water heater switch?

[Greg L]

I'm thinking about switching my water heater from gas to electric. I'm going to run the gas line to the other side of the wall for a dryer and use the 220 electrical line for the water heater. My question is I have enough wire to make it to a box on the wall, how do I connect the wire to the water heater? Is there a special box, or a switch I need to use? I'm going to run 10/2 to the water heater but the wire coming to the outlet has 4 wires. I would like to put a switch in if I can. Maybe similar to the switches used for central air units. Any help would be appreciated.
Greg L

[Mark]

Last winter I switched my water heater from gas to electric. Mine was a wire run directly from the breaker panel. I've replaced hundreds of water heaters, and don't ever recall seeing one hooked to a separate box. Not sure why that would be necessary. If the box is located inside the water heater compartment, it might also violate some codes.

Yep, you would only need two of those 4 wires for the water heater (plus ground). I think I'd do it right and start with one solid wire coming from the breaker panel. Generally I bring the wire from the breaker panel straight down til it comes underneath the home. Then I bring it back up through the floor into the water heater room. Of course you'll want to use exterior-grade wiring for this.

Mark
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