Warm Tiles

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MF Dagger

MF Dagger

Senior Member
Location
Pig's Eye, MN
On a warm tile setup is the GFCI on the thermostat all that is needed or is supplementary protection needed? I've been scouring the code book trying to find why Warm Tiles writes this on their website...Is a thermostat required for

"All Warm Tiles Thermostats have integral ground fault protection.*Per U.S. National Electrical code – installation in a bathroom requires that this device be installed on a circuit protected by a separate Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI)."

What I've found is 424.44 (G), is the thermostat not listed for personal protection or is the site bogus?
 
Any idea why our inspectors around town have been telling us it needs a deadfront before the t-stat? I haven't been there for the inspections but my boss is having us do them this way and it doesn't quite make sense to me. If it changes anything I see in the online instructions for the stat they call it "equipment ground fault protection device"
 
MF Dagger said:
Any idea why our inspectors around town have been telling us it needs a deadfront before the t-stat? I haven't been there for the inspections but my boss is having us do them this way and it doesn't quite make sense to me. If it changes anything I see in the online instructions for the stat they call it "equipment ground fault protection device"
Click to expand...

Maybe the inspectors need educated.
 
I install a good bit of Warm Tiles, and have never been required to fit any extra GFCI. Admittedly, I don't know what milliamp level the one in the control trips at, nor do I know if it's required to be class A or not.
 
I appreciate the second and third and fourth opinions! I felt like I was missing something especially when I read on the warm tiles site. Nice to have some reassurance!
 
Ya know what? I just went to WT's web site.

Their catalogs state the stats do have GFI protection, but also this:

Per US National Electric Code - Installation in a bathroom requires that this device be installed on a circuit protected by a separate Ground Fault Circuit Interruptor (GFCI).
Click to expand...
 
Response from Minnesota

Response from Minnesota

My local Minnesota inspector educated me on this, apparently because the warm tiles T Stat is not a class A GFI. We had to install a GFI breaker.

Al
 
I concur with Al.
We also ran into this issue.
The GFI protection in the provided Warm Tiles T-Stat DOES NOTprovide Class A protection, therefore you have to provide GFCI protection before the T-Stat.
One thing that we have done is taken the Warm Tile off of the load side of the required 20A GFCI circuit in the bathroom already. I forget the code reference but you are permitted to place up to 7.5 Amps (they give 50 50% max but you deduct more because heating loads are calculated at 125%) of direct wired equipment on the circuit.
Unless you get into the bigger floor sets most are easily under this 7.5 Amp mark. Always check your floor size first tho.
 
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