This couldn't have been easier. I chose this heater over a gas model because I had a 220 run right by where I wanted to mount it, but no gas lines even near my garage. There was also a junction box right there that supplies power to my shed (a 2 fuse sub panel for lights and a couple of outlets). My garage is a 2 1/2 car measuring about 34' x 28' with insulation in the walls, but the rafters and ceiling are open. My goal was never to get the entire garage up to 70 degrees and keep it there for the winter, but merely to get it above 55 for about a week so I could finish staining and varnishing the trim work and jams for the windows I replaced a couple of months ago.
My first impression when I picked up the 29 lb. box that was smaller than any computer box I've had in recent years was that there is no way this little heater is going to be able to do the job, but I proceeded anyway thinking that for the price I could get a second one. I ran 10-3 from the junction box down to a wall switch and then back up to where I mounted the heater (with the breaker off). It has very straight forward wiring and simple instructions that were very easy to follow. I flipped on the breaker, fired up the heater, and put it on high thinking that this little guy would probably struggle, but I was very surprised that after about a minute it started cranking out some serious heat. I turned it down about half-way and hung a thermometer at the other end of the garage. The outside temp was around 45 and within an hour or so it was 65 in my garage. I ended up turning it down to low and even with the overnight temp getting into the low 30s my garage has maintained 60 to 70 degrees with no problem.
It's been a little over a week since I got the heater and put it in place and my staining has turned out awesome!
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
After reading other reviews of this heater, I chose this as the solution for heating my detached workshop.I had read that the spacing inside was a little tight for wiring the power cord, and this was indeed true. Not a huge deal, but could have been laid out a little better. More frustrating was that the knockout for the 1" access hole was very difficult to remove -much more difficult than in other service panels I've used. One half of it tapped loose pretty easily, but the other half would not even pry out without deforming the side wall of the case a bit A few taps with some body hammers and it was back in shape. That could have been easier, though.
One pleasant surprise I found when reading the included manual is that the unit can easily be configured for any of the following wattages: 3750, 5000, 6250, and 7500. I almost bought the smaller 5000 W unit because I was concerned that my 70 A service to my shop might not be enough to power this heater, air compressor, and other power tools I often use. Now that its installed, it appears to not be a problem, but I wish I had known that it was configurable like this as I would not have hesitated at all buying this bigger unit. If it does trip my main breaker, I can just move a wire jumper or two and lower the heater's power consumption. Brilliant. Of course, it would then put out fewer BTU's, but that's the tradeoff.
In general, I'm impressed with the unit's construction and performance. The fan moves a good amount of air and it fairly quickly raised the temperature of my 864 sq ft shop to a comfortable level. Yes, there are hot and cold spots due to lack of general air circulation, but that could be rectified with small fans in a couple of strategic locations. Using an infrared temperature meter I measured the temp of the floor to be about 47 degrees, objects at mid-height at about 55 degrees, and the ceiling in the middle of the room a toasty 70. That's with the heater thermostat set on one notch above the LO setting (and it's now 25 degrees outside). I'm confident this heater could bring my work space up to 60 or 70 if the thermostat was set higher. I'm anxious to do that test on the next really cold day (has been pretty mild so far this winter). Keep in mind my walls and overhead door are insulated. It would probably not do so well if that wasn't the case. I might consider blowing insulation in the attic space now that I have heat to keep in.
I would definitely recommend this heater to anyone looking for a heating solution for their unheated space.
Best Deals on Ceiling-Mount Industrial Electric Heater - 7500 Watt, 31.3 Amp
I needed to heat an un-insulated 2.5 car garage in the Chicago area, enough to do some wood work over the winter months. I picked this model since it was 50% more powerful than the 5000 watt heater that many reviewed. (I knew from on-line heat calculators that I needed as much heat as I could afford for my set up.)It requires 8/2 wire, with 240v 40 amp circuit. (It actually uses about 32 amps.) I ran 8/3 (since 8/2 wasn't easily available), and installed a 50 amp outlet & cord. (40 amp outlets are not a common size.)
The unit itself is industrial, as advertised. It is smaller than you might expect for 7500 watts. A few suggestions for improvement:
1. Instructions are poorly illustrated.
2. Instructions state that 10 gauge wire can be used for the supply circuit, but 8 gauge is the proper size. (The wiring diagram inside the unit correctly states 8 gauge.)
3. There are two knock-outs for the power supply cable, one on the back, one on the left. Only one of these two is really large enough for a pre-assembled 50 amp supply cord. This will not be a problem if you are instead running 8/2 or 8/3 directly to the unit.
4. The connection terminals in the unit would be much easier to use if not located in the back corner of the unit.
5. Ability to connect remote thermostat would be nice. (Might be possible; if so, not explained in instructions.)
6. Would be nice to have LED indicating that unit is on.
How does it work? Well, I knew that it would be somewhat undersized for my needs, but I have to say I was underwhelmed when I first turned it on--the heat is noticeable only within a very small area directly in front of the unit. The fan is rated at 2x the CFM of the 5000 watt unit, so I expected the airflow to be noticeable more than 10' from the unit.
To illustrate how far undersized 7500 watts is for my needs, I turned the unit on and left the garage door closed and waited to see how long it would take for the garage to heat up. After two hours the snow finally fell off the two cars. 24 hours later the snow that fell off the cars had not yet melted! There wasn't really a huge amount of snow to melt, and the outdoor temperature during this test was not all that cold (about 25 degrees), so even leaving the unit on for extended periods does very little to heat the garage.
Overall, the unit is as advertised but could use some minor improvements. It is not well-suited for un-insulated garages, but that is not a fault of the unit itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment