Quick electric base board heater question.

I called the maintenance because I had no heat last week (when it was cold this week I have the AC on again! crazy weather).

Apparently the heater was from 1982 the original from when this place was built the element broke at the lead wire weld so UN-fixable (well not with-out high end tech tools) so it was replaced the newer one is the same 5'/60" however the wattage is not the same as the old 38 year old unit (yes it is the right voltage it is dual rated though at 208/240VAC so was the old one) the newer one is actually less watts.

They also changed the wall thermostat because I told them the heater never shut off and was on as long as the knob was not in the "off" detent position and they found a melted wire nut and the temperature cycling contact was stuck closed therefore always on.

The heater works now but why are these newer ones not as powerful as the one before it?

 

When they are dual rated..... 208/240v.... you use the higher wattage which corresponds to 240v.
At one time there were multiple wattages available in the 60" size.
Now I see the typical wattage for a 60" 240v heater is 1250 watts.

 

The higher wattage rating I know about they only stock the dual rated ones because the other building (not the one I am in) have 208V (they also said the dual rated ones are higher quality as they are commercial grade) I also saw some 277V on some of the older lights. The old one was 1,550W @ the 240VAC rating the new one is 1,250W like you said. Why is the wattage lower on the modern one?

 

I tried to find out why. I don't know if it's a code thing or possibly a UL thing.

 

It's for safety. The old, higher powered heaters got much warmer and posed a fire threat and were a constant threat to curtains and were great for melting toys. The older heaters really did require that you not put furniture right in front of them and had to keep the curtains away. But, many people didn't so now the heaters have less power and don't get as warm. Good for safety but you need to go to a longer length to obtain the same wattage and heating ability.

 

Ah I figured it was a mandated safety "feature".

I have not used the new one yet as it got warm again the room it is installed in could have easily fit in a 6'/72" heater but they put in another 5'/60" unit. The apartment has 2 20A double-pole circuit breakers for the baseboards.

One is the living room the other one is the bedroom & bathroom for that one it goes from the panel to thermostat in the bedroom there are 3 cables in that box one in from the panel one out to the heater in the bedroom (the new one) and the other goes out to the thermostat in the bathroom.

The bathroom has a 2'/24" unit that is also the original from 1982.

Yes I 3 of the 4 heaters are still the original ones from 1982 and yes they get really hot on the top & front they also emit a little smoke for 3-5 minutes on the first start of the heating season (only once a year though) I guess that is the dust burning off the unit. Similar to this candle "Dusty Heat Strips"
Yes this is a "fake" photo