Testing a 3000w infrared heater

DD265

I've got two 3000w infrared pergola/patio heaters (they came with our pergola) that I'm looking to sell and therefore want to test so I can prove they work.

We have a 13a circuit in the garden (I don't know what I'm talking about but I'm sure it's 'standard' and that's 13a!) and to upgrade to 20a would be a significant undertaking: I don't think the thicker cable will fit the existing conduit, so we'd have to dig up a border and lift potentially all of our composite decking (the fixings mean you have to start at one end to get at the middle). If we'd known/thought, we would've had the higher rated circuit put in to begin with but here we are.

Can I briefly plug the heaters (one at a time) into a normal socket in the garage, take my photos/videos and then perhaps repeat if I get a buyer come to see them?

grumpy_codger

13A is a fuse in the plug of most powerful appliances that you can plug into a socket. Your garden circuit is possibly a fused spur from your house ring circuit. 

You can plug 3kW appliance into any socket unless it has any special marking. Many electric kettles are 3kW and come with a 13A fuse in the plug.

WIAWSNB

DD, what does the heater cable have at its end - what sort of plug? Presumably a standard 13A 3-pin household jobbie?
3000W is a lot, the max you can draw from a single socket. If you divide 3000 by 240 (the mains voltage), you get 12.5, which is the current draw in amps. Yup, that's nearly at the max of 13A, and you can expect the plug top to feel warm after a period of use. It's 'ok', but I personally don't like it.
But, for your test, absolutely no problem. Some of the more powerful kettles, and microwave combi ovens will be approaching 3kW too.

vacheron

grumpy_codger said:

13A is a fuse in the plug of most powerful appliances that you can plug into a socket. Your garden circuit is possibly a fused spur from your house ring circuit. 

You can plug 3kW appliance into any socket unless it has any special marking. Many electric kettles are 3kW and come with a 13A fuse in the plug.

This. 

In addition, your sockets in the garage are probably fed from a ring main circuit, in which case it will be rated to supply 32A, Therefore, you should be able to run both heaters simultaneously from the garage ring main circuit (not that there is any real reason to) providing they are each plugged into their own dedicated wall socket.  

DD265

WIAWSNB said:

DD, what does the heater cable have at its end - what sort of plug? Presumably a standard 13A 3-pin household jobbie?

Yes they have normal 3-pin plugs.

Thanks all, I'm glad to know I can test and hopefully get shut of the things.

WIAWSNB

DD265 said:

WIAWSNB said:

DD, what does the heater cable have at its end - what sort of plug? Presumably a standard 13A 3-pin household jobbie?

Yes they have normal 3-pin plugs.

Thanks all, I'm glad to know I can test and hopefully get shut of the things.

Cool. Sorted :-)