Should you use 240 watt or 120 watt baseboard heater?

Answer 1

Let do some easy mat.

Load is 2.2 KW. 220 heater uses 10A (220X10 = 2200 W = 2.2 KW) 110 heaters use 22A (10X22 = 2200 W = 2.2 KW). Electricity companies charge per Kilowatt, so, theoretically, you pay the same.

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You pay for the energy you use, and that is measured in kilowatt-hours. So if you have a 2 kW heater it doesn't matter about the voltage - provided the heater is run at its correct voltage as marked on the rear plate. A 2 kW heater uses 2 units (kilowatt-hours) for each hour it is switched on, which costs about £0.30 or $0.30.

Answer 2

NO
wattage is wattage
you pay for wattage X hours

Another opinion

That is not totally true!

While it is true you pay for watt-hours, a 240v baseboard heater can generate a lot more heat then a 120v heater, thus it can heat an area faster and runs for less time to do so.

In a big room on a cold day that 120v will run nonstop while a 240v will cycle on and off.

My parents used to use portable 120v heaters in cold months before they got natural gas heating. I was and still am using 240v baseboard heating for my entire house. My electric bill was about 80.00 per month cheaper the theirs.

Both houses are 2-1/2 story semi attached, my house is about 30 years older and draftier!

The proof is in the pudding!

Yet another opinion

The first answer is correct. Any kind of electrical energy, including heat, is supplied and sold in kilowatt-hours, not in volts or watts. Higher-powered heaters can indeed heat a room up from cold much faster than can lower-powered ones but the average amounts of electrical energy they would each require to maintain a given temperature level in the same room over the same period of time - whether it is a day or week - would be identical.

It is not truly valid to make such a rough comparison between the costs of supplying heat to one house versus another house because, apart from the amounts of insulation (or lack of it!) which they may have, the various rooms in those two houses may be running at different temperature levels at different times of day to suit their different occupants' needs.

Answer 3

A 240 Volts heater requires a dedicated line and needs to stay in the area where it is installed. A 120 Volts heater can be plugged into any 120 Volt receptacle. Typically 240 Volt heaters are more efficient. That means they produce more BTU of heat per Watt of electricity. This may not always be the case so you should read the manufacturer's plate and find the output of each unit before you purchase it. Also a 240 Volt heater can use smaller gauge circuit wiring than a comparable size 120 Volt heater.

Answer 4

The operating cost will be equivalent since you are charged in watt hours. The current for a 240 volt heater will be 1/2 that of the 120 volt heater so smaller wire and breakers can be use by the 240 volt heater.

Answer 5

it will cost less since it consumes less power and puts out less heat

it has adequate power to heat the water and is controlled with a thermostat so will be no different.

the recovery time will be a bit longer

so your 30 min shower will still be a 30 minute shower

but you wont be able to do it again in an hour youll have to wait an hour and 15 minutes.

Answer 6

In larger units the higher the voltage the smaller the sizing of electrical equipment and wiring. So the initial installation costs will be cheaper for materials. Once the air conditioner is up and running the electrical cost of operation will remain the same regardless of what voltage is used. Watts = Amps x Volts. The load of the air conditioner in watts, being the product of amps times volts, will remain constant. As the supply voltage is increased the load amperage decreases. An example of this is, a unit that is rated at 1000 watts at 240 volts will draw 4.16 amps. The same unit at 120 volts will draw 8.3 amps. So to answer the question, no it is not cheaper to run an air conditioner of the same wattage rating, on 240 volts rather than 120 volts.

Answer 7

Definitely not - it would burn out quickly and probably cause the circuit breaker to trip as well.