Very basic electrical question

[hot cheetos]

If my panel is a 240v panel but my outlets throughout are all 120v...


...does this mean that a 20amp breaker is 240x20=4800 or is it 120x20=2400?

 

[Phaeton]

Is there 120 volts going through the breaker or 240 volts?
Most residential electricity is two hot lines at 120 volts each. Usually the breakers are ground to hot at 120 volts. Any other setup would be rare, but no telling what some DIY person might have hobbed up if it is not to code.
If you cannot tell then perhaps someone in the know should be involved.

 

[queequeg152]

If my panel is a 240v panel but my outlets throughout are all 120v...


...does this mean that a 20amp breaker is 240x20=4800 or is it 120x20=2400?

u certainly need a baseline education on household wiring before you do anything. it should not take long, its easy to understand, id start on youtube then maby get some books on amazon.

i own a few of these DIY books... there is no shame in owning them.

literally ever single time i have to do a 3 way switch i have to refer to that book to make sure.

but yea u draw the same amps but you can do more work owing to higher potential at 240v.

each leg of your service connection is 120v but they are phased such that when you connect a load across the two legs u get 240v or close to that.

20 amps can effectivly do twice the work at 240v(4800 watts)... think of volts as water pressure and amps as a flow rate.]

to answer your question yes, a 20 amp 240v breaker is 4800 watts.... but no you cannot simply change a breaker to up the voltage. you would need to run new cable with 3 conductors instead of the two conductors u get in a 120v cable.

120= 1 line,1 neutral, 1 ground, (12-2 cable)

240v = 2 line, 1 neutral, 1 ground(12-3).

service cable and sub panel feeds etc might only have 2 conductors and 1 neutral. this is because you are expected to provide your own ground path via a rod hammered into the earth. u connect that rod to your panels ground bar via like a 6 gauge fat copper wire.



i think modern codes require the

 

[Drop That Sound]

Probably in the box the 240 wire splits to 2 bus terminals which are 120 each. Single pole breakers only snap into one of the bars thus the circuit would be 120 running to the outlets. Some breakers are double pole which means they connect to both the bus bars at the same time so you have 240 volts running through the circuit.

 

[Nomad28743]

Not meaning to hijack your thread but can I use a baseboard heater thermostat to run a tiny but 1500w electrical heater in my tent that is in an unheated room of my house? The unit does not turn off and on at the temps I need.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[queequeg152]

yes.

or at least.. most likely yes.

all electrical baseboard thermostats ive ever seen are line voltage rated.

make sure you get a battery powered thermostat though, else you will need an additional 24vac transformer to run the thermostat itself.

 

[Nomad28743]

This model from Lowes is what I was talking about: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Honeywell-Mechanical-Non-Programmable-Thermostat/1000042891
The tech data says it will work with 120 or 240V so I was gonna run the heater cord into a J box and splice in the two leads from the thermostat with wire nuts and dial in my temp for the heater to come on.
Am I dreaming?

 

[queequeg152]

that looks like a mechanical type thermostat... id get one of those digital ones with a back light.

mechanical means 0 batteries though... so its up to you.

yes what you are saying will work. you need to use tool cord though, not romex. and you need to wire the heater itself to be always on, and not defer to its own thermostat.

romex is not meant for use outside walls etc, its not flexible enough and will eventually fatigue.

if you have an old extension cord, just cut up that and use it, just make sure its atleast 14 gauge.

you will also need some proper strain reliefs... i think they sell them at home depot next to the water tight conduit things.

 

[Drop That Sound]

Nomad28743: That sound like alot of work why not just get this https://www.amazon.com/WILLHI-WH1436A-110V-Temperature-Controller/dp/B00V4TJR00/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480707318&sr=8-1&keywords=willhi+digital+temperature+controller for a few bucks more, i got the old version and they work awesome, all pre wired for you. Tons of functions and perfect for a tent.

 

[Drop That Sound]

^ eh just realised that's only 10 amps, heres a 15 amp that is pre wired with heating and cooling though https://www.amazon.com/bayite-Temperature-Controller-Thermostat-Pre-wired/dp/B01KMA6EAM/ref=pd_day0_60_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01KMA6EAM&pd_rd_r=WX5P3XNXM7DK4RXGNQH1&pd_rd_w=yxmcp&pd_rd_wg=nOayW&psc=1&refRID=WX5P3XNXM7DK4RXGNQH1 almost twice the price but still a good deal!

 

[Nomad28743]

DTS and QQ thanks for the input. I looked and that unit will only go up to 880 watts and the lil heater is almost double that. I bought the Honeywell RLV3120A @ Lowes for $25+tax. QQ it is digital but not programable. Fussing with it right now and will report in tomorrow with results.

 

[Drop That Sound]

Ya NP, I noticed and then posted the 15 amp, 1650 watt version too. Are you gonna attach the honeywell directly to the heater? Should look and work good, I like that the BL display is green on some of those those, the ones I listed are bright red so I don't mount them in the room. I might just wanna to do the same thing to my 1500 radiant actually. I got mine plugged into a photocell timer for when the lights kick on, thats all the programming i need right now, and for sure digital is better than the stock thermostat dials. Good luck man

 

[Nomad28743]

Rats!
Hooked up two different lil heaters, screwed around with the thermostat setting lots and the heater will turn on for a few seconds and then turn off or run constantly. So I'm back to screwing around with a timer.
Guess I have to shell out a coupla $100's for some control of some kind.

 

[Nomad28743]

Ordered this one from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KMA6EAM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
About $60 w/tax and some shipping.

 

[Nomad28743]

Well it got here yesterday and I programmed it in short order thanks to this Youtube clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3WOdxtD128 He has an ice pack to cool the sensor and just fingers it to make it warm up. That's kinda hard to see in the video. I hooked up a light and a fan just like in the video and it made it easier for my pea brain to set up.
THIS UNIT ROCKS!

Now it is a Chinese product and may only last a while so I painted on the buy date to see how long it lasts. But right now it is preforming perfectly. Also has a feature that if the electricity goes off the program is maintained. No batteries needed to power the unit either.
I will report in when it fails.

Later all

 

[Nomad28743]

PS. Additional feature I forgot to mention.
It even has an alarm that goes off when the upper or lower temperatures are not maintained. That feature will alert me for faulty fan or heater failure which buys additional peace of mind.

 

[Nomad28743]

Status Report:
Well the temperature sensor gave me fits. When setting up and testing the unit out of the room it appeared to function flawlessly and very accurately. However when the sensor was hung at canopy level in the tent it read about 15 degrees too high. After some internet searching one reason might be light hitting the sensor made it read hotter than the atmosphere it was supposed to be reading. So I moved the sensor around to many different positions. Then finally gave up and adjusted the temp settings to match the read out. Fiddled with it twice more and now it is working extremely well. Keeps the tent both day and night in a tight temperature range.
Looked at Amazon and found another unit: https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Itc-...4&sr=8-3&keywords=inkbird+digital+temperature
This one is a lil cheaper and has a longer power cord allowing me to mount the control outside the tent for reading without undoing the zipper. Gonna order this one and use in additional flowering tent.
I'll report in when that arrives and is set up and working.

 

[Drop That Sound]

Probably would help to insert the sensor into something with a little more mass, like a sealed cup of water maybe. Are you sure it's really off, what are you using as a reference? Either way it's working good and that's what matters!

About the Inkbird unit you listed ^, I went cheap and got the apollo heat mat thermostat (and heat matt combo) and sometimes it randomly just quits heating, and I have to crank it up an extra 20-30 degrees to get the temp I need. Pretty much worthless to me as I have to baby sit it. I'm guessing its like a rebranded inkbird unit that didn't pass quality testing or something, they all look exactly the same just different stickers on the front?

I trust Inkbird though and recommend there STC-1000's all day long, just wire it up with 2 halves of an extension cord and good to go for less than $20. Heats AND cools as well, only 10 amps still but you could always limit the heater to medium setting if possible. I'm about to order like 4 more STC-1000's, I use them for everything and in every room now. I like the way they flush mount into a wall, box, or panel. For more portable devices and in tents I like the pre wired willhi controller I mentioned at first..

 

[Nomad28743]

DTS,
Good call to question the temp gauges I am using. I have 2 Acurite that have the remote sensor and a small cheap hanging one from lowes. All three pretty much agree within a degree on the 2 Acurite ones. I now have the sensor hanging just above light hood in the middle of the tent and the temp is reading like 86 and the sensors are reading 77. So I just set the on off on the unit for on at 83 and off at 86 and it is working great and the Acurite records the high and low which has been 70 and 77 for last few days which is just what I want.
I realize going cheap is riskier than buy once cry once method but I chose to roll the dice on this deal.
What has me wondering though is when I was setting it up in the living room I had the 2 Acurite base units in front of me and the sensor held in my palm for heat and on an ice pack for setting the low temp limit and the unit was reading the room temp exactly the same as the Acurites were. Placed it in the tent and it went wacky. Reading 10+ degrees higher than the remote sensors. Even when no direct light was on the sensor. So I made a lil cardboard "lamp shade" to fit over the sensor to block any light and it still reads high.
So as you say if it works that's what matters.
Thanks for the interest and reply.

 

[Drop That Sound]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]What has me wondering though is when I was setting it up in the living room I had the 2 Acurite base units in front of me and the sensor held in my palm for heat and on an ice pack for setting the low temp limit and the unit was reading the room temp exactly the same as the Acurites were. Placed it in the tent and it went wacky. Reading 10+ degrees higher than the remote sensors. Even when no direct light was on the sensor. So I made a lil cardboard "lamp shade" to fit over the sensor to block any light and it still reads high.[/FONT]

I would guess that you are using a digital ballast and the RF interference is messing with the units, could try shielding them somehow? Perhaps a filter before and after the ballast..