What home improvement work did you do today?

Not enough to even just pigtail the wires? That would be a lot easier than adding a new box.

Wago are great, I like the lever ones myself.

 

@JMB Wagos are garbage. If you look at them, they have such a small area of contact that a decent amount of amperage will burn them up. I'd get a handful of red/tans from the big box store and add a bit of wire onto what you've got. You can for sure cut in a box to add some length, but I'd just wirenut some wire on first. If you leave joints in a wall I'll find you and punch you directly in the dick.

 

I'm only sparky adjacent, I just rewire in cabinets and low voltage.

Just for funsies I'll throw in I prefer Propress to soldering for plumbing as well.

 

I would stay away from Wago also. The wire nuts are specified with a number of wires/minimum gauge wire to number of wires/maximum gauge size. It’s on the outside of the package. I also make sure you get enough twist on the nut and wire. I now also wrap the wire nut and wire withe electrical tape.

 

I was able to add some wire to get the circuit up, but the box seems cluttered to me. I'm afraid I'd loosen the wire nuts when I secure the outlet to the box. For now I leave the breaker off except when I need the circuit.
I really don't know how I managed to connect the GFCI outlet 15 years ago it's so tight.

Good to know. It's a 20 amp circuit with only a dustbuster charger on it. I use it for high current draw items like my air compressor. I have a second circuit for lights, beer fridge and smaller draw tools.

I believe that's the route I will go. When it warms up.

 

No worries on getting dick punched. The question was specific to Wago, I'm totally not familiar with them. If I go the j-box route it will be flush and have a cover.

 

Texture, primer and paint done. Flooring next.

 

Interlock kits are cheapest at around 100$, but your box needs to be a common version that an interlock kit is available for. Then you also need a free double breaker slot for the generator (new breaker is cheap but yours maybe full). The outlet box and wire should be sub 200$. The cord is 100-200$ depending on length. A good generator option is a used Honda EU7000is or EU6500is or EM6500is if you can find one for sub 2k$, those will use about 8 gallons for 24 hours and power most things in your house.

I have to run dual generators to run my house and separate well shed and often lose power for 3-5 days at a time, makes for fun times haha. Blue dots mean I keep those on when using the generator:

 

No shit? Never heard of those.
How many watts?

 

Well, I'll be!
Pretty good looking unit

 

We installed one of these in our daughter's room this winter as well. Different brand but i really like it. I can set a schedule for it for it and adjust the temps from anywhere I am on my phone once's it's connected to the wifi. It's a pretty handy little space heater. https://www.dreo.com/products/wh719...ULAy_E35AHI0_2_U8LWHSIek2XttD2X4aAqhPEALw_wcB

 

I am looking on this site, and they do not list size recommendation on their wall heaters. How the heck are you supposed to know if it will be useful! I've got a message into support, but that's a big question mark. Not even in the faq that I can see. Do you know?


edit: at 1500w it should work for my space, same size as the one I have down there, but this one spreads the air much better, and mounted on the wall saves space on the floor.

 

all this heater stuff reminds me of this movie

 

We gave our oldest a heated blanket. Problem solved.

 

To hell with how many watts, I want to know how many amps!?

 

My 2 year old sleeps in our basement (finished!) and it's only got 1-2 heat output vents from the forced air, keeps it around 64. Wife would like her around 67-68, we have one of those fake fire electric heaters now, and it's okay, but not centrally located and a wall hang can be put anywhere!.

 

Our basement is similar. Stays around 65-66 year round. We recently overhauled our A/C systems and turned the downstairs unit into a dual-zone so we can finally heat the ground floor & basement independently, each having its own t-stat.

What I will say is two things:

One, we didn’t realize it, but we had something very normal for basements, a humidity issue, and thus mold growth. It was very subtle but was causing breathing problems for our kids when they spent any period of time down there. When I realized this, I put one of those Scientific Oregon temp/humidity weather stations down there and the humidity averaged around 60-65%, which is ripe for mold growth. You ideally want humidity to be around 55% or less. The kids’ asthma/breathing issues stopped after getting that in check. I setup the humidifier to drain via a clean out access port on a shared wall with the basement bathroom so I wasn’t constantly dumping the damn bucket, can share pics if it helps!

Two, after installing that dehumidifier, which runs far less after sealing our walls, installing drywall and flooring, I finally broke down, for the sake of the family, and spent the coin on an AirThings 2960 View Plus, which monitors for radon, humidity, temp, VOCs, CO2, air quality, etc. It hooks into WiFi and reports wirelessly back to a portal so you can track over time and get alerts etc. I was surprised to see we have some pretty hardcore radon spikes - radon is one of the top causes of lung cancer. I took measures to remediate that while I was at it, but now I gotta wonder how frequent it was spiking that high while I was down there for hundreds of hours in my shop over the years.

 

4.17-8.34

 

I keep a dehumidifier on the side that isn't finished, but this has me wondering if I shouldn't add one to their bathroom down there, I most likely should. My house was built in 2018/2019 so the outside is covered in water sealant and has insulation on the outside/under slab and inside. While that doesn't mitigate everything, I empty my dehumidifier much less than in a building we have without all that. I think I might get a little one for their bathroom after reading this, and I am going to look into the air things.

I appreciate your input on this, my family is important to me!

edit: getting an air things!

 

This is exactly why I have the app on my phone. Even after talking to her about max temp settings. So I f with the temps to let her know I'm always watching when it comes to the thermostat.

 

claims it best for 215 sqft spaces or up to 750sqft as a supplemental heating source.

her room is about 250sqft, and it's the only heating source. Over the last week with the negative temps it was still comfortable.
On the cycle I kept it at. Does require cleaning the filter every 2 weeks but I'm okay with that. On sale on Amazon right now.

Dreo Smart Wall Heater, Electric Space Heater for Bedroom 1500W, 120° Vertical Oscillation, Adjustable Thermostat, Remote Control, 24H Timer, Easy-Mount Heater for Indoor Use, Works with Alexa, WH719S

https://www.amazon.com/Dreo-Oscilla...ocphy=9028879&hvtargid=pla-2281435180698&th=1

 

We're a 2003/2004 build. It's code here to tar/seal the earth-bound walls of the basement, and they did sheet under the foundation to prevent water from coming up, which is why I thought nothing of it. Like all things, we did have two hairline cracks in our poured walls that would allow outside water to get in, which is what we initially thought was our problem, but even after having a structural engineering company come in and properly drill the crack, then fill the walls with epoxy sealers, the humidity was still above 60%. It must've been like 70% or something prior, or higher during longer rainstorms.

Hindsight 20/20, I kinda wish we'd hit all the walls and floors with RedGard or similar before finishing ours out, just to seal the interior space. It's fine without, now we have the humidifier in a good spot, and it helps having the bathroom built out down there, now we can run the bathroom fan to exhaust the air out if we hear the humidifier running more than once in a day (it typically goes days without running from October thru April). Anyway, not sure this helps much, but tossing it out there!

 

Not mine, but took out my mom's old stove in prep for her getting a new one today. Moved the old one to our house to sell along with the microwave from her place. If I needed a garage oven, it'd be staying. LOL.