Would you prefer 15a or 20a ocpd

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mark32

mark32

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Currently in NJ
This is so dumb I almost don't want to ask it but I'm just curious as to what you guys would choose. I maybe wiring an 8' electric baseboard heater. After figuring in the continuous load increase it will draw roughly 10.5 amps. I'll pull #12 to it and protect it with a 20a breaker but would it be better to use a 15 instead? What would be a better choice?
 
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#14 is 2.53 ohms per 1000 ft at 20 deg C. Power dissipation in 1000 ft would be about 300 W. If the baseboard heater is 50 ft from the breaker panel, then about 30 W is dissipated over that 50 ft or 0.6 W per foot. Adds a little heat to the building spread over the path to the baseboard unit, and may not be wasted heat.

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mark32 said:
This is so dumb I almost don't want to ask it but I'm just curious as to what you guys would choose. I maybe wiring an 8' electric baseboard heater. After figuring in the continuous load increase it will draw roughly 10.5 amps. I'll pull #12 to it and protect it with a 20a breaker but would it be better to use a 15 instead? What would be a better choice?
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Better is a very subjective thing.

It will cost slightly more so in that respect it is anti-better.

Some might think that allowing more room for potential future loads makes 20A "better".

The heater is not going to care.
 
mark32 said:
This is so dumb I almost don't want to ask it but I'm just curious as to what you guys would choose. I maybe wiring an 8' electric baseboard heater. After figuring in the continuous load increase it will draw roughly 10.5 amps. I'll pull #12 to it and protect it with a 20a breaker but would it be better to use a 15 instead? What would be a better choice?
Click to expand...

Mark, it doesn't matter. The only reason I pull #12 is so that if we need to add to the circuit we have a little more play. If that is the only unit then #14 is fine.
 
Just because the wire is #12 it doesn't mean you HAVE TO use a 20A breaker. A 15A breaker would technically provide closer protection for the heater, but in reality a baseboard heater will only draw more current if there is some serious problem, so most likely any breaker would trip on Short Circuit rather than thermal anyway. In short, dealer's choice.
 
iwire said:
As an EC there will never be a ROI to provide 12 AWG when 14 AWG is suffecent for this application.
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True true, using 14 didn't cross my mind as I have some 12 I'd like to use up but great point.

I guess my question boiled down to protecting equipment properly. On a dedicated line installing a 15a breaker on something that draws 10 sounds better to me than using a 20 but in some cases, such as this heater, it probably doesn't matter much.
 
It's really no different than a fully-loaded 20a circuit on which only one small heater is turned on.
 
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