baseboard wiring

[Shep]

I have 14/2 wire run for a baseboard heater. Will this work or do I need to run 12/2 for it to work. Haven't tried it yet. The baseboard is 240V/1000
Thanks

[GaryM]

What's the watts rating of the heater? In your posting where you say 240/1000, does that mean it's a 1000 watt heater?

A 14 gage wire is rated for 15A. At 240 V that would be 3600 watts. A 12 gage is rated for 20A, which would be 4800 watts.

[Inspector507]

A 15A breaker is only going to be good for 12 Amps for a continuous load. A 1000W load at 240V is about 5 Amps. You're OK.

[GaryM]

Thanks for the correction Inspector. I didn't know that there was a different rating for continuous loads. Now that I have a litte knowledge, what types of things would be considered continuous loads? Heaters, based on your comments, but what else? How about residential ranges and ovens?

[Shep]

thanks for the replies guys. I hadn't thought about it until my father-in-law asked about it the other day. glad it will work, would have been a bummer to have to re-pull wires since the drywall was just put on this weekend.

[Inspector507]

Gary,
A continuous load is anything that may run for 3 hours or more at a time. The breaker should not be loaded more than 80% for those types of loads.