Heated Hearth Output!

[Don2222]

Hello

The wood pellet stove raised hearth I built, has built-in heat and light.

Since there is a wee bit of a chill in the basement tonight, I snapped on the electric hearth instead of adding pellets and waiting for the stove to fire.

The Electromode CKHA Series Fan Forced Kickspace Heater can be wired 5 different ways:
http://heatersplus.com/ckha.htm

The Kick Space heater is factory wired for 240/208V@900/675W and is field adjustable for 240/208V@1800/1300W, 120V@450, 900, 1350, or 1800W configuration.

Since I choose the most efficient way to wire the heating element 220V@900W, I wondered what temperature it put out.

I got my Radio Shack Hand help IR thermometer and got an average of 200 Degrees F to heat the room

That is almost like having my wood pellet stove on heat setting 2 !! However the stove has a bigger convection fan

Very interesting for a quick warm up. Does anyone else have a lighted and heated hearth??

 

[smoke show]

neither

 

[WoodPorn]

Yup,.......
Lit up by the fixtures above it and heated by the wood stove in the other room!

 

[Don2222]

Yup,.......
Lit up by the fixtures above it and heated by the wood stove in the other room!

Nice, can you post some pics please?

 

[WoodPorn]

No pics...Just an average stove in an average room.

Hey Don, is that heater digital? why does it require a neutral? The majority of those appliances are 2 hot and a ground, strictly resistive load.

 

[Don2222]

No pics...Just an average stove in an average room.

Hey Don, is that heater digital? why does it require a neutral? The majority of those appliances are 2 hot and a ground, strictly resistive load.

Hi WoodPorn

The Line Voltage Thermostat is Electronic but that is different.

Current always flows between Hot to Neutral in AC applications.

Sometimes Neutral and ground are confused because most wiring ties neutral and ground together! So let me explain.

Ground is the Metal AC Outlet box, the Metal Fuse or Metal Circuit Breaker Box or the metal Shell of a Kitchen stove.

Let's take the Kitchen stove for example since the new wiring code is now 4-wire for more safety in new installs instead of the old 3 wire. Our old Glenwood Harvest Gold Color Kitchen stove was 3-wire. Neutral was just connected to the metal shell in many places and the ground wire went back to the circuit breaker panel with the 2 hot wires L1 (110v) and L2 (110v).
Now in the case, the stove controls were in the front and neutral was just connected to a screw on the metal panel and the metal panel was screwed to the stove shell to complete the circuit!! Total illegal in stove design these days!! So when the screws holding the control panel to the stove rusted, the connection was very poor. Then my wife wiped down the counter with a sponge and turned the oven on at the same time. Well she made a much better ground than the rusty screws did so the current took the better path and went right thru her!! Luckily she was ok but there are cases that are more serious

So nowadays all the Metal casing in a stove is separate from the neutral going to the electrical connector at the bottom of the stove so no shocks like the one I described above will ever happen.

However there is another case that can be very dangerous. This happens if the Neutral wire going to the circuit panel breaks and the neutral circuit is open. Well if this happens and the ground shell and neutral are tied together this would make the shell of the stove Hot and touching the stove would send a shock from your hand down to your feet!

The new 4 wire plug brings the ground and the neutral back to the circuit panel separate from each other. So if the neutral wire breaks and opens up the neutral circuit, the shell or case of the stove does not become Hot and is not a shock hazard!!

Hope this explains it? Please let me know if you have any more questions.

Below is the only pic I have of the stove that was taken with an SLR on 35mm slide film but it does show the stove!

 

[WoodPorn]

Don, your explanation is spot on...(I'm an Electrician). the three wire example w/the stove is why I ask about the heater, I noticed in your schematic that you ran a neutral to the heater.

Neutral = grounded conductor = a curent carrying conductor.

Ground = a conductor that only carries current in a fault situation.

So... why the neutral?

 

[Don2222]

Don, your explanation is spot on...(I'm an Electrician). the three wire example w/the stove is why I ask about the heater, I noticed in your schematic that you ran a neutral to the heater.

Neutral = grounded conductor = a current carrying conductor.

Ground = a conductor that only carries current in a fault situation.

So... why the neutral?

Hello Wood Porn

Those are very good definitions!

Hope this answers your question!

So to answer your question, I removed the Heater since I did not remember!! LOL
It is a 3-wire 220v configuration where the Neutral and Ground are connected together and L1 and L2 are connected to the two coil legs for a 220 volt configuration somewhere between 675 and 900 watts depending upon my houses 220 voltage. Remember 220 volts for electric heating is more efficient than 110 volts.

See pics and wiring diagram below:

Note: Now I remember all the confusion I had understanding the wiring because the last diagram below that is inside the heater (The next to last diagram below in the instruction manual is really vague!!) really states that the default is 208/240 at 675/900 watts and shows exactly how it should be wired!

 

[WoodPorn]

You could have saved a few bucks and used 12-2 romex instead of the 12-3...no big deal.
The hearth looks geat anyway!

If I were you I would separate the Neutral and ground, cap off the neutral. -Don't want to see the wife get whacked again like she did when she was cleaning the stove!

Good work

 

[Don2222]

Hello Wood Porn

Yes, I could have saved with the 12-2 but it is actually safer to have the neutral and ground both connected. This way if one breaks and opens up, the other wire still makes the connection to the circuit breaker box. Therefore there is even a less chance of a shock hazard!

Thanks for all your comments. It was good to go over it with a good electrician like yourself!!

 

[pastera]

Hello Wood Porn

Yes, I could have saved with the 12-2 but it is actually safer to have the neutral and ground both connected. This way if one breaks and opens up, the other wire still makes the connection to the circuit breaker box. Therefore there is even a less chance of a shock hazard!

Thanks for all your comments. It was good to go over it with a good electrician like yourself!!

Neutral should be bonded to ground in only one location and that is at the main panel - Anything else is a nasty safety hazard.


Aaron

 

[Don2222]

Hello Wood Porn

Yes, I could have saved with the 12-2 but it is actually safer to have the neutral and ground both connected. This way if one breaks and opens up, the other wire still makes the connection to the circuit breaker box. Therefore there is even a less chance of a shock hazard!

Thanks for all your comments. It was good to go over it with a good electrician like yourself!!

Neutral should be bonded to ground in only one location and that is at the main panel - Anything else is a nasty safety hazard.


Aaron

Can you give a good example please?

 

[Don2222]

Hello

This heated hearth can be used with the new pellet stove light kit in early fall. They will be like one of those fake fire electric fireplaces!! LOL

See Electric Light Kit thread for wood pellet stove for more pics and info!
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/75397/

Yellow CFL in pic below!