New T@b owner power cord question

Sharon_is_SAM

Scott, I would hope to not need the heat and AC at the same time

ScottG

SAM said:

Scott, I would hope to not need the heat and AC at the same time

By "heat" I mean room heat or hot water--the same electric heating elements are used for both.

So, if you are running the Alde to make hot water and using the A/C (as you suggested in your previous question), you will need to be attentive to your power use.

wizard1880

Hmm, the rating you're seeing might be applying to what the connectors on each end are capable of, as opposed to the wire itself.

At home, I used an extension cord once for my 12K BTU A/C.  The cable was 14ga, rated for 12A.  The plug and socket side (both ends) were very warm to the touch after it was running for a while!  I measured the AC's use around 9-10A load with a Kill-A-Watt, so I was nearing the capacity limit for that cord, I suppose.

marknjudy

Agree with wizard. It's very probable that the connection (plug) and receptacle are what they're using to describe the extension cord. 15a, 20a, 30a and 59a use diffent connections. 

Sharon_is_SAM

So Scott, must you use both heating elements for hot water?  Is it hotter with both or just faster to heat?  

ScottG

SAM said:

So Scott, must you use both heating elements for hot water?  Is it hotter with both or just faster to heat?  

You can use one or both elements for either room heat or hot water. In both cases, the temperature is thermostatically controlled--in theory, the output won't be hotter when using both elements, but I expect it would heat up faster.

Your Alde controls should allow you to select one or two elements--though how you do that may not be obvious with the new digital controls that will come with your T@B. Mine (2015) has the analog (slider) controls--selecting one, the other, or both heating elements is pretty straightforward.

Regardless, you'll be fine. The very worst that will happen is you might trip a circuit breaker. With continued apologies to Charlie Papazian, relax, don't worry, have a homebrew!  :-)