Went in to buy an electric heater for the cottage, it gets pretty cold up
here and it would only be on to maintain a semblance of heat during those
frigid nights.
Was looking at 110 volt heaters , 1000 to 1500watt. asked for some help.
Home Depot associate informed me to go with a 240 volt heater as it is more
efficient!

Am trying to figure out how this could be? 1500 watts is 1500 watts. one way
or the other, it's the same power consumption, isn't it?

He went on and on, but I was blocked on the numbers. Does anyone know about
this and if there is different logic to it?

Thanks,

GINO

Volts x Amps = Watts

so a 240V /1500watt heater will draw about 7 amps (rounding upwards)
instead of 14 amps drawn by the 110v version. That's the only
advantage I can think of. The disadvantage is that the 240V heater
will require that a special outlet be installed and wired to the
electrical panel.
I don't know that efficiency has anything to do with it, though I'm far
from an expert at this.

Stuttering fits, eh? :')

Resistive losses are as square of current.

Running high current continuously through std 15a. plug is a fire
hazard.

For any sort of heater, you really want connections hard-wired. (Screw
terminal or such) IMHO.

J

On 13 Dec 2005 13:59:33 -0800, wrote:

Stuttering fits, eh? :')

Resistive losses are as square of current.

Running high current continuously through std 15a. plug is a fire
hazard.

For any sort of heater, you really want connections hard-wired. (Screw
terminal or such) IMHO.

J

The resistance of a 240V 1500W heat element is 4 times that of a 120V
1500W element.

Energy lost because of resistance becomes heat.

An electric heater is not 100% efficient (just close to it). Some of
the energy is lost as EM radiation (such as visible light).

BTW, a 99% efficient heater could be thought of as a 1% efficient
lamp.
--
12 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

GINO wrote:
Went in to buy an electric heater for the cottage, it gets pretty cold up
here and it would only be on to maintain a semblance of heat during those
frigid nights.
Was looking at 110 volt heaters , 1000 to 1500watt. asked for some help.
Home Depot associate informed me to go with a 240 volt heater as it is more
efficient!

Am trying to figure out how this could be? 1500 watts is 1500 watts. one way
or the other, it's the same power consumption, isn't it?

He went on and on, but I was blocked on the numbers. Does anyone know about
this and if there is different logic to it?

Thanks,

GINO




No, there may be a reason to go with 220 rather
than 120 but 1000w is 1000w whether it is 12 volts
or 220 volts. About the only advantage of 220
volts is that you can use smaller wire for the
same wattage and the probably get heaters with
higher wattage. But their is no change in
efficiency.