Want to switch to tankless, but can I use my existing wiring?How can I best salvage my 240V GFCI spa disconnect wiring?Why do both water tanks have hot inputs? Is my boiler (on-demand) feeding into my hot water heater?Can tankless water heaters be used in Europe?(How) Can I use existing stapled electrical wire to fish new wire?Wiring a pull switch ceiling fan (with light) to a wall switchWiring washer, dryer, tankless water heaterWhat is this pipe beneath my tankless water heater?Can I use a sub-panel to supply a tankless water heater that requires three breakers?Can my home's power supply handle this tankless water heater?Grounding a subpanel using existing wiring
How does airport security verify that you can carry a battery bank over 100 Wh?
Provisioning profile doesn't include the application-identifier and keychain-access-groups entitlements
Making a sword in the stone, in a medieval world without magic
Silly Sally's Movie
How to discourage/prevent PCs from using door choke-points?
Are there situations where a child is permitted to refer to their parent by their first name?
What to do when during a meeting client people start to fight (even physically) with each others?
Want to switch to tankless, but can I use my existing wiring?
Is it illegal in Germany to take sick leave if you caused your own illness with food?
Question about partial fractions with irreducible quadratic factors
Do I need to leave some extra space available on the disk which my database log files reside, for log backup operations to successfully occur?
How to make readers know that my work has used a hidden constraint?
How to deal with a cynical class?
My story is written in English, but is set in my home country. What language should I use for the dialogue?
What wound would be of little consequence to a biped but terrible for a quadruped?
"One can do his homework in the library"
Gravity alteration as extermination tool viable?
US to Europe trip with Canada layover- is 52 minutes enough?
How could our ancestors have domesticated a solitary predator?
Bandwidth & shape average combined
The three point beverage
Good allowance savings plan?
Should we release the security issues we found in our product as CVE or we can just update those on weekly release notes?
Recursive parser from Binary to JSON output
Want to switch to tankless, but can I use my existing wiring?
How can I best salvage my 240V GFCI spa disconnect wiring?Why do both water tanks have hot inputs? Is my boiler (on-demand) feeding into my hot water heater?Can tankless water heaters be used in Europe?(How) Can I use existing stapled electrical wire to fish new wire?Wiring a pull switch ceiling fan (with light) to a wall switchWiring washer, dryer, tankless water heaterWhat is this pipe beneath my tankless water heater?Can I use a sub-panel to supply a tankless water heater that requires three breakers?Can my home's power supply handle this tankless water heater?Grounding a subpanel using existing wiring
The tankless water heaters I am looking at require 8 AWG wire but the existing wiring is 12 AWG.
Can I do this without having to rerun new wire?
electrical wire tankless
edited 1 hour ago
JPhi1618
9,30812144
asked 1 hour ago
MegMeg
61
New contributor
Meg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
The tankless water heaters I am looking at require 8 AWG wire but the existing wiring is 12 AWG.
Can I do this without having to rerun new wire?
electrical wire tankless
edited 1 hour ago
JPhi1618
9,30812144
asked 1 hour ago
MegMeg
61
New contributor
Meg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
1
8 AWG wire has a cross-sectional area that is a bit more than 2.5 times that of 12 gauge wire, so no, you can't do that unless you really hate your house and would like to burn it down, preferably without you in it.
– BillDOe
1 hour ago
add a comment |
The tankless water heaters I am looking at require 8 AWG wire but the existing wiring is 12 AWG.
Can I do this without having to rerun new wire?
electrical wire tankless
edited 1 hour ago
JPhi1618
9,30812144
asked 1 hour ago
MegMeg
61
New contributor
Meg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
The tankless water heaters I am looking at require 8 AWG wire but the existing wiring is 12 AWG.
Can I do this without having to rerun new wire?
electrical wire tankless
electrical wire tankless
edited 1 hour ago
JPhi1618
9,30812144
asked 1 hour ago
MegMeg
61
New contributor
Meg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 1 hour ago
JPhi1618
9,30812144
asked 1 hour ago
MegMeg
61
New contributor
Meg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 1 hour ago
JPhi1618
9,30812144
edited 1 hour ago
JPhi1618
9,30812144
edited 1 hour ago
JPhi1618
9,30812144
9,30812144
asked 1 hour ago
MegMeg
61
New contributor
Meg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 1 hour ago
MegMeg
61
asked 1 hour ago
MegMeg
61
61
New contributor
Meg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Meg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Meg is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
1
8 AWG wire has a cross-sectional area that is a bit more than 2.5 times that of 12 gauge wire, so no, you can't do that unless you really hate your house and would like to burn it down, preferably without you in it.
– BillDOe
1 hour ago
add a comment |
1
8 AWG wire has a cross-sectional area that is a bit more than 2.5 times that of 12 gauge wire, so no, you can't do that unless you really hate your house and would like to burn it down, preferably without you in it.
– BillDOe
1 hour ago
1
1
8 AWG wire has a cross-sectional area that is a bit more than 2.5 times that of 12 gauge wire, so no, you can't do that unless you really hate your house and would like to burn it down, preferably without you in it.
– BillDOe
1 hour ago
8 AWG wire has a cross-sectional area that is a bit more than 2.5 times that of 12 gauge wire, so no, you can't do that unless you really hate your house and would like to burn it down, preferably without you in it.
– BillDOe
1 hour ago
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
If a heater requires 8 AWG wire, it's because it requires more electricity than a smaller wire is capable of safely delivering. If you used the 12 AWG wire, first the 20A breaker would trip, but if that was upgraded (DO NOT) then the wire itself would turn into a heater and burn down the house.
What I'm saying here is that when too much electricity is run through a wire that is too small, it heats up. Wire sizes are based on keeping a wire cool enough to not cause a fire when it's used. Wire sizes are hard requirements, not suggestions.
The only option here is to run new wire or choose a smaller water heater.
answered 1 hour ago
JPhi1618JPhi1618
9,30812144
add a comment |
You cannot use an electric tankless water heater in place of an electric tank without a significant upgrade in wiring and most probably adding new breakers to make a total of two or three breakers. Even new wiring of the proper size might not be enough because your electric service might not have enough capacity for a central electric tankless WH.
What is the make and model of the tankless water heater you are hoping to install? If you look at the installation reuirements, it will probably require two or three 40 A breakers and of course separate wiring for each breaker.
The simplest course of action is simply to replace your electric tank with another electric tank which has the same power requirements.
If you have a natural gas furnace, you might be able to install a natural gas fired tankless water heater, but this might require running new gas pipe to supply both the furnace and the water heater. And it would be very expensive to have installed.
answered 58 mins ago
Jim StewartJim Stewart
11.7k11332
I was being optimistic and thinking this was point of use, but you're right - people rarely realize how much power (and therefore install money) it takes to run an electric tankless.
– JPhi1618
54 mins ago
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "73"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
Meg is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fdiy.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f159700%2fwant-to-switch-to-tankless-but-can-i-use-my-existing-wiring%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
If a heater requires 8 AWG wire, it's because it requires more electricity than a smaller wire is capable of safely delivering. If you used the 12 AWG wire, first the 20A breaker would trip, but if that was upgraded (DO NOT) then the wire itself would turn into a heater and burn down the house.
What I'm saying here is that when too much electricity is run through a wire that is too small, it heats up. Wire sizes are based on keeping a wire cool enough to not cause a fire when it's used. Wire sizes are hard requirements, not suggestions.
The only option here is to run new wire or choose a smaller water heater.
answered 1 hour ago
JPhi1618JPhi1618
9,30812144
add a comment |
If a heater requires 8 AWG wire, it's because it requires more electricity than a smaller wire is capable of safely delivering. If you used the 12 AWG wire, first the 20A breaker would trip, but if that was upgraded (DO NOT) then the wire itself would turn into a heater and burn down the house.
What I'm saying here is that when too much electricity is run through a wire that is too small, it heats up. Wire sizes are based on keeping a wire cool enough to not cause a fire when it's used. Wire sizes are hard requirements, not suggestions.
The only option here is to run new wire or choose a smaller water heater.
answered 1 hour ago
JPhi1618JPhi1618
9,30812144
add a comment |
If a heater requires 8 AWG wire, it's because it requires more electricity than a smaller wire is capable of safely delivering. If you used the 12 AWG wire, first the 20A breaker would trip, but if that was upgraded (DO NOT) then the wire itself would turn into a heater and burn down the house.
What I'm saying here is that when too much electricity is run through a wire that is too small, it heats up. Wire sizes are based on keeping a wire cool enough to not cause a fire when it's used. Wire sizes are hard requirements, not suggestions.
The only option here is to run new wire or choose a smaller water heater.
answered 1 hour ago
JPhi1618JPhi1618
9,30812144
If a heater requires 8 AWG wire, it's because it requires more electricity than a smaller wire is capable of safely delivering. If you used the 12 AWG wire, first the 20A breaker would trip, but if that was upgraded (DO NOT) then the wire itself would turn into a heater and burn down the house.
What I'm saying here is that when too much electricity is run through a wire that is too small, it heats up. Wire sizes are based on keeping a wire cool enough to not cause a fire when it's used. Wire sizes are hard requirements, not suggestions.
The only option here is to run new wire or choose a smaller water heater.
answered 1 hour ago
JPhi1618JPhi1618
9,30812144
answered 1 hour ago
JPhi1618JPhi1618
9,30812144
answered 1 hour ago
JPhi1618JPhi1618
9,30812144
answered 1 hour ago
JPhi1618JPhi1618
9,30812144
9,30812144
add a comment |
add a comment |
You cannot use an electric tankless water heater in place of an electric tank without a significant upgrade in wiring and most probably adding new breakers to make a total of two or three breakers. Even new wiring of the proper size might not be enough because your electric service might not have enough capacity for a central electric tankless WH.
What is the make and model of the tankless water heater you are hoping to install? If you look at the installation reuirements, it will probably require two or three 40 A breakers and of course separate wiring for each breaker.
The simplest course of action is simply to replace your electric tank with another electric tank which has the same power requirements.
If you have a natural gas furnace, you might be able to install a natural gas fired tankless water heater, but this might require running new gas pipe to supply both the furnace and the water heater. And it would be very expensive to have installed.
answered 58 mins ago
Jim StewartJim Stewart
11.7k11332
I was being optimistic and thinking this was point of use, but you're right - people rarely realize how much power (and therefore install money) it takes to run an electric tankless.
– JPhi1618
54 mins ago
add a comment |
You cannot use an electric tankless water heater in place of an electric tank without a significant upgrade in wiring and most probably adding new breakers to make a total of two or three breakers. Even new wiring of the proper size might not be enough because your electric service might not have enough capacity for a central electric tankless WH.
What is the make and model of the tankless water heater you are hoping to install? If you look at the installation reuirements, it will probably require two or three 40 A breakers and of course separate wiring for each breaker.
The simplest course of action is simply to replace your electric tank with another electric tank which has the same power requirements.
If you have a natural gas furnace, you might be able to install a natural gas fired tankless water heater, but this might require running new gas pipe to supply both the furnace and the water heater. And it would be very expensive to have installed.
answered 58 mins ago
Jim StewartJim Stewart
11.7k11332
I was being optimistic and thinking this was point of use, but you're right - people rarely realize how much power (and therefore install money) it takes to run an electric tankless.
– JPhi1618
54 mins ago
add a comment |
You cannot use an electric tankless water heater in place of an electric tank without a significant upgrade in wiring and most probably adding new breakers to make a total of two or three breakers. Even new wiring of the proper size might not be enough because your electric service might not have enough capacity for a central electric tankless WH.
What is the make and model of the tankless water heater you are hoping to install? If you look at the installation reuirements, it will probably require two or three 40 A breakers and of course separate wiring for each breaker.
The simplest course of action is simply to replace your electric tank with another electric tank which has the same power requirements.
If you have a natural gas furnace, you might be able to install a natural gas fired tankless water heater, but this might require running new gas pipe to supply both the furnace and the water heater. And it would be very expensive to have installed.
answered 58 mins ago
Jim StewartJim Stewart
11.7k11332
You cannot use an electric tankless water heater in place of an electric tank without a significant upgrade in wiring and most probably adding new breakers to make a total of two or three breakers. Even new wiring of the proper size might not be enough because your electric service might not have enough capacity for a central electric tankless WH.
What is the make and model of the tankless water heater you are hoping to install? If you look at the installation reuirements, it will probably require two or three 40 A breakers and of course separate wiring for each breaker.
The simplest course of action is simply to replace your electric tank with another electric tank which has the same power requirements.
If you have a natural gas furnace, you might be able to install a natural gas fired tankless water heater, but this might require running new gas pipe to supply both the furnace and the water heater. And it would be very expensive to have installed.
answered 58 mins ago
Jim StewartJim Stewart
11.7k11332
edited 25 mins ago
answered 58 mins ago
Jim StewartJim Stewart
11.7k11332
answered 58 mins ago
Jim StewartJim Stewart
11.7k11332
answered 58 mins ago
Jim StewartJim Stewart
11.7k11332
11.7k11332
I was being optimistic and thinking this was point of use, but you're right - people rarely realize how much power (and therefore install money) it takes to run an electric tankless.
– JPhi1618
54 mins ago
add a comment |
I was being optimistic and thinking this was point of use, but you're right - people rarely realize how much power (and therefore install money) it takes to run an electric tankless.
– JPhi1618
54 mins ago
I was being optimistic and thinking this was point of use, but you're right - people rarely realize how much power (and therefore install money) it takes to run an electric tankless.
– JPhi1618
54 mins ago
I was being optimistic and thinking this was point of use, but you're right - people rarely realize how much power (and therefore install money) it takes to run an electric tankless.
– JPhi1618
54 mins ago
add a comment |
Meg is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Meg is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Meg is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Meg is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to Home Improvement Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fdiy.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f159700%2fwant-to-switch-to-tankless-but-can-i-use-my-existing-wiring%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
1
8 AWG wire has a cross-sectional area that is a bit more than 2.5 times that of 12 gauge wire, so no, you can't do that unless you really hate your house and would like to burn it down, preferably without you in it.
– BillDOe
1 hour ago