Running power to my air conditioner

luckiestman13

luckiestman13

New Member
The service to my house is only 100amp. I basically have electric everything at my house. Because of that I've decided to use the existing 220v 40amp plug from my electric range in my kitchen.

Someone with some electrical knowledge what is the best way to connect these?

Thank you

Lucky .


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Got pretty far today. Built the frame for the unit. And cut the whole in the attic.

Does anyone know how they would attach these two sets of three wires?

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One reason that you might not have had any DIY tips is that, while getting bit with 120V can be annoying, 220V/240V can kill you. Some people might get upset if they gave you advice and you ended up being the star at your own funeral, even if it was because you failed to properly follow that advice, lol.

It has been a LONG time since I wired up a range circuit - and I am not a licensed electrician - so I might be wrong about some of this, but:

IIRC, a 40-amp range circuit requires 8/3 wire - and it looks like what you're trying to connect to it is 12/2 with ground. Also, if I am not mistaken, a range circuit is only allowed to have one thing connected to it - that being your kitchen stove. Aside from the obvious possibility of you tripping the breaker every time you tried to use both things at the same time, what you are wanting to do screams "code violation!" at me. I'm going to assume for the sake of argument that you own your own house and, therefore, you're not trying to screw up someone else's property and that, furthermore, you are not likely to experience an inspection (if a code enforcement type person got wind of a setup like you're aiming for, you'd best have a supply of candles laid in, because you'd most likely see your electricity service shut off unless/until it was corrected and inspected again). But even if that is the case... If your house burns down and there is even a question of something like that being even tangentially involved in the cause, your homeowner's (or renter's - whichever the case may be, but I really hope you're the owner of record of that house) insurance will NOT pay off and you'll be left to rebuild and replace all your possessions on your own.

In other words, DO NOT DO THIS!

Assuming you have the capacity (in terms of amperage and a free space in your breaker box), just add a circuit for the air conditioner. Last time I checked, the NEC allowed for a maximum voltage drop of 3% at the farthest outlet for loads such as your air conditioner, so 7.2V for a 240V run. 12 AWG solid uncoated copper has a resistance of 1.93 ohms per thousand feet. That makes its 0.00193 ohms per foot. You did not mention the current that would have to flow through the wire to supply that air conditioner, but if it is 20-amp (and it is probably 15, at a guess), you would be allowed to have a 93.26 foot wiring run, call it 93'3", and around 124'4" for 15-amp. IOW, the 12/2 with ground that you have will be sufficient for the wiring run. If you do not have the ability to do such a job - and to tell whether or not everything is kosher when you look inside your breaker box - yourself, hire an electrician. I know that their official rates aren't real cheap but many of them won't charge an arm and a leg if you're willing to pay cash, have it done after hours, and are willing to help with the work (such as fishing the wire yourself). And even if the one you pick does charge you an exorbitant amount...

...it'll still be cheaper than a casket. Or multiple ones, if you manage not to electrocute yourself but do something wrong and end up burning down the house while you and your family are sleeping inside.
 
Lots of good info in your post thanks!

It was actually much easier than expected. I just wish I knew what to do to begin with.

420-magazine-mobile1265945630.jpg


12 gauge wire to a 15amp 250v plug. I hard wired to my breaker on 15amps.



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TorturedSoul said:
One reason that you might not have had any DIY tips is that, while getting bit with 120V can be annoying, 220V/240V can kill you. Some people might get upset if they gave you advice and you ended up being the star at your own funeral, even if it was because you failed to properly follow that advice, lol.

It has been a LONG time since I wired up a range circuit - and I am not a licensed electrician - so I might be wrong about some of this, but:

IIRC, a 40-amp range circuit requires 8/3 wire - and it looks like what you're trying to connect to it is 12/2 with ground. Also, if I am not mistaken, a range circuit is only allowed to have one thing connected to it - that being your kitchen stove. Aside from the obvious possibility of you tripping the breaker every time you tried to use both things at the same time, what you are wanting to do screams "code violation!" at me. I'm going to assume for the sake of argument that you own your own house and, therefore, you're not trying to screw up someone else's property and that, furthermore, you are not likely to experience an inspection (if a code enforcement type person got wind of a setup like you're aiming for, you'd best have a supply of candles laid in, because you'd most likely see your electricity service shut off unless/until it was corrected and inspected again). But even if that is the case... If your house burns down and there is even a question of something like that being even tangentially involved in the cause, your homeowner's (or renter's - whichever the case may be, but I really hope you're the owner of record of that house) insurance will NOT pay off and you'll be left to rebuild and replace all your possessions on your own.

In other words, DO NOT DO THIS!

Assuming you have the capacity (in terms of amperage and a free space in your breaker box), just add a circuit for the air conditioner. Last time I checked, the NEC allowed for a maximum voltage drop of 3% at the farthest outlet for loads such as your air conditioner, so 7.2V for a 240V run. 12 AWG solid uncoated copper has a resistance of 1.93 ohms per thousand feet. That makes its 0.00193 ohms per foot. You did not mention the current that would have to flow through the wire to supply that air conditioner, but if it is 20-amp (and it is probably 15, at a guess), you would be allowed to have a 93.26 foot wiring run, call it 93'3", and around 124'4" for 15-amp. IOW, the 12/2 with ground that you have will be sufficient for the wiring run. If you do not have the ability to do such a job - and to tell whether or not everything is kosher when you look inside your breaker box - yourself, hire an electrician. I know that their official rates aren't real cheap but many of them won't charge an arm and a leg if you're willing to pay cash, have it done after hours, and are willing to help with the work (such as fishing the wire yourself). And even if the one you pick does charge you an exorbitant amount...

...it'll still be cheaper than a casket. Or multiple ones, if you manage not to electrocute yourself but do something wrong and end up burning down the house while you and your family are sleeping inside.
Click to expand...

My plan was never to use the range and AC at the same time. My plan was to build a new plug so I could unplug the range and plug in the AC and vise versa.


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So you've got 12 gauge wire tied into a 50a range receptacle. Bad idea. The job of the circuit breaker to protect the wiring. A 50 amp circuit breaker will trip on overload of 50 A or a short circuit of 50 amps. That 12 gauge wire Will have long since overheated, melted the insulation off and gotten more than hot enough to start a fire. That 12 gauge wire on a 50 amp circuit is NOT protected. 80% of all home fires are started because of electrical Problems. There is a very good reason that the NEC is published by the national fire protection Association.

If you want to share the circuit of your range then you need to extend that circuit to a sub panel. You could make a cord from eight gauge or six gauge wire plugged in to the range receptacle then have it feed to a sub panel. In your subpanel you would then have the 12 gauge wire connected to a 20 amp circuit breaker. All this still is not technically up to NEC ( National electric code ) but it is 100 times safer than the set up you got running now.

Spend a few more dollars to properly protect that wire and you will be able to sleep the night without worrying about your house catching on fire.

And worst of all, if you do have a home fire and the investigator discovers that wiring is the cause of the fire like this, they probably won't cover your losses.

If I were you I would go to Home Depot or Lowe's and simply ask for help in the electrical section.

Don't push your luck Lucky.
 
Honz said:
So you've got 12 gauge wire tied into a 50a range receptacle. Bad idea. The job of the circuit breaker to protect the wiring. A 50 amp circuit breaker will trip on overload of 50 A or a short circuit of 50 amps. That 12 gauge wire Will have long since overheated, melted the insulation off and gotten more than hot enough to start a fire. That 12 gauge wire on a 50 amp circuit is NOT protected. 80% of all home fires are started because of electrical Problems. There is a very good reason that the NEC is published by the national fire protection Association.

If you want to share the circuit of your range then you need to extend that circuit to a sub panel. You could make a cord from eight gauge or six gauge wire plugged in to the range receptacle then have it feed to a sub panel. In your subpanel you would then have the 12 gauge wire connected to a 20 amp circuit breaker. All this still is not technically up to NEC ( National electric code ) but it is 100 times safer than the set up you got running now.

Spend a few more dollars to properly protect that wire and you will be able to sleep the night without worrying about your house catching on fire.

And worst of all, if you do have a home fire and the investigator discovers that wiring is the cause of the fire like this, they probably won't cover your losses.

If I were you I would go to Home Depot or Lowe's and simply ask for help in the electrical section.

Don't push your luck Lucky.
Click to expand...

I ended up wiring it directly to my breaker using the appropriate or heavier gauge wire. My friend who is an electrician helped me out. Since I've had a licensed electrician at my house to look it over.

Thank you!


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