Open Bath to the Bedroom

Status
Not open for further replies.

Romel

Member
Location
Florida
Occupation
Designer
If the bathroom is open to the bedroom, means that there is no door separating them, will the outlets in the bedroom needs to be in compliant with art 210.8(A)(1)?
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
Since we're not supposed to run cords through doorways, and doorways define wall spaces, the need for a GFCI in a room adjoining a bathroom is ludicrous.
 

Romel

Member
Location
Florida
Occupation
Designer
I don't believe the intent is for the entire bedroom to be considered a bathroom because there isn't a door.

While the intent is definitely not to consider the bed as part of bathroom, isn't it much safer to say to have the bedroom at the same level of protection with the bath as the outlets in the bed are now easily accessible from the bath? I know that this might sound overkill but I'm not sure on how inspectors interpret this case.
 

Romel

Member
Location
Florida
Occupation
Designer
Since we're not supposed to run cords through doorways, and doorways define wall spaces, the need for a GFCI in a room adjoining a bathroom is ludicrous.
I agree that its a bit foolish to have all the bed receptacles in GFCI, but if that's the case, how will you apply 210.8(A)(1)? How will you know if the receptacle is considered in the bath or still a bedroom receptacle? Will it always be subjective to the inspector? Typically we have a wall or door that separate the bed and bathroom.

Is there a concrete way of defining the bathroom envelope space?
 
Last edited:

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
The same uncertainty can occur in great rooms, where it's not clear where one room ends and another starts.

Wall color? Floor finish?
 

Chamuit

Grumpy Old Man
Location
Texas
Occupation
Electrician
You look at the print. Whether there is a "door" or not, doesn't make a difference.
 

Little Bill

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee NEC:2017
Occupation
Semi-Retired Electrician
Kind of a moot point sometimes. Lots of times I need to run an outside receptacle out of a bedroom, say for the HVAC required recep. It's easier/cheaper to just use a dual function AFCI/GFCI for the bedroom. It has to be AFCI anyway and the dual function is just a few dollars more. Cheaper than buying a WR GFCI receptacle.
 

Ohno Raccoon

Member
Location
Fairfax, VA
While the intent is definitely not to consider the bed as part of bathroom, isn't it much safer to say to have the bedroom at the same level of protection with the bath as the outlets in the bed are now easily accessible from the bath? I know that this might sound overkill but I'm not sure on how inspectors interpret this case.
I would say the room you are describing meets the NEC definition for Bathroom and not just any other Habitable Room in the house.

Actually looking at the definition again, it's interesting that NEC defines a Habitable Room as a "room" but for the definition of a Bathroom it's defined as an "area". Maybe I'm reading into it too much but IMO I think of walls as boundaries for a "room"; the boundaries for an "area" can be more ambiguous.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top