210.8 NEC 2020: GFCI protection on outdoor electric heaters

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calm dude

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Hello Everyone,

My electrician is going to install an Infratech heating system with one of their control panels. He is telling me that the latest code states that all the 240V electric heaters on my patio need to be GFCI protected according to NEC 210.8. The manufacturer provides breakers in their control box, but they are not GFCI breakers. I reached out to them and they basically said we needed to figure something out. It's a 100 amp control panel providing power to my heaters.

Do y'all have any suggestions? I tried to find a GFCI breaker that is 100 amps, but didn't have any luck.

Thank you for your time,
Chuck
 
What edition of the National Electrical Code applies in your area? If you are not sure, then tell us what state you live in. The "latest code" might not apply, if your state has not adopted that edition.
 
charlie b said:
What edition of the National Electrical Code applies in your area? If you are not sure, then tell us what state you live in. The "latest code" might not apply, if your state has not adopted that edition.
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The home that this is being installed in is in the state of Washington.
 
What's feeding the heater control panel? Is there an up-stream breaker you could replace with a GFCI?
 
Do these heaters have receptacles, or are they hard wired (thinking hard wired since you said 100A breaker, that is acting like feeder protection for down stream receptacles after a controller)? The GFCI rule is for receptacles only, not any outlet. I'm doing some work now in WA to avoid some of these 2020 GFCI rules which don't kick in until July.
 
suemarkp said:
Do these heaters have receptacles, or are they hard wired (thinking hard wired since you said 100A breaker, that is acting like feeder protection for down stream receptacles after a controller)? The GFCI rule is for receptacles only, not any outlet. I'm doing some work now in WA to avoid some of these 2020 GFCI rules which don't kick in until July.
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They are going to be hard wired. I thought so too until I saw 210.8(F) which mentions outlets and not receptacles:

"NEC defines an outlet as, “A point on the wiring system at which current is taken to supply utilization equipment.”
 
Can you pull the permit in June? It is the permit date not the inspection date that matters. The subsection F I missed because they covered outdoor receptacles in (A)(3) and I thought I was done... In reading part F, it sounds like you are limited to 50A and below for the GFCI rule. Not sure how you are going to deal with this requirement if the heater controller creates the smaller outlets and doesn't have GFCI protection. Does anyone even make a 100A GFCI? You may need to get an inspector waiver on this one or see if the state puts an exception in the WAC for this requirement.
 
suemarkp said:
Do these heaters have receptacles, or are they hard wired (thinking hard wired since you said 100A breaker, that is acting like feeder protection for down stream receptacles after a controller)? The GFCI rule is for receptacles only, not any outlet. I'm doing some work now in WA to avoid some of these 2020 GFCI rules which don't kick in until July.
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The 2020 rule in 210.8(F) covers all outside outlets, 50 amperes or less, installed at dwelling units to have GFCI protection.
 
calm dude said:
Hello Everyone,

My electrician is going to install an Infratech heating system with one of their control panels. He is telling me that the latest code states that all the 240V electric heaters on my patio need to be GFCI protected according to NEC 210.8. The manufacturer provides breakers in their control box, but they are not GFCI breakers. I reached out to them and they basically said we needed to figure something out. It's a 100 amp control panel providing power to my heaters.

Do y'all have any suggestions? I tried to find a GFCI breaker that is 100 amps, but didn't have any luck.

Thank you for your time,
Chuck
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The new rule in the 2020 NEC only applies to outlets fed by a branch circuit rated 50 amperes or less.
210.8(F) Outdoor Outlets. All outdoor outlets for dwellings, other than those covered in 210.8(A)(3), Exception to (3), that are supplied by single-phase branch circuits rated 150 volts to ground or less, 50 amperes or less, shall have ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection for personnel.
Exception: Ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection shall not be required on lighting outlets other than those covered in 210.8(C).
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Is the 100 amps a feeder to a panel that will have separate branch circuits to the heaters? You may be able to use individual gfci breakers for each circuit rather than use a 100 amp gfci
 
Dennis Alwon said:
Is the 100 amps a feeder to a panel that will have separate branch circuits to the heaters? You may be able to use individual gfci breakers for each circuit rather than use a 100 amp gfci
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How would the cost of multiple smaller breakers compare to a single 100A?
 
If it is a controller like the one I installed last year, the breakers are lug-lug, so getting a smaller gfci may still be an issue. (The one I put in was a little bigger, 200 amp single phase feed)
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
The 2020 rule in 210.8(F) covers all outside outlets, 50 amperes or less, installed at dwelling units to have GFCI protection.
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Which now means rv 30 and 50 amp receptacles will be required to be GFIC. A single pole 30 amp gfci would be interesting, so looks like another wasted panel space. Looks like this new requirement is ahead of what is being manufactured currently. Going to be interesting on how they will enforce it.
 
hillbilly1 said:
Which now means rv 30 and 50 amp receptacles will be required to be GFIC. A single pole 30 amp gfci would be interesting, so looks like another wasted panel space. Looks like this new requirement is ahead of what is being manufactured currently. Going to be interesting on how they will enforce it.
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While it does cover the RV receptacles, it was aimed at air conditioning equipment. The substantiation was about a person who was killed from touching an energized condenser unit at a dwelling unit. Eaton, Square D, Siemens, and GE all have single pole 30 amp GFCI breakers. Two pole GFCIs up to 60 amps are readily available.
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
While it does cover the RV receptacles, it was aimed at air conditioning equipment. The substantiation was about a person who was killed from touching an energized condenser unit at a dwelling unit. Eaton, Square D, Siemens, and GE all have single pole 30 amp GFCI breakers. Two pole GFCIs up to 60 amps are readily available.
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One has to wonder how a condensing unit lacking an EGC would become energized. It would seem that the refrigerant lines would likely act as a fault return path via the air handler.
 
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