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Install Runtal Electric Wall Panel Heater
Sep 18, 2025
http://www.AsktheBuilder.com founder, Tim Carter, demonstrates how to install a Runtal wall heater. There are several important tips Tim shares.
View Video Transcript
0:04
Hi, I'm Tim Carter, askthebuilder.com.
0:06
And in the next few minutes, I'm going
0:08
to show you how to do a professional
0:10
installation of this rental electric
0:14
wall panel heater. You're not going to
0:17
believe how simple it is to do. It's
0:20
really important that you read the
0:21
written instructions that come with the
0:24
heater. All right, don't skip this step.
0:26
It won't take long. It will ensure that
0:29
you install the heater properly so that
0:31
your warranty is valid and so that the
0:33
heater will operate safely for years and
0:35
years to come.
0:38
Rental also provides all of the hardware
0:41
that you're going to need to install the
0:43
heater. These are the wall brackets and
0:46
you'll see how those work in just a
0:47
moment. The and it also comes with the
0:50
screws. These are the anchors that
0:53
secure the lock down brackets to the
0:55
wall so that the bottom of the heater is
0:57
secure with the wall. And of course,
1:00
these are the electrical parts that you
1:02
need to make a code compliant connection
1:07
from your ROMX cable to the underside
1:10
and rear of the heater. You don't need
1:13
many tools. a level, screwdriver, drill,
1:17
needle-nose pliers, linesman's pliers,
1:20
tape measure, and a pencil. That's all
1:22
you really need. Let's get started. I
1:25
wanted to explain how all the hardware
1:27
works to install this heater. It's
1:30
really ingenious. Number one, here are
1:32
the wall brackets. So, rental has
1:35
created this U-shaped channel here that
1:39
the runs along the entire heater.
1:43
And these brackets, it's a, you can see
1:45
it's bent. So, this part here
1:49
goes against the wall, which then forces
1:52
this part to stand out from the wall.
1:55
And what'll happen is once it's
1:56
installed, the heater hangs on these.
2:00
You can see that it's a beautiful French
2:02
cleat design. So, you have to make sure
2:05
that these two wall brackets are
2:08
perfectly level once they're installed
2:10
so that the heater's level. I want to
2:12
show you where the electric connects to
2:14
the heater.
2:15
This is where the electric will enter
2:17
the heater. And once again, remember the
2:19
supplied parts. This will attach here.
2:22
The ROMX cable gets secured here. And
2:27
this is how the electricity goes into
2:30
the heater. The last little piece of
2:32
hardware is this tiny, you know, anchor
2:35
bolt. This little Molly bolt. And what
2:37
it does, you'll see at the bottom of the
2:39
heater on the back are these lock down
2:41
brackets. And by securing this tight to
2:45
the back of the wall, to the drywall
2:48
using this hardware,
2:50
you get and you make sure that the
2:52
heater is tight against the wall. The
2:55
first thing to do is to make sure that
2:59
you go to your panel and turn off the
3:02
circuit breaker that is supplying
3:04
current to the heater. It's really
3:07
important for you to understand that
3:09
these electric wall panel heaters,
3:11
they're heavy and you have to secure
3:14
them to solid blocking in the wall. You
3:18
cannot rely on anchors. You cannot do
3:21
that. And we installed the blocking back
3:25
when we did the framing before the
3:27
drywall and insulation was installed.
3:30
And that blocking is right here. We we
3:33
took measurements. We recorded it. We
3:35
remembered where they were. And in fact,
3:37
down here at the bottom
3:40
before we painted or after we painted,
3:42
we kept track of we actually marked it
3:44
on the floor. And we know that the
3:47
center line of that blocking was 27 in
3:51
off the floor. And the reason we decided
3:54
to do that is because we wanted to have
3:57
about 14 in of distance from the bottom
4:00
of the heater to the floor. You can
4:03
mount your heater anywhere you want as
4:06
far as on the wall, but I'm going to
4:08
tell you that you've got to keep in mind
4:11
your baseboard height, and you want to
4:14
make sure that you have enough room to
4:16
work and to access the electricity if
4:19
you need to check something or check a
4:21
connection down the road. And if you get
4:23
the bottom of the heater too close to
4:26
the floor, you're not going to be able
4:28
to take off that little plate that's at
4:31
the bottom of the heater. So, keep that
4:33
in mind when you decide how high you're
4:35
going to put your heater. Before I start
4:37
to put things in, let's talk about it.
4:39
Let's explain what's going on. I already
4:42
know that I want our heater to be at the
4:45
top of this tape line. That's about 31
4:47
1/2 in off the floor. That's what we
4:50
decided to do. If you read the
4:52
instructions, they say that the top of
4:55
the wall bracket should be 3 and 1/2 in
4:59
from the top of the heater. And I made
5:03
that mark right here. So that mark is 3
5:05
and 1/2 in from here. So you'll notice
5:08
that when I put the wall bracket on that
5:10
mark
5:12
that the two screws are easily going to
5:14
be within the 2x4. So you have to do all
5:18
of that math. You have to know early on
5:21
when you go to install the heater, you
5:24
need to know where to put this blocking.
5:26
It's really important. Here's another
5:27
thing that's important. If you measure
5:30
from the top of the heater, the one that
5:32
we have, our model, to the center line
5:36
of the electric contact, it's exactly 16
5:39
in. So, you'll note that from the top of
5:42
our heater down to the down to the where
5:46
we roughed in the wire, it's 16 in. We
5:49
did that on purpose as well back when we
5:52
wired this. We didn't just willy-nilly
5:55
put that put the wire someplace coming
5:58
out of the wall. Really, really
6:00
important. So, these are the things you
6:01
need to think about early on when you're
6:03
roughing in the electric and when you're
6:05
putting in your blocking. The
6:06
instructions are really clear about
6:08
where these wall brackets go. My
6:11
instructions say that these brackets
6:14
that the center line should be no less
6:17
than 4 in away from the outer edge of
6:20
the heater, no more than 6 in. So, I'm
6:24
going to choose 5 in. My heater is 36 in
6:28
wide. So, that means 18 in is the far
6:32
edge of the heater. So, here's the
6:35
center line of the heater. Here's 18 in.
6:39
And so, I need
6:42
to come in 5 in.
6:45
And at 5 in, this is where
6:49
we're going to install our first
6:50
bracket. I've gone ahead and I
6:53
transferred over these lines. This top
6:56
line is the top of the blocking. This is
6:58
the bottom of the blocking. And this
7:01
line right here is where the top of the
7:03
wall bracket should go. So, we're going
7:06
to put our first wall bracket right
7:07
here. Just like this.
7:11
[Music]
7:19
I want to talk a little bit about
7:20
putting these screws in. You don't want
7:22
to overtighten them because you'll drive
7:26
the this bracket the top of the bracket
7:28
too close to the wall. and then the U
7:31
channel on the heater won't engage
7:34
properly. You just want to make sure
7:35
that they don't wiggle around. That's
7:37
all that's important. You've got to make
7:40
sure you've got enough space here to get
7:42
the heater engaged. The wall brackets
7:45
are on. We're basically ready to install
7:47
the heater. But here's what you have to
7:50
do. This is the special electrical
7:53
connector that's UL approved. And you
7:56
have to all of this is going to protrude
7:59
into the wall. It's going to go way back
8:01
into the wall there. All right. So, you
8:04
have to cut at least a 2-in diameter
8:06
hole to make sure that all this is going
8:09
to fit. But what I like to do, I slide
8:12
this onto the cable backwards. And
8:14
remember, I already know that my cable's
8:15
in the right place. It's exactly where I
8:17
want it to be. And then I just trace
8:20
this
8:28
And then I'm going to saw out this
8:30
drywall and actually make it a little
8:32
bigger so I have no resistance when I
8:34
put this connector in.
8:42
I've got the electrical cable installed
8:45
through the connector. The connectors
8:47
attached to the back of the heater. You
8:49
can do all that yourself. There's
8:50
nothing hard about it. And I've
8:53
supported the heater. In my case, on
8:55
drywall buckets, it happens to be just
8:57
about the perfect height. Um, I'll have
9:00
to go up about an inch when I lift it
9:02
up. But this allows me because the
9:06
heaters are heavy. Remember, this allows
9:08
me, it's like a safety net. In other
9:10
words, I don't want to drop the heater
9:13
and I want to be able to get it onto
9:15
the, you know, the wall brackets to to
9:18
connect with that French cleat on the
9:20
back of the heater. It's time to do
9:22
that.
9:34
Check it out. The heater's installed. It
9:36
looks beautiful. But here's the trouble.
9:41
You can see that the heater can move.
9:45
And the reason that's why you have to
9:46
use this this special hardware that they
9:49
supplied to secure the bottom of the
9:52
heater against the wall so that doesn't
9:54
happen. So, let's go ahead and do it.
9:56
It's really, really not that hard to do.
9:59
I've already made all the holes. This is
10:02
the lock down bracket right here. And so
10:04
what you have to do is we have to do
10:09
we got to put this toggle bolt on.
10:12
It's a little tricky,
10:18
but it's possible.
10:30
Yep.
10:49
[Applause]
10:53
Check it out. It's installed. It's
10:56
beautiful. It's easy to do. Just follow
11:00
the instructions. And I'm telling you,
11:02
you'll have no trouble putting in your
11:05
rental electric wall panel heater. I'm
11:08
Tim Carter. Ask the builder.com.
11:11
If you want to discover more home
11:12
improvement tips, go to
11:14
askthebuilder.com.
11:17
[Music]
#Heaters
#Home Improvement