fan center & 1500 watt heater

[ted11]

i want to use a fan center to turn on/off a 1500 watt elec heater. At 120vac the contacts are rated for 12AFL,72ALR. What do the letters stand for?

[fxb80]

Amps Full Load, Amps Locked Rotor

[thermojohn]

i want to use a fan center to turn on/off a 1500 watt elec heater. At 120vac the contacts are rated for 12AFL,72ALR. What do the letters stand for?

AFL = Amps, Full Load
ALR = Amps, Locked Rotor. (Startup amps on induction load.) Doesn't apply to resistance heat strips.

If Volts X Amps = Watts, then 120 X 12 = 12,012 Watts.

That control will burn up with a 1500 Watt load. Need another control with heavier contacts.

[ted11]

or a smaller heater. thanks

[ted11]

duh! i should have figured that one out

[craig1]

AFL = Amps, Full Load
ALR = Amps, Locked Rotor. (Startup amps on induction load.) Doesn't apply to resistance heat strips.

If Volts X Amps = Watts, then 120 X 12 = 12,012 Watts.

That control will burn up with a 1500 Watt load. Need another control with heavier contacts.

Nope, all you need is a better calculator :grin2: . 120x12 is 1,440, which is pretty darn close to 1500

[ted11]

yea your right. also on the data sticker it says 10amp res @480,15amp res @277. would an elect htr be a res load?

[fxb80]

It's not a good idea to load a relay more than 80% of the rating.

[thermojohn]

Nope, all you need is a better calculator :grin2: . 120x12 is 1,440, which is pretty darn close to 1500

Doh!.... That was a test. :gah: What the frig.... I don't know how that happened. Maybe that's why beer and work don't mix. :cheers: It is Friday night BTW. :grin2:

[thermojohn]

would an elect htr be a res load?

OK, I think I can get that one right..... Yes it is a resistance load.

[Cooked]

AFL = Amps, Full Load
ALR = Amps, Locked Rotor. (Startup amps on induction load.) Doesn't apply to resistance heat strips.

If Volts X Amps = Watts, then 120 X 12 = 12,012 Watts.

That control will burn up with a 1500 Watt load. Need another control with heavier contacts.

120V x 12A = 1440W

[thermojohn]

120V x 12A = 1440W

I know... I know. :gah: Just rub it in, OK? :grin2:

[ted11]

yea, i know its a little tight. hopfuly it wouldn't be on that much. i what to kick it on when my coal boiler water temp drops to low then i'll shut off my biggest zone until temp recovery. i figure i could use the expensive heat while the coal catches up. i wish i had that set up a couple nights ago. boiler was losing ground in the single digits

[Cooked]

Sounds entirely do-able. Are you sure the WH is only rated for 1.5KW?

[ted11]

its a space heater. i'll put it in the area that the zone gets shut off

[motoguy128]

Like a portable space heater? Why not at least put in a proper baseboard heater? Those little space heates just scare me because they are so cheaply made. The oil filled radiator style don't see quite a bad. It jsut seems like 1/2 the fires I hear abotu in winter are form space heaters. I'm sure it's units in poor condition being improperly used, but they still scare me.