baseboard heat voltage

[Walt]

Good Morning,
Nice site you have here!
I am planning on installing baseboard heat in one or two rooms of my house. We have heated with wood for 25 years and I need a little supplement in these rooms. In a year or so we plan to install a complete furnace/ac system but in the meantime...
My question: What is the major difference, or pros & cons of installing 220 Voltage over 110 Voltage baseboard heaters???
Thanks in advance!
Walt

[HayZee518]

No real difference - Watts is watts! Advantage of a higher voltage over a smaller voltage is the amps required to run the circuit. Basically it all comes down to the watts required for the heat. E.G a heater running 12 amps at 120 volts - at 240 volts requires 6 amps. Power = watts
P=EI - P = power (watts) E = Voltage, I= Amps
first example - P = 12 X 120 = 1440 watts - P = 240 X 6 = 1440 watts
Same watts smaller current -

[Walt]

Thanks. I can see I need to do some studying! So I am assuming correctly that 240V heaters are no more economical to operate than 120V? And no safer??

Thanks again!

[HayZee518]

Efficiency goes up as the voltage goes up. The wire size goes down because of less amps required to run the equipment.
30 amps @ 120 v
15 amps @ 240 v
7.5 amps @ 480
3.75 Amps @ 600 v
P=EI 30 X 120 = 3600 watts
7.5 X 480 = 3600 watts