What happens if you run a heater rated at 230 Volts on a 120 volt outlet?

Question

I have a heater that runs 600 watts that I would like to hook up to a 120 volt outlet.

Answer 1

THE HEATER WILL NOT WORKS.

Answer 2

If the heater is radiant or baseboard type with no fan, the heat output will be about 1/4 of the rating. This is because you have about half the voltage, this will cause the heating element to draw half the current. The precise calculations are 120/230 X 120/230 X 600 = 163 Watts
If the heater has a fan, the motor would probably not turn fast enough to cool itself properly. There is an good chance the motor will fail.

Answer 3

First of all, its the amperage (AMPS) that determines whether or not any fuse will blow, not the voltage (VOLTS). Amperage is a measure of the total amount of electricity flowing through. Voltage is like the pressure of the electricity as it flows. If you have a resistive circuit, such as a heater, supplying it with half of its normal voltage will simply generate much less heat than it was designed for, since the circuit is built to handle double the voltage that it's given. If there are any components in the circuit such as motors (for a fan) or other voltage-sensitive devices, you won't want to try using it on the lower voltage. The lower voltage will cause motor burn-out. If, however, the circuit is ONLY a heater coil, you should have no trouble--except that you will not be able to produce the kind of heat it is designed for. It would be very much like running an incandescent light bulb (another resistive circuit) on half of its voltage--it would be half as bright.

Answer 4

I think you have your watts wrong for it to be a 230 volt..a hair dryer is 1200 watts which runs on 120....

Answer 5

I will blow. If you run 120 v on 230 it will run very slow

Answer 6

You'll be wasting your energy.

Answer 7

That's easy. YOU'LL BLOW A FUSE!!!!!

or you could start a fire.

PLEASE don't do it!!!

Answer 8

fire problems could accure.....dont do it