110-220VAC SHOWER HEAD with HEATER

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JR Fox

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Accidentally came across pictures of 110 & 220 vac heated shower heads with absolutely insane electrical installations apparently outside of U.S. But they are widely available here. There are different types of electrical connections. One from home depot power plugs into outlet in shower and others in conduit. Is this legal with GFIC? I have seen GFICs not only fail but blow out of boxes.

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JR Fox said:
Accidentally came across pictures of 110 & 220 vac heated shower heads with absolutely insane electrical installations apparently outside of U.S. But they are widely available here. There are different types of electrical connections. One from home depot power plugs into outlet in shower and others in conduit. Is this legal with GFIC? I have seen GFICs not only fail but blow out of boxes.

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I stayed with relatives in Italy a few years ago, they had those. I thought they were insane... But I survived.

They were fed with their equivalent of a GFCI breaker, called an “RCD” (Residual Current Detector”) but for them, the ground tripping current is 30mA, whereas for us it’s 5mA. 30mA for us is considered “equipment ground fault”, but for my “equipment” I prefer the lower threshold!
 
Buddy of mine asked about one for his place in Florida last year. Had never heard of them until then, He travels to South America a lot and had seen then there. I never really tried to look into availability or Code issues here because we found a better solution anyway. But it's still intriguing.
 
Update

Update

Looked at reviews all are terrible. Different mfg of these have reviews of the units not working or breaking after one use. One installation must have not used gfic for person said they received a shock in shower. They are lucky they weren’t kill. Going to cross this off list and if ever asked I’ll tell people only to use UL listed under cabinet or wall mount units outside of shower.
 
I have seen one in operation in the Caribbean and there was a sign "Do Not Touch Shower Head While Turned On"....
 
I encountered the heated shower heads while traveling in Guatemala. Quite unnerving! It seems that the risk of shock should be reasonably low as long as the heating element is good and unbroken. If the element fails, then I'll be first to know! In all seriousness, are there some safeguards that I can follow to increase my safety while under one of these things? I'll be there again in March and would like to fly back in coach class and not in the baggage compartment.
 

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My son went to Ecuador and every time he touch the shower pipes he got a tinkle. He called me from there and asked what to do-- I said "Don't touch the pipes".
 
Wade Friesen said:
I encountered the heated shower heads while traveling in Guatemala. Quite unnerving! It seems that the risk of shock should be reasonably low as long as the heating element is good and unbroken. If the element fails, then I'll be first to know! In all seriousness, are there some safeguards that I can follow to increase my safety while under one of these things? I'll be there again in March and would like to fly back in coach class and not in the baggage compartment.
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That looks insane...........
 
JR Fox said:
Accidentally came across pictures of 110 & 220 vac heated shower heads with absolutely insane electrical installations apparently outside of U.S. But they are widely available here. There are different types of electrical connections. One from home depot power plugs into outlet in shower and others in conduit. Is this legal with GFIC? I have seen GFICs not only fail but blow out of boxes.

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Have you ever got in a hot-tub or a pool? Your relying much more on GFCI's in that case. :)
They are legal if they are listed and of course installed with a permit and inspection. Just follow the installation instructions per NEC 110.3(B). Requires a 30A 1 pole GFCI breaker most likely hard wired dedicated 30A circuit.
 
Dennis Alwon said:
My son went to Ecuador and every time he touch the shower pipes he got a tinkle. He called me from there and asked what to do-- I said "Don't touch the pipes".
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If I got shocked in the shower I'd probably tinkle a bit, too. :D
 
tortuga said:
Have you ever got in a hot-tub or a pool? Your relying much more on GFCI's in that case. :)
They are legal if they are listed and of course installed with a permit and inspection. Just follow the installation instructions per NEC 110.3(B). Requires a 30A 1 pole GFCI breaker most likely hard wired dedicated 30A circuit.
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Hot tub, yes. Pool is supposed to have equipotential bonding network.
 
Wade Friesen said:
I encountered the heated shower heads while traveling in Guatemala. Quite unnerving! It seems that the risk of shock should be reasonably low as long as the heating element is good and unbroken. If the element fails, then I'll be first to know! In all seriousness, are there some safeguards that I can follow to increase my safety while under one of these things? I'll be there again in March and would like to fly back in coach class and not in the baggage compartment.
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Take sponge baths.
 
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