Snap switches located in bathrooms
- Thread starter darylsama
- Start date
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If a distance were ever required in the NEC, I'm sure there would be some bathrooms out there that would not be allowed to have any switches in them.
Besides, what's the difference between being wet standing in a shower and touching a switch, and standing at the sink all wet and touching a switch?
Besides, what's the difference between being wet standing in a shower and touching a switch, and standing at the sink all wet and touching a switch?
- Location
- Massachusetts
mayanees
Senior Member
- Location
- Westminster, MD
- Occupation
- Electrical Engineer and Master Electrician
garbage disposal switch requirements
garbage disposal switch requirements
I have a similar question regarding garbage disposal switches.
The under-the-sink switch that controls the garbage disposal is often accessed with soaking wet hands since the user is at the sink doing dishes, and hits the switch to clear the sink.
Are there any special requirements for that switch?
John M
garbage disposal switch requirements
I have a similar question regarding garbage disposal switches.
The under-the-sink switch that controls the garbage disposal is often accessed with soaking wet hands since the user is at the sink doing dishes, and hits the switch to clear the sink.
Are there any special requirements for that switch?
John M
- Location
- New Jersey
- Occupation
- Journeyman Electrician
Nope.
- Location
- Wisconsin
- Occupation
- PE (Retired) - Power Systems
It is not really about being wet. It is about the surface you are standing on or touching being 'connected' to the plumbing system.
Remember not everything in the code makes perfect sense.:lol:
Especially when it is trying to protect us from ourselves.
Which sinks are. The same logic that applied to GFCI receptables being originally required for kitchen countertops within 6' of the sink.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
They are not the same thing, unless you are standing in the sink. There are some similar conditions.
As to being wet and operating a switch - so what. The part of the switch that the user normally contacts is made of insulating materials. Unless you are more than dripping wet (which is kind of hard to achieve) how are you ever going to make any kind of circuit beteen the live parts of the switch and yourself, unless the switch is broken? The only thing that is conductive is a metal wall plate or metal yoke of the switch - and those are supposed to be grounded.
renosteinke
Senior Member
- Location
- NE Arkansas
Amazing, the paths 'logic' takes us down!
Imagine a place where the 'code' forbade any switches, any receptacles, in the bathroom at all .... even to the point of requiring a switch for the water heater. Been to Israel lately? Small wonder beards are fashionable there.
Imagine a place where the water heater was typically hung within the shower enclosure- to the extent where the washrag often gets hung from the flex feeding it. Been to Turkey lately?
Imagine a place where switches were outside the bath, and the 'receptacle' was of extremely limited power? Been to Britain lately?
Imagine a place where switches had to be 3-ft. from the shower. Hello, Canada.
Imagine a 'backwards' country where they actually REQUIRE a receptacle near the sink, and you can put a switch right at the edge of the shower. Look out your window lately?
Yet, for some silly reason, our 'shocking disregard' doesn't result in many shocks at all.
Codes, like good cooking, aren't made by any single element. All of the places I mentioned are quite modern, and quite regulated. It's just that their codes often start from different precepts, and even today their electrical systems use different elements. Thus, individual requirements that seem strange at first start to make sense once they're seen in context.
Imagine a place where the 'code' forbade any switches, any receptacles, in the bathroom at all .... even to the point of requiring a switch for the water heater. Been to Israel lately? Small wonder beards are fashionable there.
Imagine a place where the water heater was typically hung within the shower enclosure- to the extent where the washrag often gets hung from the flex feeding it. Been to Turkey lately?
Imagine a place where switches were outside the bath, and the 'receptacle' was of extremely limited power? Been to Britain lately?
Imagine a place where switches had to be 3-ft. from the shower. Hello, Canada.
Imagine a 'backwards' country where they actually REQUIRE a receptacle near the sink, and you can put a switch right at the edge of the shower. Look out your window lately?
Yet, for some silly reason, our 'shocking disregard' doesn't result in many shocks at all.
Codes, like good cooking, aren't made by any single element. All of the places I mentioned are quite modern, and quite regulated. It's just that their codes often start from different precepts, and even today their electrical systems use different elements. Thus, individual requirements that seem strange at first start to make sense once they're seen in context.
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