I realize this is an older video. But I wanted to do this in my garage and found this video and followed your instructions step by step and holy cow! I can't believe the results! Thank you so much! I love being able to turn on my garage heat while I'm still at work and it's warm when I get home in late November in Michigan! 👍👍👍👍
After watching this video several times, I decided to buy this heater and the parts to convert it exactly like the video. It works perfectly! I can now control my shop building heat with my phone so I no longer have to enter a cold shop. Thank you, thank you for making this video. For around $250 total, I now have a fully operational wi-fi heater. Did I say thank you for the instructional video?
6 years ago but today in 2024 I’ been figuring this out today but finished it with where ,CRW going! Totally made my day thx I’m now a sub big like! Thx again
Just finished wiring mine. Works perfectly with a Sensi Wi-Fi thermostat. When thermostat calls for heat, the contactor makes a loud snap and heater turns on. Thanks a lot for posting all this info👍
I just wanted to thank you. I installed this heater over the weekend and it works great. So nice to have a thermostat on it. I used a cheaper thermostat so I just used the red and white wires.
Thank you! Works great and was a much easier setup than some other videos I watched. The hardest part of this whole project is all the other wiring and connections. Making the heater “smart” was pretty much simple in comparison. Thanks again.
Exactly what I’m planning for my new garage. Using 10/3 just to get the neutral for the transformer, very sneaky! If you find the time to post a wiring diagram, that’s always a plus, but your text description is very helpful.
This video and all the comments has to be one of the top most helpful on RUclips. And yass, exactly what I’m trying to do on a 20-year old version of this heater! Concur with delayed off comment someone posted - my fan keeps going and spools down after running heat so it doesn’t damage the coils (I believe). Thank you again, from slightly-chilly-today South Carolina. Jason
no thermal runaway with fan not aftercooling. in fact its arguably less hard on the resistive core as the expansion and contraction is significantly slowed
Every video I have watched on these heaters out of morbid curiosity has been wired so very wrong according to code/ proper way to wire it whether it's Canada or US. I appreciate trying to make things work but for some reason these type heaters bring out some serious janky ass stuff. Your job is certainly better than most. You also demonstrated a decent knowledge of proper terminology. Most guys didn't have a clue as to what they were saying but bumbled through and somehow made it work. You could have cut into that thermostat circuit but it seems that it killed the heater just like you did anyway. Good Job doing what you figured out.
I'm going to be wiring up a similar set up in a couple weeks. My thermostat is 120V though so my plan is: Send 120V from panel, to thermostat, to contactor. Send 240V from panel, to contactor, to heater. This eliminates the need for the transformer, and just works well with the location of my heater/panel/where I want the thermostat mounted.
I just finished up doing this and it works great. I didn’t have any 18-3 thermostat wire and tried to use Cat 5e wire but it didn’t work. Got some 18-3 and contactor kicked on like it should. I used a 30a contactor instead of 40a.
Awesome video thank you! What happens in your Romex coming in to heater only has 2 hots and a ground, which is common for these devices? Where do I attach the neutral coming out of the transformer circuit?
I thank you and appreciate the video... im currently trying to hook this up like you said. Great video I just wish you had went a little slower and zoomed in on how and what wires go where but other than that.... you are awesome my friend! I been trying how to make sure my garage is warm by the time I get home from work. Unfortunately this only controls 1 of my heaters but it will definitely make a difference.. once I get it going.. 👍
Ok. PLEASE HELP. I tried to fallow everything you said and tried pausing the video but you move too fast and its blurry. My heater is on. Thermostat is on but neither the Thermostat on the heater or the exact aftermarket Thermostat is making the heater turn on.. I've watched this video probably 20 times and can't figure out what I did wrong. And yes I tried the heater before I hooked all this up. And I bought all the exact parts you suggested. Please someone tell me what I did wrong. Thank you
@@OvalboreTech spent a good hour from start to finish to make sure I had things tidy and connected properly. Now I'm ready for a nice steady heated garage in winter. How low does your thermostat go? Might upgrade to a wifi one in the future. I have a Google nest for inside but that only goes to 50 degrees.
Do you have a fuse installed on the secondary side of your transformer? I'm wondering if I need to install one? I'm using a 240v - 24v 40va transformer and I am thinking I should install a 2amp fuse...?
Thanks for the skookum video, bro! This is exactly what I'm going to do with an Insteon thermostat - because I have Insteon technology throughout my home. Great idea!
@@OvalboreTech I’m excited to get it hooked up. Just got the contactor in. Hey, quick question, when you ran the 24v to the contactor to open and close it via the thermostat, how did you physically make those connections? Looking at the contactor, it doesn’t seem like the wire would stay in what appears to be the hole for the wiring, did you have to solder it in place?
@@mattschronce3503 i think you replied to my comment and then removed it up above about using 8/2 instead of 8/3 wire to save money. Why would you need the neutral when 8/2 wire comes with a ground? The only reason to use 8/3 if you want to put a subpanel in your garage to have a disconnecting means within sight of the heater and in that case you could still run 8/2 from the subpanel to the heater...
Nice mod to the heater Erik, wanted to see if you could show the electrical box connections to the common, ground, and 2 hot wires to the 30 Amp breaker. Thanks.
this was a long time ago but still to this date not a lot of videos about this. is the wiring the same for 7500 w heater, same kind of heater, different brand, and of course 240v? i have yet to purchase a thermostat but did use links for transformer and such from your video. THANKS!
If your heater is designed for the fan to run after the element shuts off a little longer to cool it off then you need to put the contactor (or relay) in the thermostat circuit.
its a neutral from your panel. you cannot use 10-2. has to be 10-3. You can buy a 240VAC to 24VAC transformer and bridge between L1 and L2. 10/2 is not code compliant for 240V appliances in the USA anymore
I have a backyard garage that I just had built with bricks and a concrete floor, no kind of insulation whatsoever except for in the ceiling. The space is about 15 x 19 feet, do u think this heater will work in that kind of environment?
I bought the same contactor and I'm assuming L1 on the contactor is connected to the line from breaker panel and the T1 side goes to the heater connection? (same for L2 and T2)
Only issue I see in this is that there should be a cooling cycle. The fan runs after the heating elements lose power so the internals don't bake for several minutes. You need to feed a delay on break relay off the line side of the contactor which feeds the fan. Otherwise great work!
While I am confident that is a feature of some electric heaters, that's not the case on these units and is far more common for heat exchanger gas fired units. if you wire this unit direct to a breaker and shut the thermostat off, there is no post flow or cool down fan-only period. that typically requires an IC and this decide is too 'dumb' for that.
Did you consider a second contactor and the “emergency heat” lead from the thermostat to run two different wattage settings? Might try it with my setup…
Stupid question, does the thermostat regulate temp the way you have it? With leaving the wires connected to the factory thermostat, I can't figure out how the external thermostat will regulate temp and not serve as just a wifi on and off switch.
When connecting an external thermostat like he did in this vid and leaving the factory thermostat wired up, you simply turn the factory thermostat adjustment knob fully clockwise. This arrangement gives temperature control to the newly added external stat.
Can you control the temp with the thermostat, as well? I'm going to use the basic Nest Thermostat, and the heater I have is the Comfort Zone CZ230E; it has the option to plug in an old fashion thermostat to control the temp. Thanks again for the video and help.
I have a super basic thermostat that only has two wire hook ups. A white and a red. Is it possible to hook the blue into one of those locations to make this thermostat work? I installed the same heater, with all the same parts and have it all hooked up and ready to go. Last step was hooking up my thermostat and I’m not sure if I need to order a different one now.
yes you can use a dumb thermostat., just skip the C wire. the transformer is still needed for the contactor, just run the R to the transformer, W to contactor and bridge the other terminal on the contactor and the transformer for that one.
I could just add this in a junction box right? Then this way if I want to use my portable garage heater with a smart thermostat it would just turn the wires active to the plug? I have a low ceiling in my basements that is 7 feet tall. But we do a lot of art and craft and such down there.
This is because my garage heater is portable. I can put it on the floor. For some odd reason, the city doesn't allow it to be installed outside of the manufacture safety requirement. The bottom of the hard wired heater cannot be lower then 8 feet. My basement is 7 feet tall. However, a portable heater is not against code. It can be put on the floor. So it is weird to me. However, I want to be able to take it out into my garage when I need it. I can just plug it in and use the manual thermostat. As for my basement that has no heat, I want to use the thermostat. So making the outlet using the Contactor and Control Transformer to work with the Thermostat would allow me to heat up the basement ahead of time. @@OvalboreTech
The current 7,500 version has a lot less real estate to work with inside the box. Can the contactor/transformer be mounted in a junction box nearby, with just red and black 8 gauge (for 40 amp breaker) hot wires leaving the junction to the heater? Or have I missed something?
The main orange wire coming from the panel is it 10/3 or 10/2? I have the same heater and what to do this I've got all the parts except I can't decide which wire to get.
On the transformer (packard) you used the black and white wire for power. Which means the transformer is powered by 120volts, not 240 volts. If 240 volts powered the contactor, the orange and white wire would be used.
I think I can answer this after some more research. Looks like power transformer is able to run off 240V (orange and white) connects to the 2 hots off 10/2
yes you can run the transformer off L1 and ground alone, but I have to condemn that action. it's really not safe. you're better off running the transformer elsewhere and running the 18 gauge control cable for the thermostat and transformer separately to the unit if you're stuck with that.
@@OvalboreTech hmm I was looking at the transformer wiring and I was looking at running it at 240V not L1 and grnd. I may look at other options. Wish I saw this video before running 10/2.
run a separate circuit or isolate the transformer. it's not kosher to do what I did either due to the breaker being a dual pole, but it's a lot safer using a neutral than bare copper ground. it WOULD work, but man I wouldn't sleep at night with it wired that way.
Use a 240V Primary 24V Secondary transformer. The primary (Line) side of the transformer will connect to L1 and L2 and give you 24 out. As others have said, do not use a 120V transformer between L1 or L2 and the Ground. Doesn't meet code and is not safe.
I had recently bought this same comfort zone heater for my storage barn. Was wanting to be able to control with phone so happy I found your video. I bought same contactor and transformer you have and hooked up exactly like you have it but it isn't working. Contactor isn't closing. Checked it and it's good. I'm getting 120v going into contactor and also reading 24v on the side coils so transformer should be good. I'm clueless on why it's not working. Did you change function settings on thermostat? I changed them to electric heat with no A/C. Using same 3 thermostat wires you are in video. Am I missing something? Please help. Thank you!
you got a 40kVa transformer? if so, try putting direct jumper wires from the transformer to the contactor legs to see if it fires. if it does, you've got thermostat wiring issues, if not, you may have a faulty contactor, although thats rare. ensure you have a 24VAC contactor. most are 120-volt triggers
@@OvalboreTech Thanks so much for your help! After taking a closer look the contactor I got was not a 24v coil one. I ordered the correct one and hopefully that'll get it goin...I don't see why it wouldn't. Thanks for mentioning that. Can't wait to get it and hook it up 👍
So I wired it as prescribed. I'm able to turn the unit off from the thermostat but not back on. When I put it in 'Heat' mode from thermostat I can hear the contactors engaging and power does go to the unit because I can see the red light indicating power turn on, but the heat/fan doesn't start unless I physically hit the power button. Any idea? FYI I'm using the 7,500w version that has digital thermostat/dial. Is this my issue? Btw awesome video.
Now that youve had this setup for a couple winters, are you still happy with it? I've purchased the items off your links and will be attempting this same thing on my heater. Thanks for the video!
I have to admit with off-peak power in the garage, it is really nice to be able to pull up the thermostat in bed on a Friday night and heat up the garage for some Saturday stuff overnight on the cheap power without having to go out there (and set it to a more reasonable 45 or 47 degrees). All in all yes, I can't imagine using one of these without an external thermostat.
@@OvalboreTech Thanks for the reply. I remodeled my garage over the past few months and am super excited to have a heater out there. Ive been using mine (very similar to yours) over the last month and with the built in timer/thermostat whatever it is, my garage has been staying too warm even with the dial turned to the lowest and i have a pretty large electric bill. Im hoping an actual thermostat set to like 40 full time, with bumping up to 60 when i want to work in there will be much easier on the wallet! Thanks again!
That is a multi tap transformer you dont necessarily need 8/3 just run two hots from the line side of the contactor to the primary side of the transformer.. that way you could run 8/2 and save money
hey great video, im an electrician by trade therefore understand everything said, my question is if the thermostat is controlling the heat what happens to the original temp control does it need to be disconnected or is it just set to max?
Consider setting the heater's stat at some setting above where you expect to ever operate using the remote stat, but less than MAX. That way the heater's internal stat becomes a backup or high limit which will override the remote stat and turn the heating elements off if the temp goes beyond what you programmed into the remote stat.
Since that transformer is a multi tap...couldnt you have just taken both hot legs from the contactor to the primary side of the transformer so you wouldnt have to run 8/3 which is significantly more expensive than 8/2?
The transformer he has pictured is a 120/240 version. Using the white and orange wires on the primary side is all that was needed, no neutral required. With the price of copper out of sight 10/2 is sufficient to satisfy this setup.
@@jimmyg6215I’m about to do this and have no neutral wire going to my heater. When you say use the white and orange wire, do you mean hook the orange to one of the 120 feeds, and white to the other?
Hi Erik, I got the same heater (Comfort Zone CZ220), ordered the same Contactor C240A and Transformer PF42440 24V / 40 VA. Hooked it up as you did (best that I can tell). Powered it up and it sounded "stuck"... after about 10 seconds, the transformer blew a fire ball? I wasn't sure while hooking up the thermostat. I put Blue wire to B, White to W and Red to R. I'm pretty certain I hooked up everything the way you did but wanted to ask if you may have any ideas what I may have done wrong? I can send you a picture of my wiring if that would be helpful.
I looked again at my wiring and I did find 1 difference. Where the Red wire from the transformer and Blue wire for the thermostat attach to the contactor, it appears I have those switched, compared to yours. Does it matter which side the Red/Blue wire is on the spade terminals? In relation, does it matter which side the White thermostat wire is on? By "side" I mean left or right terminal not the total opposite side of the contactor.
can I use 10/2 instead of 10/3 wire? noticed my service into heater is 10/2 wire. If so, could I wire 240v to transformer? Can one of the wires be used to power 120v to power my thermostat?
@@OvalboreCars Understood. I would have done as you but no neutral at the 240V receptacle in my garage as it is an older home and not easy to upgrade to 10/3. It's working now so I'm good. Thanks.
Great video. Quick question about the ground from the panel to the heater, is this your common? 10/2 cable will have a ground which would ground into the heater itself. Did you do this? I have a G73 heater.
Thank you. I changed my wiring to 10/3 and added a 30amp double pole switch in line from panel and heater. Obviously there is the common wire which does not attach to this inline switch, do i just leave it running through the conduit and into the transformer as the video above shows? Just want to make sure I am not missing something. Thank you@@OvalboreCars
Hello sir, did you use 10/2 or 10/3 cable since you need a common wire? Looks like your wire is 10/3 as you use your common to connect to transformer and the ground wire is grounded to unit. Thank you
@@OvalboreCars Is it possible to use 10-2 instead of 10/3 by using the orange wire (instead of the black) of the transformer? I believe that would be 240v on the input side of the transformer.
can I use 10/2 instead of 10/3 wire? noticed my service into heater is 10/2 wire. If so, could I wire 240v to transformer? Can one of the wires be used to power 120v to power my thermostat?
Hi does anyone know how to connect it to Ecobee 3 lite? We did everything, and up to the ecobee portion. We try different combinations. Nothing would power up the ecobee. The heater is Dyna-Glo 7500. I have a power conversion 40VA already hook up. I’m not sure it need to hook up the extender kit or not
I dont heat my garage, this is only for emergency work where I dont mind burning a night of power to wrench. has been off all but maybe 2 days since filming this
in north american residential power, thats correct, but there is absolutely single phase 240V in the wild in the states. nevertheless, completely irrelevant to this content.
My transformer is good it takes about 5 clicks on thermostat to finally close contactor. The whole process takes about 10 min I can hear the thermostat try to engage contactor then it finally works.
I just did this to mine. Everything worked great the first time I used the thermostat to turn it on. I turned it off and then turned on again and the contactor started buzzing really loud (in an open state). Tried it several more times with the same result. While it was buzzing I measured the voltage across the contactor inputs and it read 26.6 ACV .... any ideas what could be going on?
not happening. plenty of information here to get the job done. Complaining about how people produce free internet content is a little absurd, mind you.
@@OvalboreCars i am not complaining at all, i produce free content on my channel as well , all i am saying is that your video is really good and if you have laid out the parts and wiring on a table and demonstrated the wiring process instead of just point it out, it would have been a much better video. your video deserves at least 100K views by now.
Great hack! Do you think the RC840T-240 relay/24V power supply combo unit would accomplish the same results with ceiling heater similar to this baseboard mod? ruclips.net/video/7rJJON34KOw/видео.html The RC840T-240 looks easier to wire up.
Yes. I am using that setup in my garage for years. You cannot go up to the 7500W heaters though. 5500 watts is max for the RC840 (23 Amps). Works great on 5000 Watt ones though.
Five years later and still helping people. Thanks for the video.
I realize this is an older video. But I wanted to do this in my garage and found this video and followed your instructions step by step and holy cow! I can't believe the results! Thank you so much! I love being able to turn on my garage heat while I'm still at work and it's warm when I get home in late November in Michigan! 👍👍👍👍
haha, yesssss!
that's exactly what I do with mine too. glad it worked out for you too.
After watching this video several times, I decided to buy this heater and the parts to convert it exactly like the video. It works perfectly! I can now control my shop building heat with my phone so I no longer have to enter a cold shop. Thank you, thank you for making this video. For around $250 total, I now have a fully operational wi-fi heater. Did I say thank you for the instructional video?
I couldnt believe no one else had shown how to do it, you're most welcome!
Do you have a list of the parts that you purchased and where you pick them up from?
6 years ago but today in 2024 I’ been figuring this out today but finished it with where ,CRW going! Totally made my day thx I’m now a sub big like!
Thx again
Just finished wiring mine. Works perfectly with a Sensi Wi-Fi thermostat. When thermostat calls for heat, the contactor makes a loud snap and heater turns on. Thanks a lot for posting all this info👍
I just wanted to thank you. I installed this heater over the weekend and it works great. So nice to have a thermostat on it. I used a cheaper thermostat so I just used the red and white wires.
Thank you! Works great and was a much easier setup than some other videos I watched. The hardest part of this whole project is all the other wiring and connections. Making the heater “smart” was pretty much simple in comparison. Thanks again.
I genuinely only make videos because of feedback like this, so thank you.
Exactly what I’m planning for my new garage. Using 10/3 just to get the neutral for the transformer, very sneaky! If you find the time to post a wiring diagram, that’s always a plus, but your text description is very helpful.
Smart dude. First video after many searchers for smart garage heater. Great post! Thank you.
This video and all the comments has to be one of the top most helpful on RUclips. And yass, exactly what I’m trying to do on a 20-year old version of this heater! Concur with delayed off comment someone posted - my fan keeps going and spools down after running heat so it doesn’t damage the coils (I believe). Thank you again, from slightly-chilly-today South Carolina. Jason
no thermal runaway with fan not aftercooling. in fact its arguably less hard on the resistive core as the expansion and contraction is significantly slowed
@@OvalboreTech excellent point; makes sense. Thanks for the reply.
Every video I have watched on these heaters out of morbid curiosity has been wired so very wrong according to code/ proper way to wire it whether it's Canada or US. I appreciate trying to make things work but for some reason these type heaters bring out some serious janky ass stuff.
Your job is certainly better than most. You also demonstrated a decent knowledge of proper terminology. Most guys didn't have a clue as to what they were saying but bumbled through and somehow made it work. You could have cut into that thermostat circuit but it seems that it killed the heater just like you did anyway. Good Job doing what you figured out.
I'm going to be wiring up a similar set up in a couple weeks. My thermostat is 120V though so my plan is:
Send 120V from panel, to thermostat, to contactor.
Send 240V from panel, to contactor, to heater.
This eliminates the need for the transformer, and just works well with the location of my heater/panel/where I want the thermostat mounted.
I just finished up doing this and it works great. I didn’t have any 18-3 thermostat wire and tried to use Cat 5e wire but it didn’t work. Got some 18-3 and contactor kicked on like it should. I used a 30a contactor instead of 40a.
Awesome video thank you! What happens in your Romex coming in to heater only has 2 hots and a ground, which is common for these devices? Where do I attach the neutral coming out of the transformer circuit?
you mentioned that more expensive models allow this out of the box, can you provide some models that do?
I thank you and appreciate the video... im currently trying to hook this up like you said. Great video I just wish you had went a little slower and zoomed in on how and what wires go where but other than that.... you are awesome my friend! I been trying how to make sure my garage is warm by the time I get home from work. Unfortunately this only controls 1 of my heaters but it will definitely make a difference.. once I get it going.. 👍
Ok. PLEASE HELP. I tried to fallow everything you said and tried pausing the video but you move too fast and its blurry. My heater is on. Thermostat is on but neither the Thermostat on the heater or the exact aftermarket Thermostat is making the heater turn on.. I've watched this video probably 20 times and can't figure out what I did wrong. And yes I tried the heater before I hooked all this up. And I bought all the exact parts you suggested. Please someone tell me what I did wrong. Thank you
Worked great!!! Followed instructions and works like you described. Thank you!!!
congrats! you follow instruction a lot better than most negative youtube commenters :D
@@OvalboreTech spent a good hour from start to finish to make sure I had things tidy and connected properly. Now I'm ready for a nice steady heated garage in winter. How low does your thermostat go? Might upgrade to a wifi one in the future. I have a Google nest for inside but that only goes to 50 degrees.
@@snoman6322 the honeywell bottoms out at 35F
@@OvalboreCars good to know. Someday I’ll upgrade to a Wi-Fi thermostat
Do you have a fuse installed on the secondary side of your transformer? I'm wondering if I need to install one? I'm using a 240v - 24v 40va transformer and I am thinking I should install a 2amp fuse...?
Thanks for the skookum video, bro! This is exactly what I'm going to do with an Insteon thermostat - because I have Insteon technology throughout my home. Great idea!
Dude...badass. Thank you for sharing your knowledge
any time. glad I wasn't the only one who wanted this basic functionality!
@@OvalboreTech I’m excited to get it hooked up. Just got the contactor in. Hey, quick question, when you ran the 24v to the contactor to open and close it via the thermostat, how did you physically make those connections? Looking at the contactor, it doesn’t seem like the wire would stay in what appears to be the hole for the wiring, did you have to solder it in place?
@@mattschronce3503 i think you replied to my comment and then removed it up above about using 8/2 instead of 8/3 wire to save money. Why would you need the neutral when 8/2 wire comes with a ground? The only reason to use 8/3 if you want to put a subpanel in your garage to have a disconnecting means within sight of the heater and in that case you could still run 8/2 from the subpanel to the heater...
@@rodneylanders2609 cool story...? sounds like you’re having an argument with yourself
@@mattschronce3503 no i know you removed your post because you didn't know what you were talking about but ok
Worked like a charm...thanks!
enjoy! glad it was helpful
nice video.... lots of room inside the unit for accessories!
What would you do differently with a 10,000 watt heater which requires either a 50 or 60 amp dual pole breaker and 6/2 with ground wire?
I’m also wondering the same thing for my 10000w heater
Nice mod to the heater Erik, wanted to see if you could show the electrical box connections to the common, ground, and 2 hot wires to the 30 Amp breaker. Thanks.
Do you have any drawing/blueprint how you have done it?? It’s very confusing with all them wires🤪
Screen shot his video when it's showing the wiring. Work from that 😁
this was a long time ago but still to this date not a lot of videos about this. is the wiring the same for 7500 w heater, same kind of heater, different brand, and of course 240v? i have yet to purchase a thermostat but did use links for transformer and such from your video. THANKS!
If your heater is designed for the fan to run after the element shuts off a little longer to cool it off then you need to put the contactor (or relay) in the thermostat circuit.
sure, however this heater does not run the fan after shutoff. that's only really common with natural gas fired heaters.
There are plenty of electrics that do it.
This was my same question. I have a fuh54 heater and it’s fan runs to cool the element once the room reaches temp setting.
@@jeremycondon3692 did u do this install this setup
Are you using 10/3 power wire??
Mine only requires 10/2, do I need to use the neutral wire in the transformer??
Any chance you can make a quick diagram of this? I would really appreciate it. Thank you
There is one in a comment I believe. someone diagrammed what I wrote in the description
Hi can you tell me where would the white wire from the transformer be hoked up to lm using 10/2 wire
its a neutral from your panel. you cannot use 10-2. has to be 10-3. You can buy a 240VAC to 24VAC transformer and bridge between L1 and L2. 10/2 is not code compliant for 240V appliances in the USA anymore
@@OvalboreTech Ihave the same issue. I don't have a neutral wire. Could you please explain bridging with the 240vac to 24vac transformer. TIA
I have a backyard garage that I just had built with bricks and a concrete floor, no kind of insulation whatsoever except for in the ceiling. The space is about 15 x 19 feet, do u think this heater will work in that kind of environment?
eventually it should be able to maintenance heat that.
I bought the same contactor and I'm assuming L1 on the contactor is connected to the line from breaker panel and the T1 side goes to the heater connection? (same for L2 and T2)
Only issue I see in this is that there should be a cooling cycle. The fan runs after the heating elements lose power so the internals don't bake for several minutes. You need to feed a delay on break relay off the line side of the contactor which feeds the fan. Otherwise great work!
While I am confident that is a feature of some electric heaters, that's not the case on these units and is far more common for heat exchanger gas fired units.
if you wire this unit direct to a breaker and shut the thermostat off, there is no post flow or cool down fan-only period. that typically requires an IC and this decide is too 'dumb' for that.
Did you consider a second contactor and the “emergency heat” lead from the thermostat to run two different wattage settings? Might try it with my setup…
no but thats actually a really cool idea. you could use the single contactor and a pair of diodes to accomplish this too! :)
Stupid question, does the thermostat regulate temp the way you have it? With leaving the wires connected to the factory thermostat, I can't figure out how the external thermostat will regulate temp and not serve as just a wifi on and off switch.
When connecting an external thermostat like he did in this vid and leaving the factory thermostat wired up, you simply turn the factory thermostat adjustment knob fully clockwise. This arrangement gives temperature control to the newly added external stat.
I only have a red and white wire which was hooked up to my old mercury thermostat...do I use the blue wire for the C wire?
Can you control the temp with the thermostat, as well? I'm going to use the basic Nest Thermostat, and the heater I have is the Comfort Zone CZ230E; it has the option to plug in an old fashion thermostat to control the temp. Thanks again for the video and help.
yes, thats the intent of the video
I have a super basic thermostat that only has two wire hook ups. A white and a red. Is it possible to hook the blue into one of those locations to make this thermostat work? I installed the same heater, with all the same parts and have it all hooked up and ready to go. Last step was hooking up my thermostat and I’m not sure if I need to order a different one now.
yes you can use a dumb thermostat., just skip the C wire. the transformer is still needed for the contactor, just run the R to the transformer, W to contactor and bridge the other terminal on the contactor and the transformer for that one.
I could just add this in a junction box right? Then this way if I want to use my portable garage heater with a smart thermostat it would just turn the wires active to the plug?
I have a low ceiling in my basements that is 7 feet tall. But we do a lot of art and craft and such down there.
in theory yeah but not sure why youd over complicate when theres room inside the heater enclosure
This is because my garage heater is portable. I can put it on the floor.
For some odd reason, the city doesn't allow it to be installed outside of the manufacture safety requirement. The bottom of the hard wired heater cannot be lower then 8 feet.
My basement is 7 feet tall. However, a portable heater is not against code. It can be put on the floor. So it is weird to me.
However, I want to be able to take it out into my garage when I need it. I can just plug it in and use the manual thermostat. As for my basement that has no heat, I want to use the thermostat. So making the outlet using the Contactor and Control Transformer to work with the Thermostat would allow me to heat up the basement ahead of time. @@OvalboreTech
The current 7,500 version has a lot less real estate to work with inside the box. Can the contactor/transformer be mounted in a junction box nearby, with just red and black 8 gauge (for 40 amp breaker) hot wires leaving the junction to the heater? Or have I missed something?
you could move the contactor in to a metal junction box with the high and low voltage run separately between.
Nice! I just bought one of these heaters and was wondering how I could make it thermostatically controlled.
boggles my mind how anyone would even semi regularly use one of these without a real thermostat.
The main orange wire coming from the panel is it 10/3 or 10/2? I have the same heater and what to do this I've got all the parts except I can't decide which wire to get.
its 10/3
if i use the RC840T-240 Aube 240V Relay With Built In 24V Transformer, do i need to use the contactor?
is that the one I put in the description?
@@OvalboreTech no. This would be another one that seems to be a 2in1 sort. But not entirely sure.
On the transformer (packard) you used the black and white wire for power. Which means the transformer is powered by 120volts, not 240 volts. If 240 volts powered the contactor, the orange and white wire would be used.
THANK YOU for this video! QUESTION- can I use any smart thermostat like a Google Nest?
any conventional thermostat will work
My heater has 4 wire coming out of the back red black green And blue what is the blue wire used for I also have a turn dial Honeywell's thermostat
Will the built in thermostat trigger the unit to OFF if you don’t disconnect it completely?
not sure. did not test
As many asked before, anyway to do this with 10/2 wire? 2 hots and a ground, no common so not sure how the power transformer would work with no common
I think I can answer this after some more research. Looks like power transformer is able to run off 240V (orange and white) connects to the 2 hots off 10/2
yes you can run the transformer off L1 and ground alone, but I have to condemn that action. it's really not safe.
you're better off running the transformer elsewhere and running the 18 gauge control cable for the thermostat and transformer separately to the unit if you're stuck with that.
@@OvalboreTech hmm I was looking at the transformer wiring and I was looking at running it at 240V not L1 and grnd. I may look at other options. Wish I saw this video before running 10/2.
run a separate circuit or isolate the transformer. it's not kosher to do what I did either due to the breaker being a dual pole, but it's a lot safer using a neutral than bare copper ground. it WOULD work, but man I wouldn't sleep at night with it wired that way.
Use a 240V Primary 24V Secondary transformer. The primary (Line) side of the transformer will connect to L1 and L2 and give you 24 out. As others have said, do not use a 120V transformer between L1 or L2 and the Ground. Doesn't meet code and is not safe.
Will these parts work on a 10000W Heater 60A breaker
I had recently bought this same comfort zone heater for my storage barn. Was wanting to be able to control with phone so happy I found your video. I bought same contactor and transformer you have and hooked up exactly like you have it but it isn't working. Contactor isn't closing. Checked it and it's good. I'm getting 120v going into contactor and also reading 24v on the side coils so transformer should be good. I'm clueless on why it's not working. Did you change function settings on thermostat? I changed them to electric heat with no A/C. Using same 3 thermostat wires you are in video. Am I missing something? Please help. Thank you!
you got a 40kVa transformer? if so, try putting direct jumper wires from the transformer to the contactor legs to see if it fires. if it does, you've got thermostat wiring issues, if not, you may have a faulty contactor, although thats rare.
ensure you have a 24VAC contactor. most are 120-volt triggers
@@OvalboreTech Thanks so much for your help! After taking a closer look the contactor I got was not a 24v coil one. I ordered the correct one and hopefully that'll get it goin...I don't see why it wouldn't. Thanks for mentioning that. Can't wait to get it and hook it up 👍
So I wired it as prescribed. I'm able to turn the unit off from the thermostat but not back on. When I put it in 'Heat' mode from thermostat I can hear the contactors engaging and power does go to the unit because I can see the red light indicating power turn on, but the heat/fan doesn't start unless I physically hit the power button. Any idea? FYI I'm using the 7,500w version that has digital thermostat/dial. Is this my issue? Btw awesome video.
no idea since you're not using the unit pictured. would suggest removing or bypassing the built in thermostat.
Now that youve had this setup for a couple winters, are you still happy with it? I've purchased the items off your links and will be attempting this same thing on my heater. Thanks for the video!
I have to admit with off-peak power in the garage, it is really nice to be able to pull up the thermostat in bed on a Friday night and heat up the garage for some Saturday stuff overnight on the cheap power without having to go out there (and set it to a more reasonable 45 or 47 degrees). All in all yes, I can't imagine using one of these without an external thermostat.
@@OvalboreTech Thanks for the reply. I remodeled my garage over the past few months and am super excited to have a heater out there. Ive been using mine (very similar to yours) over the last month and with the built in timer/thermostat whatever it is, my garage has been staying too warm even with the dial turned to the lowest and i have a pretty large electric bill. Im hoping an actual thermostat set to like 40 full time, with bumping up to 60 when i want to work in there will be much easier on the wallet! Thanks again!
Will this setup work for a 7500-10,000 watts thermosphere electric heater? I have 40amp braker and 8/3 wire
as long as your contactor is rated for that power, it should
That is a multi tap transformer you dont necessarily need 8/3 just run two hots from the line side of the contactor to the primary side of the transformer.. that way you could run 8/2 and save money
Can you set a certain temperature to maintain with the thermostat or does it just give on/off functionality?
whatever you set the thermostat to. you render the built in controls of the heater inoperable.
Okay, great! Good to know. Wiring this up in a couple days.
Thankyou
Do you know where the white thermostat wire attaches in the heater?
hey great video, im an electrician by trade therefore understand everything said, my question is if the thermostat is controlling the heat what happens to the original temp control does it need to be disconnected or is it just set to max?
hey Josh, crank it to maximum thats correct. the contactor handles the rest. you can select whichever heat output mode you want
@@OvalboreCars right on sub and liked!
Consider setting the heater's stat at some setting above where you expect to ever operate using the remote stat, but less than MAX. That way the heater's internal stat becomes a backup or high limit which will override the remote stat and turn the heating elements off if the temp goes beyond what you programmed into the remote stat.
Is this a regular confert zone heater
yes, details in description
Awesome I am trying to do the same but with a different heater and I just want a cheap thermostat to run it but I think I can use what you did thanks.
Since that transformer is a multi tap...couldnt you have just taken both hot legs from the contactor to the primary side of the transformer so you wouldnt have to run 8/3 which is significantly more expensive than 8/2?
if the transformer was 240VAC compliant yes, you could and just skip the neutral
@rodney landers That is my understanding too. The XFMR is multi-tap, it's right on the label on the XFMR.
I know its an old thread. Taking a chance,if you do it this way which primary wire do you use on the transformer
The transformer he has pictured is a 120/240 version. Using the white and orange wires on the primary side is all that was needed, no neutral required. With the price of copper out of sight 10/2 is sufficient to satisfy this setup.
@@jimmyg6215I’m about to do this and have no neutral wire going to my heater. When you say use the white and orange wire, do you mean hook the orange to one of the 120 feeds, and white to the other?
Hi Erik, I got the same heater (Comfort Zone CZ220), ordered the same Contactor C240A and Transformer PF42440 24V / 40 VA. Hooked it up as you did (best that I can tell). Powered it up and it sounded "stuck"... after about 10 seconds, the transformer blew a fire ball? I wasn't sure while hooking up the thermostat. I put Blue wire to B, White to W and Red to R. I'm pretty certain I hooked up everything the way you did but wanted to ask if you may have any ideas what I may have done wrong? I can send you a picture of my wiring if that would be helpful.
I looked again at my wiring and I did find 1 difference. Where the Red wire from the transformer and Blue wire for the thermostat attach to the contactor, it appears I have those switched, compared to yours. Does it matter which side the Red/Blue wire is on the spade terminals? In relation, does it matter which side the White thermostat wire is on? By "side" I mean left or right terminal not the total opposite side of the contactor.
can I use 10/2 instead of 10/3 wire? noticed my service into heater is 10/2 wire. If so, could I wire 240v to transformer? Can one of the wires be used to power 120v to power my thermostat?
not safetly unless you get a 240V drop transformer and use it between the L1 and L2 legs
@@bobd. Yes it does. you could do both hot legs if you wanted to, but I did not opt for that.
@@OvalboreCars Understood. I would have done as you but no neutral at the 240V receptacle in my garage as it is an older home and not easy to upgrade to 10/3. It's working now so I'm good. Thanks.
@@bobd. what changes did you make? I have 10/2 wire at my heater and bought the 240v transformer.
Where does the white thermostat wire attach to on the heater?
all of the information you need is in the video and the description. watch it again.
Great video. Quick question about the ground from the panel to the heater, is this your common? 10/2 cable will have a ground which would ground into the heater itself. Did you do this? I have a G73 heater.
I have 10/3 which is two loads, neutral and ground. you can do this with 10/2 (load, load, ground to unit)
Thank you. I changed my wiring to 10/3 and added a 30amp double pole switch in line from panel and heater. Obviously there is the common wire which does not attach to this inline switch, do i just leave it running through the conduit and into the transformer as the video above shows? Just want to make sure I am not missing something. Thank you@@OvalboreCars
Hi, good video,
how do you like this heater? Is 5000W sufficient for a 400sq garage
its been fine. I do not use it regularly, but does fine when I need it in a pinch
Hello sir, did you use 10/2 or 10/3 cable since you need a common wire? Looks like your wire is 10/3 as you use your common to connect to transformer and the ground wire is grounded to unit. Thank you
10-3.
@@OvalboreCars Is it possible to use 10-2 instead of 10/3 by using the orange wire (instead of the black) of the transformer? I believe that would be 240v on the input side of the transformer.
can I use 10/2 instead of 10/3 wire? noticed my service into heater is 10/2 wire. If so, could I wire 240v to transformer? Can one of the wires be used to power 120v to power my thermostat?
Hi does anyone know how to connect it to Ecobee 3 lite? We did everything, and up to the ecobee portion. We try different combinations. Nothing would power up the ecobee.
The heater is Dyna-Glo 7500. I have a power conversion 40VA already hook up. I’m not sure it need to hook up the extender kit or not
Replaced the contactor and now the unit does not respond to the thermostat at all. Any ideas?
Will this work without a white wire to my panel?
not unless you run the transformer off of 240VAC
def insulating the roof will help bro. 80% heat is lost up 20% out the sides. get some insulation!
I dont heat my garage, this is only for emergency work where I dont mind burning a night of power to wrench. has been off all but maybe 2 days since filming this
Would this set up work for a 7500w heater as well?
40A contactor should be ok for that.
Thanks very much
What parts did u use
video descriptions are your friend
Nice this is what I want to do on mine that I got today.
Will I be able to install nest the same way?
yes, any conventional thermostat is set up the same way
What cable did you use for the thermostat
see video description
240 V is single pahse, there are no "phases" but there are two 120V "legs".
in north american residential power, thats correct, but there is absolutely single phase 240V in the wild in the states.
nevertheless, completely irrelevant to this content.
Does anyone know why my unit makes a buzzing sound while it is working?
Hi
Everything was working good except for the transformer
It stopped working after about 5 days of usage it has melted .
My transformer is good it takes about 5 clicks on thermostat to finally close contactor.
The whole process takes about 10 min I can hear the thermostat try to engage contactor then it finally works.
I am machinist not an electrician forgive dumb mastake . Connect your wire to RH not RC.
sorry I didnt see this in time - those should be bridged in almost every instance. Rc is from the transformer Rh is for equipment common
So what position do you set the original temp control knob on the heater or is it taken out of the control circuit completely ?
All the way clockwise. Read through the comments. Jef replied with this info on a comment by Shawn Rutter.
@@LemonySnicket-EUC thank you sir
Probably best to move thermostat across the room.
I just did this to mine. Everything worked great the first time I used the thermostat to turn it on. I turned it off and then turned on again and the contactor started buzzing really loud (in an open state). Tried it several more times with the same result. While it was buzzing I measured the voltage across the contactor inputs and it read 26.6 ACV .... any ideas what could be going on?
how many kVa is your transformer? usually a sign of insufficient power to the contactor
Did you figure it out ?
Couldn’t you use a smart switch
not a thermostat, so no benefit, and typically no since none I have seen are rated for anywhere near 30A 240V.
2 questions.
1. Why did you opt for the a 40 amp contactor over a 30 amp? That unit only pulls 20.9 amps.
2. What do you mean my “unbalanced” exactly?
over specified contactor is never a bad thing.
its pulling more amps on one of the 120V rail than the other 120V rail
Ovalbore Tech thanks. I agree. The imbalance of amperage is negligible in my opinion.
What’s the lowest temperature setting?
You could have just powered the transformer ay 220v and not used the neutral.
depends on the model of transformer. this is much more universal for those that use an off the shelf transformer in the states.
you gotta redo this video, but more in detail and a very clear step by step...
not happening. plenty of information here to get the job done.
Complaining about how people produce free internet content is a little absurd, mind you.
@@OvalboreCars i am not complaining at all, i produce free content on my channel as well
, all i am saying is that your video is really good and if you have laid out the parts and wiring on a table and demonstrated the wiring process instead of just point it out, it would have been a much better video. your video deserves at least 100K views by now.
Great hack! Do you think the RC840T-240 relay/24V power supply combo unit would accomplish the same results with ceiling heater similar to this baseboard mod? ruclips.net/video/7rJJON34KOw/видео.html The RC840T-240 looks easier to wire up.
Yes. I am using that setup in my garage for years. You cannot go up to the 7500W heaters though. 5500 watts is max for the RC840 (23 Amps). Works great on 5000 Watt ones though.