baseboard heat control panel??

[Jerry Lozier]

Estate home from a former electrical engineer. Not what I normally see.

Probably leftover stuff from years of work at Nuke plant.

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Found this panel way back in corner of attic. Controller for (4) baseboard heaters(?) in upstairs rooms. #6 copper on 50amp breaker in panel and coming into this panel.

Did not see any feeders for power going to baseboards out of this.

Any other ideas?

[John Kogel]

There's a transformer there that may be supplying low voltage power to ?? the thermostats? But 50 amps would be over-built for that.

Could it be a generator panel?

[Billy_Bob]

I can't see the bottom part of that very well with that picture...

Are those relays/contactors near the bottom?

[Bill Kibbel]

It looks like it could be a low voltage switching system. Were there any "rocker" light switches

[Jerry Lozier]

No generator hookup

yes those 8 guys at lower left are contacts

no rockers switches.

[Billy_Bob]

Well I guess the easiest and safest way to figure out what it goes to would be to have one person at that panel, then another go and turn on the heaters. Listen for clicking of the relays below.

If not that and you have light switches like above, then try those and listen for clicking.

A relay (or contactor) is an electrically operated switch. When it operates, it makes a clicking noise.

[John Kogel]

I think the 2 blacks and 2 whites in the very bottom of the panel are feeders to the heaters, two heaters on each circuit.

Each of those four wires has a red fuse (20 amp?) protecting it. A fuse near the top protects a supply wire to the transformer. Green or White wires go from the transformer down to the thermostats.

2 20 amp circuits plus another 10 for the low power circuit = 50 amps total.

You could verify it by pulling a thermostat cover, looking for green wiring. Actually the low V wiring is the small diameter white ones.

[Jerry Lozier]

Thanks John.

[Jim Katen]

I think the 2 blacks and 2 whites in the very bottom of the panel are feeders to the heaters, two heaters on each circuit.

Each of those four wires has a red fuse (20 amp?) protecting it. A fuse near the top protects a supply wire to the transformer. Green wires go from the transformer down to the thermostats.

2 20 amp circuits plus another 10 for the low power circuit = 50 amps total.

You could verify it by pulling a thermostat cover, looking for green wiring.

That makes perfect sense except for the "why" part.

What possible reason would there be to control baseboard heaters with a low-voltage relay? Line-voltage thermostats are cheap, readily available, and work just fine.

[hausdok]

Are you even sure it's hooked up to the heaters still?

It looks (to me anyway) like some wiring has been removed at the bottom. I think you're looking at an old control system that's just sitting there dead-ended. Were there additional brreakers in the panel for the baseboard heaters, in addition to these feeders, or was there just the one set of feeders?

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike