Powered bathroom mirror GFCI?

T

TCL1962

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Location
Indiana
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Journeyman electrician but in sales now.
I’m going to be building soon and will be installing a lighted, heated bathroom mirror. It has a standard receptacle plug. The receptacle would be concealed behind the mirror and inaccessible. The buttons are captive touch so no metal parts. Should this receptacle be GFCI protected or is this considered lighting?
 
You need to have access to the receptacle. You cannot leave it where it cannot be repaired without tearing things apart. Yes the unit will have to be gfci protected.
 
The mirror simply hangs from a bracket so it can be removed if needed for maintenance. However the receptacle would be inaccessible without removing the mirror so no risk of something else being plugged in. It’s 36x72 so it would take 2 people to take it off its bracket.

From a strictly safety aspect, it doesn’t seem different than a light fixture. In some ways safer since there are no exposed metal parts. If the plug were removed and it was hardwired, it wouldn’t be required to be GFCI protected, so is it just because it’s a receptacle?
 
TCL1962 said:
The mirror simply hangs from a bracket so it can be removed if needed for maintenance. However the receptacle would be inaccessible without removing the mirror so no risk of something else being plugged in. It’s 36x72 so it would take 2 people to take it off its bracket.

From a strictly safety aspect, it doesn’t seem different than a light fixture. In some ways safer since there are no exposed metal parts. If the plug were removed and it was hardwired, it wouldn’t be required to be GFCI protected, so is it just because it’s a receptacle?
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It isn't the light that needs GFCI protection, it's the receptacle. It is a bathroom and within 6' of a sink is why the receptacle needs GFCI.
 
The same could be said for a freezer receptacle in a garage. It’s a receptacle in a garage therefore it need to be GFCI protected. However isn’t there an exception for a dedicated freezer outlet if it’s a single outlet receptacle and it’s blocked by the freezer as to not be readily accessible?

I’m just playing devils advocate here.

Let’s assume it does need to be GFCI protected. Can it be a slave off the general bathroom receptacle?
 
TCL1962 said:
The same could be said for a freezer receptacle in a garage. It’s a receptacle in a garage therefore it need to be GFCI protected. However isn’t there an exception for a dedicated freezer outlet if it’s a single outlet receptacle and it’s blocked by the freezer as to not be readily accessible?

I’m just playing devils advocate here.

Let’s assume it does need to be GFCI protected. Can it be a slave off the general bathroom receptacle?
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There is no such exception for your freezer example.

Yes, it can be on the bathroom GFCI circuit as long as that circuit doesn’t feed anything outside of that bathroom.
 
TCL1962 said:
The same could be said for a freezer receptacle in a garage. It’s a receptacle in a garage therefore it need to be GFCI protected. However isn’t there an exception for a dedicated freezer outlet if it’s a single outlet receptacle and it’s blocked by the freezer as to not be readily accessible?

I’m just playing devils advocate here.

Let’s assume it does need to be GFCI protected. Can it be a slave off the general bathroom receptacle?
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Some states have that as an amendment like OR and there used to be till 2008 NEC
 
I’ve been out of the field for quite a while now so I definitely could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure my local AHJ allows the freezer exception. My daughter had a house built in 2018 and it was allowed then.

It’s no big deal to add it to the GFI circuit, and it certainly won’t hurt anything but I still contend it serves no real purpose.
 
TCL1962 said:
I’ve been out of the field for quite a while now so I definitely could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure my local AHJ allows the freezer exception. My daughter had a house built in 2018 and it was allowed then.

It’s no big deal to add it to the GFI circuit, and it certainly won’t hurt anything but I still contend it serves no real purpose.
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Unless the cord connected mirror falls into the sink. :)

Jap>
 
I would think the instructions for the mirror might give some information. Since the mirror can be removed the receptacle is accessible but not readily accessible. I would probably GFCI it but not with a GFCI behind the mirror. Use a breaker or an accessible GFCI receptacle
 
Most of the electrical code serves no purpose unless something goes wrong. OCPD is not necessary unless a circuit is overloaded or has a fault. That EGC? No purpose unless there is a fault. GFCIs? If you never come in contact with energized metal they just sit there and cost money.
 
Eddie702 said:
I would think the instructions for the mirror might give some information. Since the mirror can be removed the receptacle is accessible but not readily accessible. I would probably GFCI it but not with a GFCI behind the mirror. Use a breaker or an accessible GFCI receptacle
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Doesn't that "readily accessible" exception only apply to receptacles that are not "readily accessible" and are supplied by a branch circuits dedicated to electric snow-melting, deicing or pipeline and vessel heating?

I would think that if a receptacle is installed in a bathroom it would require GFCI protection regardless of whether or not it was readily accessible.

Jap>
 
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