If you're looking for a way to add supplemental heat to a home addition, you might want to install a baseboard electric heater rather than rely on a space heater. A baseboard heater can be hardwired to the electrical panel and controlled with a wall thermostat. You can buy the heater yourself and have an electrician connect the wiring. However, you might want advice from an electrician on matching a heater to your electrical system. Here's a look at installing a baseboard heater.

Check Your Electrical Panel

If you're not familiar with your electrical panel and how it works, you may want an electrician to check your panel before you buy the baseboard heater. Heaters come in both 120-volt and 240-volt models, so you might want help from an electrician in choosing the right type of heater for your electrical panel. Other considerations for hardwiring a baseboard heater are wire gauge size and circuit amps.

Choose the Location for the Heater

You'll want to choose where to install the heater and thermostat so the electrician knows where to run the wiring. You can have the electrician run wires from the electrical panel to the thermostat and then from the thermostat to the heater, or you can have the wiring run from the panel to the heater directly.

Install the Electrical Work

Your electrician may need to install a new circuit if all of the other ones are in use. The electrician matches the amps for the circuit and the wire gauge to the electrical demand of the heater. When the circuit is ready, wiring is run from the panel to the room where the heater is to be installed.

Your electrician might run most of the wiring through the attic if possible to reduce the amount of drywall damage. However, it's necessary to open the walls at some point, but the electrician will try to minimize the damage. When the electrician has finished the wiring, there will be wires protruding from the wall and ready to be attached to the thermostat and the heater.

Connect the Wiring

The hardest part of the electrical work is getting the wiring to where it's needed. After that, the wiring is connected to the thermostat and heater, and then the thermostat and heater are mounted to the wall with screws.

The electrician might test the performance of the heater to make sure it and the thermostat turn on and off, and that there are no problems with the wiring or circuit. By investing in residential electrical services, you can find a way to heat your home addition.