Outdoor residential spotlight

Jpflex

Electrician big leagues
Location
Victorville
Occupation
Electrician commercial and residential
It's been a while since I did residential. I have a church member who wanted me to install a motion sensing light outside his garage.

I was thinking king of just going to the artic and finding a nearby box for splicing power.

However, what would be the best material code wise for the branch circuit after drilling a small hole for outside and wall anchors?

If I use nm romex cable it would be OK until I exit the wall outdoors (as it is not rated for outdoors) even if the nm cable was terminated inside the outdoor box it is still an outdoors installation. I would also have to match the AWG size and insulation type, temp etc that the wire is splicing to in order to avoid violating tap rules and such. (Added this incase one comments)

Or do people just do thos anyway and inspectors look the other way?
 
It's been a while since I did residential. I have a church member who wanted me to install a motion sensing light outside his garage.

I was thinking king of just going to the artic and finding a nearby box for splicing power.

However, what would be the best material code wise for the branch circuit after drilling a small hole for outside and wall anchors?

If I use nm romex cable it would be OK until I exit the wall outdoors (as it is not rated for outdoors) even if the nm cable was terminated inside the outdoor box it is still an outdoors installation. I would also have to match the AWG size and insulation type, temp etc that the wire is splicing to in order to avoid violating tap rules and such. (Added this incase one comments)

Or do people just do thos anyway and inspectors look the other way?
You’re overthinking it.
 
You’re overthinking it.
No but nm can't be installed outside exposed to rain water etc so how could you run nm cable from attic to outside non flush mounted box?

I would have to run another wet listed wiring method

I'm guessing people just run nm cable outside of interior walls but according to code it's not compliant
 
Romex is allowed to terminate in an exterior box. Every surface mount exterior panel with distribution has dozens of circuits all run in NM terminating in it.

Every single exterior receptacle, porch light, garage light, security light, exterior wall sconce, etc, that is attached to the building, is fed with NM.

And there is no tap situation. Just run 12 if it’s on a 20A circuit, 14 if on a 15, and wire nut it.
 
If it’s going straight into the back of the surface mount box, it’s not exposed to moisture, if you need to run any distance outside before you hit the box, then that would be where you run into the code issue. You could set another box, and change over to thhn and pipe if your worried about it, or run the romex in the conduit, and sleep well that nothing is going to happen anyway.
 
Romex is allowed to terminate in an exterior box. Every surface mount exterior panel with distribution has dozens of circuits all run in NM terminating in it.

Every single exterior receptacle, porch light, garage light, security light, exterior wall sconce, etc, that is attached to the building, is fed with NM.

And there is no tap situation. Just run 12 if it’s on a 20A circuit, 14 if on a 15, and wire nut it.
By tap meaning you could not splice a splice a 14-2 nm to a 12-2 yellow romex.

As far as terminating into a box, I can see it more so being code compliant if it's flush with the wall and therefore still inside the wall rather than surface exterior box outside

To my knowledge nec doesn't do a great job clarifying this and just because it's common practice doesn't mean it meets code as it's written
 
Romex is allowed to terminate in an exterior box. Every surface mount exterior panel with distribution has dozens of circuits all run in NM terminating in it.

Every single exterior receptacle, porch light, garage light, security light, exterior wall sconce, etc, that is attached to the building, is fed with NM.

And there is no tap situation. Just run 12 if it’s on a 20A circuit, 14 if on a 15, and wire nut it.
Many of those boxes you mention are flush mounted and are still technically within the house indoors.

A surface mounted box is undisputed outdoors and as the code is written makes it not compliant to have NM cable inside it

I understand the practices and installations typically done but as the code is written and unless clarified by nec becomes a violation for using NM cable outdoor when the wiring method is not listed for wet locations

Even wiring protected in pvc is considered to be in a wet location if outdoors
 
Many of those boxes you mention are flush mounted and are still technically within the house indoors.

A surface mounted box is undisputed outdoors and as the code is written makes it not compliant to have NM cable inside it

I understand the practices and installations typically done but as the code is written and unless clarified by nec becomes a violation for using NM cable outdoor when the wiring method is not listed for wet locations

Even wiring protected in pvc is considered to be in a wet location if outdoors
I meant...wiring rotected in pvc is considered to be in a wet locations if underground
 
Perhaps the code language is not as clear as it should be, but this is one of those cases where common sense and custom is what is followed. For as long as NM has been used, it has been terminated in surface mounted exterior 3R boxes.

I have never seen, heard, or heard of this being called a violation, despite the topic being beaten to death online. It’s just not an issue.

As far as tapping off a 20A circuit with 14 NM for the light, no one who has any experience with electrical does that. That is not how we wire residential structures.
 
By tap meaning you could not splice a splice a 14-2 nm to a 12-2 yellow romex.

As far as terminating into a box, I can see it more so being code compliant if it's flush with the wall and therefore still inside the wall rather than surface exterior box outside

To my knowledge nec doesn't do a great job clarifying this and just because it's common practice doesn't mean it meets code as it's written
You can tap a 500 kcmil to a #14 if you want to, as long as the ocp isn’t over 15 amps. Totally legal.
 
You can tap a 500 kcmil to a #14 if you want to, as long as the ocp isn’t over 15 amps. Totally legal.
Won't work on a branch circuit unless your terminating the tap into a breaker for overload protection on the tap
 
Perhaps the code language is not as clear as it should be, but this is one of those cases where common sense and custom is what is followed. For as long as NM has been used, it has been terminated in surface mounted exterior 3R boxes.

I have never seen, heard, or heard of this being called a violation, despite the topic being beaten to death online. It’s just not an issue.

As far as tapping off a 20A circuit with 14 NM for the light, no one who has any experience with electrical does that. That is not how we wire residential structures.
That is why I said it would not be legal but if a handyman had a 14-2 nm cable to feed a small light load, do you think he or she will never tie the 14-2 nm into a box with all 12-2 nm?
 
Perhaps the code language is not as clear as it should be, but this is one of those cases where common sense and custom is what is followed. For as long as NM has been used, it has been terminated in surface mounted exterior 3R boxes.

I have never seen, heard, or heard of this being called a violation, despite the topic being beaten to death online. It’s just not an issue.

As far as tapping off a 20A circuit with 14 NM for the light, no one who has any experience with electrical does that. That is not how we wire residential structures.
You cannot use common sense as an excuse to do what ever you want because it's the authority having jurisdiction who allows exemptions.

If nec documentation does not allow nm cable in wet locations it is a matter of reading comprehension but not common sense.
 
Ideally, fish the cable down the exterior wall from the attic to the box. Come in the back of the box if it is surface mounted. If that isn't possible (e.g. a header you don't want to drill), surface mount a round exterior box to the wall and run PVC conduit up the wall to an LB and pop in to the attic. This doesn't look as nice, but is code compliant. Run UF cable from the nearest attic box if you don't want a splice at the LB (LB and PVC conduit will just be a sleeve). Or conduit into the attic enough to reach a junction box and then NM cable from nearest box to the splice box, and then individual conductors from the splice box, into the LB, and down to the light box.

Use #14 if the circuit is 15A, or #12 if the circuit is 20A. Then it isn't a fixture tap.
 
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