Electric Patio Heater Wiring and Installation

David Perez

How was this so ridiculously interesting! More home projects ASAP!

Awesome!

nobody

usually when you do a run in a conduit or armor you cannot use multiconductor cable at the same time. I was told it was because heat might not be able to dissipate fast enough through 2 protection layers.

They are meant to hold higher current for a small period of time to counter inrush current from certain devices and multiple devices turning on at the same time. I am pretty certain you just needed the content and probably knew this already. while knowing the outcome of your experiments before you do them is fun and all, it doesn't build enough of the suspense needed by us consumers trying to figure out how this video could have uploaded it self after its creator became a fusible link trying to cut siding nails out of his , "High OutPut" "Un-interruptible Power Supply" because Fed-Ex sent him a refurbished breaker. -Stan-

Marco S.

Wait... you used a single wire cable for a 30 Amps line? Why didn't you used a multiwire cable? Just asking, maybe some Canadian regulation I don't know... btw here in Italy whe stopped usign singlewire cables inside the walls a looooong time ago.

Matt Dawson

I've used those "suicide" showers in Brazil, always fun assessing the electrical installations and odds of survival. Bursting into flames UNDERWATER was impressive though; that possibility should add to the excitement next time.

nobody

If the switch was outdoors, it would be easy for some random guy to come along, switch it on, and it could remain unnoticed for a several days. That could be expensive. A switch with a built-in off timer might be a good choice.

Przemysław Brojewski

Why the switch is inside the garage instead of at the patio?

Bursted to laugh when shower head started burning, that reminded me of electric water boiler that I had once and it started burning while it was turned off. Scary at first, but it turned to laugh when got it unplugged.

Rebecca

How many days took you to do this?

Craig Larson

Forgot to mention, that was great paino jazz playing. Who was that?

Craig Larson

You make me feel so much better about the hacks I have done to my own house and those of other... not so close... family members. Be safe, my friend,

ElectroBOOM [Mehdi Sadaghdar]

good to know! I should add it

Great stuff man

Oasty

Very nice watch. It's cool seeing what goes into those funny boxes and wires you see everywhere.

ElectroBOOM [Mehdi Sadaghdar]

Very good comments, thanks! One of the reasons I went to 30A was because my 17A heater draw was above the 80% rule, or max draw of 16A on a 20A system. So per that I would have to size up anyway. Of course that could mean the cabling, and I could leave the breaker at 20A or 25A to be safer. I may do that if I like to keep the heater and not switch to higher power. Also the outlet is for "my" use only! If I ever want to sell the place I should remove the 240V outlet and cover the box.

Great vid! But I was surprised at the absence of electrical tape, such as for securing the wire nuts and for securing the outlet. Maybe I've been brainwashed by the electrical tape manufacturers to use it when it's not necessary?

Zephy Foxy

I was so nervous watching this lol, I was sure there was going to be a mishap with that breaker box.

"Who is going to tune the microwave clock" I felt that too much...

230V... Sounds standard for a german like me. If we need more Power, we use our good old 400V 3 phases :P

I did not see the little red insulating thingies on the ends of the cut bx cable? Inspector looks for red plastic tab sticking out the inside of the connector. Easy job for those guys eh? I can send you some. There should have been a bag of them attached to the roll of cable -- but your supply house may have pilfered it.

dude, this really is your best work. I'm floored.

the home improvement sketches are your best work. Well, not the best best but def in the top 10. Merry... ok, not sure! But Merry Christmas to you and your family x 100!

Hello Mehdi. Amateur electrician here, so take what I say with a grain of salt As far as I'm concerned, I know you know what you are doing, but I'm fairly certain your installation is not up to code. I'm in the US, but I'm pretty sure Canada has similar enough requirements, especially for a few big things. 1. You probably are not allowed to have multiple 240V devices on one circuit. So by installing an outlet on the same circuit in your garage, it's against code. 2. You shouldn't up-size the breaker for your circuit. Lets say there's a malfunction in your heater and it draws 30A (thereby not tripping the breaker). The wires in your cable may not burn and cause a fire, but you would need to make sure that the wires IN the heater are also rated for 30A. Chances are that the wires inside the heater are rated for maybe 25A (the 80% rule would consider 4kW a tiny bit over 20A, so round up to 25A). Usually the instructions for the appliance will tell you the appropriate size breaker to use. Upsizing the wire size is OK, though. 3. You may need outdoor rated conduit for the length of cable from your ceiling to the heater. The flexible stuff is not weather-proof. This may, or may not, apply to your jurisdiction however. 4. Jetcool is right, you have a NEMA 14-50 outlet on a 30A circuit. It's already a code violation to have another device on the same circuit as the outlet, but you won't be able to safely connect anything to the outlet even with the heater turned off. You would actually need a 60A breaker for a 14-50R (again 80% rule). Maybe put a larger warning that this isn't some instructional video so that someone may think this installation is OK. I know you've put some warnings about working on a live panel, but this installation would be considered unsafe by your city. I love you and your channel, so I'm just warning you. Your insurance may not cover a fire if they see your installation is unpermitted (which I have to assume it isn't). I'm certain you take the appropriate precautions when you make videos in your lab, but since your wife and daughter may use this heater and outlet, I wouldn't want to see something bad happen to you and your family.

From my own experience I have noticed that these things can give a lot of heat, especially when there’s not much wind

Steve Jones

Curious how much heat that's going to really give, considering it's above you, and no fan to blow hot air down?! I'm expecting the slightest wind to blow away all the heat

Peter Stevens

Firing up the BBQ (in comfort) while its snowing like crazy outside? dam straight, this is Canada .. now toss on a steak and give me a beer :-P

jetcool8

Just a few things, Did you remember anti shorts for the connections? Not having a proper connector at the entry to the panel is a code violation, with the exposed wood if there was a spark for any reason if could cause a fire. You showed a 50 amp outlet connected to a 30 amp breaker. Otherwise it looks good.

Pete Golding

Love it