We're renovating a 30 year old home in the US and replacing three 240 volt electric baseboard heaters with new, modern heaters.
Currently, each of the three 15+ year old heaters are wired into their own "dumb" analog thermostats on the wall. We're looking at possibly replacing these with "smart" heaters like these which have an onboard thermostat, and then can be centrally controlled.
As I understand it, these new heaters should not have a thermostat in the wall; they should be connected directly to the breaker box. And I believe that currently 240 volts run from the breaker box to the thermostat in the wall and then from there to the heater. If that's correct, can I simply remove the thermostats, connect and cap the wires, and replace them with blank panels? Or would I need to run all new cable directly to the new baseboard heaters?
Best Answer
Your plan to connect the wires bypassing the old thermostats is a good one and it is code legal.
Make sure to turn the breaker(s) off and test to be sure both legs are off. I have found some 240 volt units that the thermostat only opened one leg.
Make sure to use the proper size wirenut or insulated crimps for the size and type of wire. If aluminum wire is installed, make sure to use deox / noalox or some other type of inhibitors and the connectors rated cu/al for the size wire.