I am planning to replace a in-wall forced air heater in my bedroom with electric radiant floor of comparable wattage. I want, however, to err on the side of caution and leave the possibility to switch back to the forced air heater if radiant floor proves inadequate for being the primary heat source in the room.
Current setup is as follows: there are wires going from the breaker to a thermostat in the bedroom, and wires going from the thermostat to the heater.
The plan is to disconnect the wires going from thermostat to the heater and leave them in the wall, keep the heater in place for now. Replace the thermostat with the one appropriate for the radiant floors and install additional wiring from the floor to thermostat (and replace the breaker for that circuit with GFCI, while I am at it). The new setup will reuse wires from the breaker to the thermostat.
Is anything that prevents me from simply disconnecting the heater and leaving all the wiring in the walls unconnected?
Radiant floor will use its own wiring.
Best Answer
Disconnect the wires at the thermostat, wire nut, tape and mark for future use and tuck them back into the box. There's no problem just leaving the old heater in place with the wires connected. I don't think a GFCI breaker is required at that location.