Receptacles above electric baseboard heaters?

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olc

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Quick question - is there a code requirement prohibiting receptacles located above baseboard heaters/ fintube?
 
No.

424.9 has an informational note:

Informational Note: Listed baseboard heaters include instructions
that may not permit their installation below receptacle
outlets.
 
Thanks. You are correct. And the baseboard manufacture does say to not install below receptacles.
Why would they do that if it is OK from the receptacles point of view? Liability?
Is it an instruction or listing requirement?
 
A lamp cord that's plugged into a standard receptacle over a baseboard heater will be "cooked" by the rising heat and degrade over time which could lead to electrical fires.

Liability... you bet that why it says what it says in the listed equipment instructions.
 
From the NEC's perspective if someone could make an electric baseboard heater that can be safely installed below the receptacle then they'll allow it.
 
The way I read it (NEC) is that I could go in after the fact and install a receptacle above an existing heater. And I could plug a cord connection into an existing receptacle above an existing heater. (maybe need to consider the operating temperature of the cord) And we are only talking about electric heaters (except the operating temperature thing)
 
Our house was built in 1977. It had electric baseboard heat. Every baseboard heater in the house had a receptacle above it except in the bathrooms. Of course I didn't have the manufacturers instructions for them so it may not have been a issue.
 
Mouser said:
A lamp cord that's plugged into a standard receptacle over a baseboard heater will be "cooked" by the rising heat and degrade over time which could lead to electrical fires.

Liability... you bet that why it says what it says in the listed equipment instructions.
Click to expand...
I'm having some difficulty with this requirement. The reasoning for this Code section as you stated is so that lamp cords won't get heated, dried out and/or cooked. I can understand that if the BB heat unit was a hot, glowing element. However, in the case of hot water BB heat units or an electric hydronic type BB heat unit I don't see how that could happen.
 
goldstar said:
I'm having some difficulty with this requirement. The reasoning for this Code section as you stated is so that lamp cords won't get heated, dried out and/or cooked. I can understand that if the BB heat unit was a hot, glowing element. However, in the case of hot water BB heat units or an electric hydronic type BB heat unit I don't see how that could happen.
Click to expand...

There is no prohibition for hot water baseboard heat. If the manufacturer of electric hydronic baseboard heaters wants to allow the receptacles they can.
 
infinity said:
There is no prohibition for hot water baseboard heat. If the manufacturer of electric hydronic baseboard heaters wants to allow the receptacles they can.
Click to expand...
Aside from the fact that it is electrically operated, what is the difference? The heating unit is not designed to put out more heat than a hot water baseboard unit.
 
goldstar said:
Aside from the fact that it is electrically operated, what is the difference? The heating unit is not designed to put out more heat than a hot water baseboard unit.
Click to expand...
Heat density is the difference.

Typical electric baseboard heater is 250 watts per linear foot. Should you come up with one that is only 100 watts per foot it may not get hot enough to be a problem for cords plugged into a receptacle above it.

Hydronic baseboards - mostly will depend on boiler output temperature and other conditions for how much heat you get at a particular point in the system. Such systems you very well may find the temp at the beginning of a zone is higher then near the end of the zone. Such systems typically have lower heat density in a baseboard then an electric baseboard has though, and because of this you find a hydronic baseboard often runs nearly entire length of a wall or even wraps around corners in a room, where if you were to put electric baseboard heater in same room wouldn't need to be so long to get same heating capacity - higher heating density.
 
goldstar said:
Aside from the fact that it is electrically operated, what is the difference? The heating unit is not designed to put out more heat than a hot water baseboard unit.
Click to expand...

I would guess that at any point along the electric baseboard the temperature exceeds several hundred degrees. Most hot water systems use a water temperature at the boiler of about 180 degrees which is diminishes as you move away from the boiler. At that temperature it is not high enough to melt a cord.
 
kwired said:
Heat density is the difference.

Typical electric baseboard heater is 250 watts per linear foot. Should you come up with one that is only 100 watts per foot it may not get hot enough to be a problem for cords plugged into a receptacle above it.

Hydronic baseboards - mostly will depend on boiler output temperature and other conditions for how much heat you get at a particular point in the system. Such systems you very well may find the temp at the beginning of a zone is higher then near the end of the zone. Such systems typically have lower heat density in a baseboard then an electric baseboard has though, and because of this you find a hydronic baseboard often runs nearly entire length of a wall or even wraps around corners in a room, where if you were to put electric baseboard heater in same room wouldn't need to be so long to get same heating capacity - higher heating density.
Click to expand...
Ok. I'll buy that.:thumbsup:
 
infinity said:
I would guess that at any point along the electric baseboard the temperature exceeds several hundred degrees. Most hot water systems use a water temperature at the boiler of about 180 degrees which is diminishes as you move away from the boiler. At that temperature it is not high enough to melt a cord.
Click to expand...

Remember too that the temperature imposed on a cord and the plug-receptacle junction does not have to be high enough to "melt the cord" (damage the insulation). It just has to raise the ambient temperature enough that the normal ohmic heating of the assembly pushes the temperature too high.
 
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