how do I install a 240v outlet in garage, for a 240v portable heater

 

Is it an attached or detached garage? Basically you run power to the garage either individual wires in conduit or cable from a breaker sized to the amp requirements for your heater. How that is done though depends on if the garage is attached to the house.

 

Post lots of pictures:
The panel you want to take power from, with the cover off,
The wall where you want the 240V receptacle to go, and
The places in between where you want to run cable or conduit.

We need the watts or amps of the heater or model and mfg.

 

Is there already power in the garage?

 

there is power in garage, it is detached, The heater is a Dimplex DGWH series 4,000 watts, 16.7 amps, 240v. Is there a better choice as I am opened to sugguestions!

 

I am familiar with those heaters. They require a double pole 20A breaker and a 6-20 receptacle. Post pictures so we can tell you exactly how to wire everything.

 

It's a heater and it could easily run continually. I'd recommend #10 wire and either a 25 or 30 amp breaker.

 

If it is a single circuit 120 volt supply you will need to abandon it and install a subpanel in the garage.

 

thanks guys for your input, sounds like I need an electrician, as not sure exactly what you mean by double pole. Not much of a electrician.

 

A double pole or 2 pole breaker picks up power from both legs (240 volt) of the garage panel. A single pole or 1 pole breaker would be used for a 120 volt circuit.

 

Joe wrote: But nothing posted so far indicates he has a panel in his garage. Badgerbay do you have a subpanel in your garage?

 

True, ray. I just made that assumption because the OP never answered your question. I figured if he didn't have a garage panel, he would now say so.

 

Justin is right that the website calls for a 6-20 receptacle, but I don't think that can be right if the heater is a full 4,000 watts which leads me to believe that for marketing purposes, the manufacturer has rounded the wattage UP to 4,000 watts. It is U.L. Listed.

 

sorry I am having computer problems, getting back to you is difficult. I have a panel in house that has two 20 amp breakers that run to garage. Is that mean 240v system? If so where do I go from here?

 

Possibly but not necessarily. Do you have two independent 120V 20A single-pole breakers or two vertically adjacent 120V 20A single-pole breakers with their handles tied together or one 2-pole 240V 20A breaker? Pictures should help us help you. See How To Include Pictures.

 

These two questions you have so far ignored must be answered before we can help you.

• Is this a detached garage?
• If detached does it have a breaker panel in it?

 

If the 20 amp two pole feeds the garage it looks like it is going to need an upgrade to run the heater.

 

sending pictures if I can figure out how

 

See How To Include Pictures.

 

I got computer fixed but I can not figure out how to add pictures. I tried the step by step how to install pictures but I am no computer wizard and I couldn't figure it out, any way what I have is one two pole 240v 20 amp, handles separate, hope this will help you help me. thank you.

 

.....................................................................

 

If you are showing us the bottom left breaker, that is a tandem, not a two pole breaker. That is two 120 circuits and the neutral cannot be shared.

 

You could put a 2 pole 20 amp breaker in the two spaces below the tandem breaker and then sare a neutral conductor, but that still isn't enough to run the heater you want along with other lights and receptacles.

IF THIS IS A DETACHED GARAGE, you can only have one circuit to the garage, but for all we know, the garage may be attached.

Again, one more time, please answer ray's questions. <----- Ray

 

this is a detached garage and there is no panel in garage. the panel runs from inside of house

 

You are going to need to remove any circuit that currently feeds into the garage and install a new feeder and a subpanel in the garage.

 

First off the two twenty amp circuits to the garage was never code compliant. Only one circuit is permitted. You can remove that breaker and usinfg that space and the one below install a 2-pole, 240 volt breaker for your garage subpanel.

Assuming a distance of one hundred feet or less and no unusual loads in the garage a 40 amp feed from a forty amp breaker should be adequate. You can either run four individual THWN #8 wires in conduit buried 18" or use 8-3 UF-b direct burial cable with conduit only where it enters and leaves the ground. Direct burial cable will need to be buried 24" minimum.

I would suggest a 100* amp main breaker panel at the garage. Kits including breakers are relatively cheap and the included main breaker will act as a disconnect only. You will need to buy and install a ground bar and drive at least one ground rod at the garage.

In the garage subpanel you will install two 120 volt breakers for the existing 120 volt circuits in the garage and a 20 amp 240 volt breaker for the heater.

*A 60 amp four or six circuit main lug panel would be adequate but the 100 amp panel when combined with a feed in conduit provides for future proofing.

 

thank you for all advice and knowledge. Sounds like I need an electrician and a lot of money.

 

Is there some particular reason you don't want to do this yourself?

 

I am a little scared of electricity, and I know very little about what Ray was saying on the how to part. Electricity is like a foreign language to me. If I had a step by step diagram on how to. And my next problem is most of the space between house and garage is cement, the old line is ran overhead. If there were any more practical solutions anyone has love to here it. Thanks

 

Not a problem. That is actually easier then underground. If you post pictures of the current overhead lines We can go from there. http://www.doityourself.com/forum/li...-pictures.html

We can break it down into individual steps. I just gave you the Reader"s Digest version in my post. And yes we can do diagrams.

 

still trying to add pictures

 

You did it earlier. What problem are you having?

If you just can't then upload your picture to a free site, either Photobucket or Imageshack.com. Then post the URL for your picture here.

 

sorry ray I don't know how I did it before I just kept trying until it worked, but I don't have a clue. And I know you have to think I am stupid But I don't know what a url is or how to use a computer.

 

Look at the top of the page in your browser. See where it says: http://www.doityourself.com/forum/electrical-ac-dc/509521-install-240-ac-line-garage-heater.html? That is the URL for this page.

A url for an image will look like this: http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk116/ray2047/Exaust_Fan_zps27375bcf.jpg.

The url for Amazon is: http://www.amazon.com/. Now do you recognize what a URL is?

 

Ray I don't know what is going on, as soon as I drag my pic into URL the pic takes up the screen. If I could just explain my wires. Two wires run out of end of house thru vent, they go over to roof of garage and then inside.

 

I don't have a clue what you mean. It has to be uploaded to a server by selecting it. When it is up loaded it will be assigned a URL. Please post a request for help with pictures in: General Chats and Discussions - DoItYourself.com Community Forums

What is the distance from the vent to the garage? Where is your breaker box in relation to the vent where the wires exit?

You wrote two 20 amp breakers to the garage but two wires means only one breaker. Can you clarify? Does only one of the breakers in that tandem breaker shut off the garage?

 

Unfortunately, we're going to need pictures or a more retailed description. Electrical wiring isn't run through vents, or shouldn't be. In addition, there are specific requirements for the way in which overhead feeders are mounted to structures and how they enter structures. Whether your installation meets those requirements can really only be assessed with a set of specifications, essentially, of photos of each point in the installation plus some description.

 

just forget it and thanks for trying.

 

C:\Users\John\Pictures\2013-11-12\083.JPG

 

You can't post pictures on your computer. They have to be uploaded to a server such as Photobucket or Image Shack or a Server here.

Pictures can be worth a thousand words but just how do you add those pictures? You have two choices. You can upload to the forums or you can upload to an image hosting site.

Either way you start by clicking on the upload image icon in the toolbar at the top of the compose box of the Advanced Composer. Quick compose no longer has this feature.


This brings up the insert dialog. By default the insert dialog is set to the choice for uploading from your computer. You would click select file at the bottom to select a file from your computer.

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Then you would choose the file from your computer and left click the file.



Then back at the compose screen click Upload Files:



You can use a picture on the web by choosing the URL button and that brings up a box for a URL on the Web. URL must end in a image file format such as PNG, JPG, JPEG, or GIF.

Then put the URL in the box and click OK.


Two good sites for image hosting are Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket and ImageShack®. However some sites are blocked. Tinypic is one you can't use. Flikr does not allow direct linking to an image so the Insert Image function of this forum can't be used. You can put in an HTML link that readers can click on. The BB code they provide may work in this forum. I haven't tested it.

Once you have uploaded your picture to a photo sharing site you can alternately just include the URL in your post and skip the above instructions.The forum software will make it an active link automatically.