Ground fault on lighting fixtures in bathroom

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mshields

mshields

Senior Member
Location
Boston, MA
In a hotel, I've got recessed down lights over a shower that are on the same circuit as the GFI receptacle. So long as the fixture is wired downstream of the receptacle, then it is GFI protected is it not. Is this Kosher?

Thanks,

Mike
 
It should protect it if wired properly. I believe MA (I'm sure other states as well) doesn't allow all the lighting to go out from a GFCI tripping though.


Tom
 
Mike, as long as those lights are wired from the load side of the gfci they are protected. My question is why? There is no NEC requirement for gfci protection of these lights, Manufacturer might require it although I have never seen one that does.

As mentioned, in MA the gfci can not kill all the lights in the bathroom if it were to trip. The horror of darkness is too much to bear in this state. :)
 
mshields said:
In a hotel, I've got recessed down lights over a shower that are on the same circuit as the GFI receptacle. So long as the fixture is wired downstream of the receptacle, then it is GFI protected is it not. Is this Kosher?
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As long as the shower isn't for porcine use, it sounds kosher to me.

I have a question, though -- this wouldn't be appropriate in a dwelling unit, correct, because bathroom outlet circuits cannot have any other outlets, or is this an instance of "a light is an outlet". I'm not going to tell you what I think -- it's a settle an argument between me and a journeypeep from today.
 
tallgirl said:
I have a question, though -- this wouldn't be appropriate in a dwelling unit, correct, because bathroom outlet circuits cannot have any other outlets, or is this an instance of "a light is an outlet".
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You have choices

You can run one 20 amp circuit to an unlimited number of bathrooms and their receptacle outlets. In this case you can not use this circuit for anything else.

Or, you can run one 20 amp circuit to one bathroom and supply all the outlets in that one bathroom. The lights, the fans, the receptacles all of it on the one 20 amp circuit that can not leave that one bathroom.

Of course you can always exceed that by choice.
 
LarryFine said:
But remember, you can't use a protein shampoo while taking a milk bath. ;)
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It could be vegetable protein. I have a tofu-based sour cream substitute I use when I serve baked potatoes with steak, or when I make chip dip and I'm serving meat. I'm one of those clever yids :)

iwire said:
You have choices

You can run one 20 amp circuit to an unlimited number of bathrooms and their receptacle outlets. In this case you can not use this circuit for anything else.

Or, you can run one 20 amp circuit to one bathroom and supply all the outlets in that one bathroom. The lights, the fans, the receptacles all of it on the one 20 amp circuit that can not leave that one bathroom.

Of course you can always exceed that by choice.
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Drat. I missed the second choice. I said that the circuit which had the bathroom receptacles couldn't also have the lights on it.

That wasn't the only problem, though -- the bathroom circuit was being used for the attic light and a convenience outlet next to the furnace.
 
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