gallons in size. If you're using 4500-watt elements, you'll need to utilise at least 14 gauge wire. Now, exercise you want maximum safety? Is the proposition ever to become with the standard xiv gauge wire?

Neither of these scenarios is ideal, merely replacing the 12G wire is non an option at this moment in fourth dimension. I'll have to tear apart a goodly portion of the house to supersede the wire.

If you lot are non immune to apply 12, you must use 15 amp. This setting is your standard for 16/3 wire.

If you use a larger breaker, the wire might overheat. Allow's say that your WH is drawing more than xx amps, and you want to be safe and install an appropriate billow, but 10 amp will not exist plenty to handle the demand.

20 amp breaker is what I recommend. It trips if there is too much current so that it won't catch burn. You lot'll desire the breaker to trip earlier the wire does!

Does 30A work well with 12 wires?

The inspector found a 12-gauge wire attached to a thirty-amp billow. A common event with this configuration is that the wire may overheat and burn earlier the breaker trips.

Here's the option:

1. Cheque for lamps that will fit your tank and provide 5000-5000K light.

2. We beg you to carelessness attempts with the element and wire. Next, please do the following: change the breaker with a 20 amp and hope for the best after that;

3.) Leave the 4500-watt elements lonely and change BOTH.

I would become with #3!

Typically, a circuit billow should non have a continuous load exceeding 80% of the rating. Information technology means that in a 20-ampere outlet, only 16 amps would be immune. The only correct suggestion to gear up this problem was to supervene upon the water heater elements with 3500-watt units temporarily.

Some residential areas get a 208 volt single-phase network.

Co-ordinate to this, information technology should read 3600 watts while still at 240 volts because that's the measurement of ability usage.

Can the wiring to a water heater be extended via a junction box?

The existing wiring to a proposed new water heater will come up up about 2-3 anxiety short. The way it's currently run, information technology offers zero slacking to work.

Can some junction box exist installed to gain the required length needed?

The wiring runs almost 15 feet from the main panel to the existing h2o heater.