220volt electric outlet?

Question

I want to install a new tankless water heater and it says i have to make sure that I have a 220 volt outlet for it to plug into. I have no idea what I have, is there a way to tell if i have a 220? thanks

Answer 1

A 220v outlet has a face that looks "seriously" like a chinese face.
I am not being mean. Most homes in the US have 220v available. It is only two hot legs of the power outside. Water heaters, dryers, a/c units, electric stoves all use 220v.
But getting an electrician is the BEST solution. Just be careful and use caution if you do this on your own.

Answer 2

There is probably NOT a suitable 220 volt outlet anywhere near where you want to put in the tankless water heater. However, there may be 220 volt service in your residence. Sometimes you can tell by visual inspection, but an electrician is far more reliable.

A qualified electrician will require no more than thirty minutes to determine whether or not you already have 220 volt service. If 220 volt service is available, an electrician will also be able to tell you how much it will cost to add the outlet you need, and whether or not the existing service can handle the extra current required by the tankless water heater.

But if you want to try to determine visually whether or not 220 service is available, before you call in an electrician, try one of the methods that follow:

Go to the electric meter and inspect the writing inside the face. There should be something like "240 volt 3 wire" if you have 220 volt service. If possible, follow the wires entering from the outside to where they terminate on the outside of the building. At that point you should see the "feeder" wires the utility company installed. If there are two black insulated wires wrapped around a third bare wire you probably have 220 volt service. If there are three black insulated wires wrapped around a fourth bare wire you also probably have 220 volt service, unless the three black wires provide a three-phase feed to the building, which is also okay. Most residences do not have three-phase power, but large apartment buildings do.

Find the circuit-breaker or fuse panel and inspect the breakers and fuses. If two side-by-side breakers have their switch handles connected together, you have 220 volt service. If there is a removable fuse block for a range or dryer that has two fuses, you have 220 volt service.

Before calling the electrician, go exploring and look for one of these two things, and the rather large outlet they plug into: an electric stove or an electric clothes dryer. The outlets are very large compared to a wall convenience outlet. These 220 volt outlets (receptacles) accept very wide-bladed plugs that are angled instead of parallel to each other. They may have three or four flat blades, and sometimes a single round pin that is used for grounding, They are often externally mounted inside a plastic or metal enclosure. Stove outlets generally protrude above the floor behind the stove and dryer outlets are usually mounted on the wall in a basement or laundry/utility room.

If you find outlets for either one or both or these appliances you definitely have 220 volt service available in your residence. That doesn't mean you can actually use one for your tankless water heater, but at least you have the 220 volt electric service you need.

At this point you should call a qualified electrician to have an appropriate outlet installed for the tankless water heater. For me, this would be a do-it-yourself job, but from the nature of your question I think you need a professional. Your question seems to be whether there is a 220 volt service present or not. If not, it would be very expensive to install the service. And, of course, you couldn't connect a 220 volt tankless water heater until then.

Answer 3

A normal wall outlet you use everyday in your home is 120 volts AC. Your dryer or AC unit may use 220 (240 really).

Most of the time, home owners have to have an electrician to come in run some wire and install a special outlet at the location for the new tankless WH.

You can purchase a small electrical tester that plugs into the outlet and will tell you for sure what you have, but be very careful messing around with electricity.

If you have a relative or friend who is an electrician, consult with them.

Answer 4

you relatively could get a qualified electrician. A 220v 4 prong outlet could have 2 hots (120v each and every) a impartial, and a floor. while you're attempting to connect a dryer or oven that has a three prong (2 hots and a floor) plug you would be extra effective off getting a substitute twine. maximum ovens and dryers that have been made interior the final 2 a protracted time have a bar for 2 hots impartial and floor however the floor and impartial have a bonding strap between the two placed on it so as which you may apply it to a three cord outlet. on the time maximum residences weren't stressed out for 4 cord. you may do away with the bonding strap and hook it up. If the device you're hooking up would not have a impartial bar then you could desire to purchase a sparkling outlet and cap off the impartial. in the journey that your device is even older than that... properly my first suggestion could be to substitute it. If thats no longer an determination then you could get a three cord outlet and hook the hots as much as the two screws marked warm and the floor to the grounding screw. The white cord you may cap off and stuff into the decrease back of the field because it is not getting used. make certain you purchase an outlet rated for fifty amps, examine the instructions supplied with the outlet, make double useful which you have grew to become off the breaker earlier you start up, and in case you require a 40 or 30 amp outlet you may desire to replace the breaker with a corresponding fee. Failing to try this could reason electric powered fires and or ask your self hazards. i've got been taken aback by way of 220v and its no longer exciting. in case you would be unlucky sufficient to the touch one warm with one hand and the different which contain your different hand there's a solid risk this could reason a coronary heart attack. It purely takes 50 millionths of an amp to cease your coronary heart.

Answer 5

220 is mostly used in European countries and the standard American plug that most of us think of is 110. Also 220 plugs are normally round overall with two round prongs which are about 1/8 of an inch in diameter and about an inch apart. You can plug 110 appliances into 220 outlets with adapters and transformers but you can not plug 220 appliances into 110 outlets.

Answer 6

Your 220v outlet will typically have either a 3 blade prong or a 4 blade prong, so it would not look like any of your 120v outlets you have around the house. Usually, the only place you have this is near your dryer. If you use an electric hot water heater, it may be wired to a 220V circuit. Have an electrician check it out for you.

Answer 7

Not really unless you look inside the back of the box where the wires come through at. If there is three then its a 220, if only two then you have 110. But I would get pro help if I were you. Electric will eat you up if you touch the wrong wire. Been there many many times, and its not fun at all. TRUST ME

Answer 8

If you can or have plugged a regular appliance into it without harm, its 110. Also, 220 outlets are usually placed near major appliances like a dryer or a stove.

Answer 9

220 looks like the plug your clothes dryer is plugged into. I think tankless requires gas too.

Glenn Kawesch

Answer 10

best way is to call an electrisan,or get a volt meter,most 220 outlets have odd looking slots where it plugs in