Bathroom Lights GFCI protected

[jhawkbb]

I cant believe one house could bring up so many questions but here is another. We have a broan bath fan/can over a shower that needs to be protected. There is one more light in the bathroom over the vanity. The homeowner wants everything to come on with one switch. Anyone have a problem with this? My journeyman said whatever the homeowner wants when I asked if its better to have a separate switch for the vanity so if the GFCI trips not all of the lights in the bathroom will go out. Any codes against this? Maybe not electrical but maybe building codes. How do you guys handle this? If the fan/can was the only thing in the bathroom then you would have no choice so I guess what does it matter.

 

[ptonsparky]

Has it been determined that the fan/can must be GFCI protected?

 

[jhawkbb]

Yes. Per manufacturer's instructions. If installed over a shower or tub it must be GFCI protected

 

[ptonsparky]

Whatever the customer wants.

 

[Pizza]

Throw a dead front GFI behind the door and GFI protect the switch for everything.... done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jhawkbb]

Throw a dead front GFI behind the door and GFI protect the switch for everything.... done.

This is what we plan on doing. I was just wondering if that is good practice. If the GFCI were to trip then they are left in the dark. Seems like nobody else thinks this is a problem

 

[GoldDigger]

If you feel that strongly about it run the fan off one GFCI and run from the unprotected light switch to the regular light and to a second GFCI just for the fan light.

 

[mopowr steve]

Yeh, it's a home owner call. Although I agree with your train of thought. Nothing in NEC that disallows it.
Maybe look at life safety code and see if anything is there. I doubt for single family residence.
I usually (except rare occasions) will always have bath vanity light not protected by gfci for the same reason of not being left in the dark if it should trip.

 

[readydave8]

Main breaker may trip, better be safe and add battery emergency light

 

[ritelec]

Main breaker may trip, better be safe and add battery emergency light

I was thinking transfer switch and generator

 

[ritelec]

I do think it was a legit question.
Probably not right to be left in the dark but such is life
As mentioned I think ?? Have the switch go to the fan thru the gfci and to the light without the gfci

 

[John120/240]

I do think it was a legit question.
Probably not right to be left in the dark but such is life
As mentioned I think ?? Have the switch go to the fan thru the gfci and to the light without the gfci

ritelec: What you propose sounds unorthodox to Me but should work if that is what you want.

 

[GoldDigger]

I do think it was a legit question.
Probably not right to be left in the dark but such is life
As mentioned I think ?? Have the switch go to the fan thru the gfci and to the light without the gfci

My proposal was a little more complex than that because the fan probably has a light in it and the customer wanted all lights on one switch.
Now with a double pole single throw switch you could keep it down to one GFCI unit.

 

[kwired]

Come 2017 AFCI will be requried, you won't worry as much about this kind of thing as the AFCI will probably leave you in the dark anyway at some point:happyyes:

 

[JFletcher]

Come 2017 AFCI will be requried, you won't worry as much about this kind of thing as the AFCI will probably leave you in the dark anyway at some point:happyyes:

Thankfully in VA AFCI are only required on bedroom receptacles. We will probably adopt the 2015 IRC mid 2017; I doubt a jump from br only to all 125V circuits will happen.

As for being left in the dark when/if GFCI trips, my thoughts: we lose power here fairly often (10-20x a year). The whole house goes dark, GFCI or not. Bathrooms are usually small enough to find egress w/o light. If you want, you can install an e-light for next to nothing in materials:

http://www.e-conolight.com/standard-led-emergency-light-with-two-adjustable-heads.html

Then it doesnt matter if it's a GFCI trip or the whole house.

 

[electrofelon]

I admit that like many folks I used to have this fear of having all the bathroom lights on a GFCI. I have changed my stance. Who cares? what are you so worried about??? There are tons of places in a home that dont have windows and a bulb could blow or an AFCI could trip, or for that matter it could be night time regardless of where you are in the house and you would be in the dark if a bulb blew or the power went out. Is it the image of someone with shampoo in their hair flailing around and tripping over everything in a panic like a scene from the naked gun that has you so worried?

 

[ritelec]

Always learning.

I thought it said somewhere that bath exhaust fans over showers need to be gfci protected

Turns out ( correct me if I'm wrong ) that the NEC makes no reference to that

They reference 110 as to the manufactures listing.

So. As I see it, if a manufacturer created a fan suitable for wet locations and didn't put " when in shower to be gfci protected" that fan suitable for wet locations could be installed in a shower without gfci protection. Correct?

It is the manufacturer that came up with that gfci protected fan in showers not the NEC.



QUESTION are those fan/light units rated as one assembly ? I mean is it permissible to separate the fan and light in the unit and feed it separately gfci to fan no gfci to light ?

 

[jumper]

Thankfully in VA AFCI are only required on bedroom receptacles.

All bedroom outlets, not just receptacles. Bedroom lights and smokes included.

115.Change Section E3902.12 to read:


E3902.12 Arc-fault protection of bedroom outlets. All branch circuits that supply 120-volt, single phase, 15-ampere and 20-ampere outlets installed in bedrooms shall be protected by a combination type arc-fault circuit interrupter installed to provide protection of the branch circuit.

http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/index....ons/uniform-statewide-building-code-usbc.html

Ps. I lived in VA for 11 yrs. that why I know this VA stuff.

 

[ptonsparky]

Always learning.

I thought it said somewhere that bath exhaust fans over showers need to be gfci protected

Turns out ( correct me if I'm wrong ) that the NEC makes no reference to that

They reference 110 as to the manufactures listing.

So. As I see it, if a manufacturer created a fan suitable for wet locations and didn't put " when in shower to be gfci protected" that fan suitable for wet locations could be installed in a shower without gfci protection. Correct?

It is the manufacturer that came up with that gfci protected fan in showers not the NEC.



QUESTION are those fan/light units rated as one assembly ? I mean is it permissible to separate the fan and light in the unit and feed it separately gfci to fan no gfci to light ?

QUESTION: IMO,Yes to the assembly, No to the separate feeds.

We usually install separate fan and lighting for a tub/shower. Fan goes outside the tub/shower area, light goes in. No GFCI protection required.

FWIW, we did a whopping 1 new home last year and other than all LED lighting it was a pretty conservative small ranch.

 

[ritelec]

I also think separating the light/fan combo would not fly.

And like you. A light inside the shower and fan outside.

Personally
I've "never" installed one inside.


Good day