Electric Garage Heaters The Pros And Cons
If youre looking for a way to heat your garage or workshop you might want to consider installing an electric garage heater. Generally speaking, electric heaters cost a bit more to operate than gas fired heaters, but there are some excellent benefits to using electric instead. Here are the pros and cons.
Pros:
2) Easy to install. Electric heaters are fairly easy to install compared to gas heaters because you dont need to run a gas line or flue. In many homes, getting a gas line to the garage is impractical or unaffordable, so electric makes more sense. However, running electrical power is usually not a do-it-yourself project requiring the services of a licensed electrician. Most vented gas-fired heaters require at least a 4 flue to the outside. Many homeowners fear the job of punching a hole in the roof or an outside wall to eliminate those flue gases. Electric heaters produce no combustion gases, just clean quiet heat, so no flue is required.
Cons:
1) Electricity is generally more expensive than gas in most all of North America. If we compare the cost of heating a typical two-car garage, the electric heater can cost as much as 20% more to operate than a vented forced air gas heater and 40% more than a vent-free infrared gas heater.
2) 240 volt power is required. This is the same power requirement as your oven or electric clothes dryer. You need to ensure that there is enough capacity in your homes electrical panel to accommodate an additional 40 or 50 amp breaker. A 7.5 kw electric heater at 240V, 1 phase will draw about 31 amps and will require a 40 amp circuit. A 10.0 kw 240V, 1 phase heater will draw about 42 amps, requiring a 50 amp circuit. Youll want to check the total amp rating of your panel before buying an electric heater.
Were often asked, Cant I just buy a plug-in type electric heater to do the job?
You can buy such a heater, but it wont produce nearly enough heat to do the job. A small 110V plug-in electric heater (like one you would buy at Walmart or Home Depot) can only generate about 1.5 kw (1500 watts). Thats equivalent to about 5,119 BTUs, about 20% of the amount needed to heat a typical two-car garage. At bare minimum, youll need at least a 5.0 kw (17,065 BTU) heater, which requires 240V, 1 phase power. The most popular garage heaters are sized at 7.5 kw (25,598 BTUs) or 10.0 kw (34,130 BTUs).
What about cost of installation?
Thats a great question and the answer is different for every situation. Normally, a gas heater will cost more to install due to the expense of running a gas line, 110V electrical power and a flue. The additional labor of gas line and flue may make the overall installed cost of the gas heater as much as 35% higher than an electric heater. Therefore, it may take considerable time to pay back that cost difference through whatever energy savings a gas heater may generate compared to an electric heater.
Look at it this way; if you think youll be using your heater only occasionally, the ROI (return on investment) of a gas heater generated through energy savings alone may take several years. So, those who only use their heaters occasionally for short stretches of time are excellent candidates for electric heat, whereas those who want to keep their garages warm constantly during the cold months will see much quicker returns with gas.
About the Author:
Scott Workman operates Infra-Red Products Supply, Inc. For more information about electric garage heaters, gas fired garage heaters, infrared garage heaters, workshop heaters and the best way to heat your garage or shop space, please visit =>
http://www.infraredinfo.com and http://www.heatersunlimited.com
Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Electric-Garage-Heaters----The-Pros-And-Cons/1562008
If I have a RV that requires a 50 amp plug, what watt generator would I need to power the RV?
Is a 50 amp transfer switch a good match for a 17,500-watt generator?
I’m looking to buy the Guardian Ultrasource 17,500 watt generator as a back-up generator for my home. It comes with either a 50 or 60 amp transfer switch (see below). My electrician said that a 50 amp switch is not powerful enough to transfer all 17,500 watts from the generator to the house. He said I would need something closer to 100 amps, and that it would cost about $400 or so.
I don’t know much about electricity, but I figure that the manufacturer of a 17,500 watt generator probably wouldn’t include a 50 or 60 amp switch, unless their engineers had determined they were a good match for each other.
One last note: The Guardian PDF spec sheet says a “60A Manual Transfer Switch” is included, but the Guardian website says a “50-amp high power outlet” is included.
http://www.guardiangenerators.com/PublicPDFs/UltraSourceSpec.pdf
http://www.guardiangenerators.com/Products/Ultrasource/Ultrasource.aspx
So who’s right? My electrician, or the folks at Guardian generators?
Will a 4000 watt generator run a 50 amp travel trailer? ?
AC, TV and frig?
Lots of information here, and most of it I agree with. While 17500 watts will require a current of 73 amps at 240 volts, this is in excess of the maximum rating of the highest rated generator outlet which is 50 amps. If you are using this outlet, a 60 amp transfer panel will be adequate for your use.
Ask your electrician about the generator neutral connection and whether the transfer panel switches neutral. In many cases, even from the same manufacturer, the two are not supplied in a compatible configuration and should be modified.
Read more about connection and other safety issues on my web page.
http://members.rennlist.org/warren/generator.html
i have a gas generator with a 50 amp plug marked 120/240 can i run 120 volt equipment on this plug?
run a food concession trailer with gen and it keeps popping the 30amp plug when i have all the equip on. coffee pots ,steam pans, ref,freezer and other stuff
If you were to simply plug your cord into the 50A outlet, there is a potential overload issue to be addressed. Is is unlikely your existing cord is rated for 50 amps. You should have proper overcurrent protection, possibly through a small panel mounted in the trailer with multiple 15A circuits. You could then feed your coffee pots, steam pans, etc from independant circuits. There would be less worry about tripping the 50A breaker, and each device would have proper protection.
Check my generator page for more portable generator ideas.
http://members.rennlist.org/warren/generator.html
any generator with 220 volts and over 5000 watts but you’ll need to make your own adapter to plug it in
what size portable generator do i need for a 50 amp circute on a camper?
I am trying to figure out what size generator i need my camper is 50 amp with 2 air conditioners, mircowave,refrigator
P=IV Power = Amperage x Voltage
Assuming that the 4000 watts rating is the continuous rating then 4000W = I x 120V
So I (amperage) = 4000W/120V = 33 amps. The answer would be no. BUT, the 50 amp really refers to the connection more than anything else. You should be OK, just be careful what you have on at the same time. Again, like the above answer you can kind of go around and add up the wattage of everything, have fun with that….
Most generators are rated in watts. If you have a 50 amp circuit, then 110 volts x 50 amps = 5500 watts. You do not want to run the generator past 80% of its duty cycle, so a 6000 watt gen should be the best.
Hope the formula helps
You can also figure out how many watts a microwave will need. I it takes 10 amps at start up then 10 x 110 = 1100 watts.
Thus a 60 watt light bulb would take 60/110= .54 amps