Trade In-Wall Heater for 220v power?

[Alex Burkhardt]

What gauge wire is it for the heater?

If you are thinking of wiring a new neutral do it right and run a new wire and put in a proper sized cb for the circuit you plan to use.

Does you elec box even have the neutrals and grounds separated?

Wiring looks to be 12/2 at first glance.

Good question about the separate neutral/ground. I will have to open the panel and check. Are you saying that if they're bonded together it's a non-starter for a multi wire branch?

thanks, ab

[Dan Friedrichs]

Not sure what Mike is getting at about the neutral and grounds. In your main panel (which I presume is the only panel in your house), the neutrals and grounds should be tied together.

12/2 gets you a 20A circuit. That's not a lot of power, even at 240v. What size breaker is it connected to? That might give you a better idea of the wire gauge.

But you're correct that replacing the heater with a receptacle is all you'd need to do.

Personally, I'd investigate the difficulty of pulling a run of 8/3 from the main panel into the garage to feed a subpanel. Then you'd never have to worry about anything, ever again...