Breaker Size For 50 Gallon Water Heater

Smith 50 gallon proline power vent water heater available from supplyhouse has an fhr of 90 gallons so it will provide up to 90 gallons of hot water in an hour.

Breaker size for 50 gallon water heater.

We are thinking of putting in a larger water heater and i just want to know if the current electrical line and breaker are sufficient or if i need to run a higher gauge wire. Wire a hot water heater with wire that s sized to accommodate the heater s current requirement. 12 40 unact 40 gallon tall ultra low nox natural gas water heater 12 year warranty. Current uef 9 40 unkct 40 gallon tall ultra low nox natural gas water heater 9 year warranty.

Some large heaters draw up to 50 amps requiring 6 gauge wire. Multiply the current rating of the water heater with 125 now in order to choose an electric breaker multiply the current draw of the water heater with 125 per cent in order to determine the size of the breaker you will need. Years ago it was not uncommon to have a 3000 or 4000 watt water heater fed with 12 s and a 20 amp breaker. Current uef 12 50 unact 50 gallon tall ultra low nox natural gas water heater 12 year warranty.

The breaker of the rated size will must trip if the water heater all of a sudden wants to draw more current than the amount it is rated for and the only reason the water heater would draw such excessive current is a malfunction that could be a fire hazard. What size breaker and size electrical line do i need. In the above example we would require a 15 6 amp circuit breaker for our us readers. They will trip a 20 amp breaker and if a 30 is installed using existing wire it ll eventually burn up the wire and likely start a fire.

For example a 20 amp hot water heater needs 12 gauge wire a 25 amp hot water heater requires 10 gauge wire and a 30 to 40 amp hot water heater requires 8 gauge wire. Current uef 9 50 unkct 50 gallon tall ultra low nox natural gas water. Multiply the value for current by 125 percent to determine the size of the breaker you need for the heater. This was fine for these heaters but most modern heaters are 4500 watts.