I am currently using oil to heat the house. If I want to use electricity + oil heating, do I need to upgrade our Electrical Panel? Is 100 amp or 200amp?
Thank you.
Regards
Possibly. We would need to know what is in your current power demands and what new KW power is being added.
Depending on the size of your house, and the load demand you already have, it may be possible to install electric heat. On a 100amp service I wouldn't go above 10 or 11kw of heat. Again you have to look at what you have for demand then you can make a decision.
Hi Liliane,
I would recommend you find a local electrical contractor from Trusted Pros to have a look at your current electrical service to determine whether you will need an upgrade or not.
Hi there! Thanks for posting!
Rule of thumb for electric heat is calculate the cubic feet per room and that's the size of heater required in the room. For instance an 10 x 10 room 8 feet high is 800 cubic feet so you would be looking for 800 watts worth of heat in that room. Wattage to amperage take the total amount of watts and divide by the incoming voltage (240). Which equals 3 1/3 amps. Do this calculation for every room in the house gives you an idea of the size of service required just for heat. As for the rest of the house, depending on the size of the house and total number of persons in house all plays a factor. A/c, electric range, hot tub, electric hot water. I would need a list. Size of house and heavy drawing electrical equipment.
Hope this helps.
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