My basement has only one 20 Amp breaker running it. When I turn my heater on...it kicks the breaker. Can I just change that out to a 40 Amp breaker.. I'm freezing here. What can I do? It kicks every day .help me out
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How many Watts is said heater, and what else is on the circuit? Does whatever your place has for central heating not heat the basement...?– ThreePhaseEelCommented Dec 26, 2020 at 2:10
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1Do not just replace the breaker. You could endanger yourself. share some information– JACKCommented Dec 26, 2020 at 2:14
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2Do not do that. You might get warm by burning down your house!– DoxyLoverCommented Dec 26, 2020 at 3:56
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2No, for that kind of problem, you actually use your brain. Start with "when the breaker trips, what things lose power?" Could you please tell us about any of the ones that get warm?– Harper - Reinstate MonicaCommented Dec 26, 2020 at 5:12
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2 Answers
Edit: in short, I agree with John R. If you're interested in diagnosing the problem, or in finding out if a larger breaker is an option, here are some more notes:
An electrician can tell you if your breaker can be swapped to a higher current rating. The breaker capacity is based on the size and length of the conductor attached to it and other factors that a competent electrician will be aware of.
If your breaker is already the correct size, then a new higher amperage breaker will not provide the protection you need. But it's always possible that the breaker you've got is smaller than it could have been when installed. Or that there was once a 30 amp in there, and it was swapped to a lower size at some point in the past (which is safe) because that was the one someone had on hand. An electrician can tell you!
You can safely swap in a new breaker of the same size. It's unlikely to make a difference, but it will eliminate that as a variable.
If this is a new problem, with an existing heater that used to work fine, then that heater may have developed an internal short. If you can see inside the heater, look for two coils that are touching each other, that is a type of short.
The next step is to try and figure out what's using the 20 amps on your circuit. 20 amps is about 2400 watts, and that should be enough to run a pretty good sized portable heater (I'm assuming it's portable). Try unplugging everything else on the circuit, and see if it still trips the breaker.
Next try plugging it into another circuit of same capacity upstairs (all by itself). If it does not blow that breaker of the same size, then there may be a problem with your downstairs wiring.
If you use an extension cord, look for one that says '12/3', and get the shortest one you can use. Lots of cords will say '14/3', which has smaller wires, or '14/2' which does not have a ground. '12/3' or even '10/3' if you can find it is a good choice for big electrical loads like a heater.
Good luck!
Never EVER swap a breaker for a larger amp. Extremely dangerous and could easily burn your house down. If turning on a space heater trips the breaker, there are other things on the circuit drawing current and you will need to shut them off to run your heater on that same circuit. Also use the lowest wattage setting whenever possible - running 1500 watts (high power) all the time... no telling how warm/hot the wires inside your walls are getting. If you have an industrial (high-amp) extension cord, you could use it to run your heater from another circuit, or even add a second heater to the basement using the heavy-duty extension cord. (Do NOT use a normal household extension cord to power a heater though!!!). I'd suggest a kerosene heater to get you through really cold temps - they are great emergency heaters. Or an oil-filled dielectric radiator heater (those are safer than most).
