GFI in Medicine Cabinet

	GFI in Medicine Cabinet - Ok for code?

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Subject

Author

Date

GFI in Medicine Cabinet - Ok for code?

barnesrich

03-20-2007

Re: GFI in Medicine Cabinet - Ok for code?

RBM

03-20-2007

Re: GFI in Medicine Cabinet - Ok for code?

John Grabowski

03-20-2007

Re: GFI in Medicine Cabinet - Ok for code?

Dan Lanciani

03-20-2007

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Posted by on March 20, 2007, 1:47 pm

Two bathroom questions:

1) Is it ok from a code perspective to have a GFCI outlet INSIDE a
medicine cabinet?
The cabinet is NOT recessed, and Ive removed the back.
So basically we are placing the cabinet, opened at the back, over the
finished (drywalled) wall/GFCI.
All other outlets (well the only other one) in the bathroom are
downstream from this GFCI.

2) We have an old house. The entire upstairs (2 bedrooms, 1 bath) was
on a single, ungrounded circuit (with this ugly cotten (i think)
sheathing, which is basically falling off the wire - ug)
We are ONLY redoing the washroom (at this point).
The plan is run a cable up through the wall from the main panel
downstairs and add a small subpanel (2 breaker) with a kill-switch (or
whatever you call it) in the bathroom. This sub-panel will be located
in a small closet.
The expectation is that if/when we re-do the bedrooms, we now have an
avalible circuit for them easily.
My guess would be this panel can't be in a closet. I'll check this
with the code book, but thought I'd ask here to get peoples opinions.
Any other major gotchas you see with doing this?

Thanks!

Posted by RBM on March 20, 2007, 4:41 pm

You can get a small flush mounted panel, then hang a picture over it

>> It's fine to install the outlet in the cabinet, although I'm sure it

>> would

>> meet the bathroom outlet requirement, which is to say, to meet code, you

>> may

>> need an outlet outside the cabinet as well. Your panel can't be in a

>> closet

>> other than one designated for electrical equipment. Just hang it in a

>> hallway

>> > Two bathroom questions:

>> > 1) Is it ok from a code perspective to have a GFCI outlet INSIDE a

>> > medicine cabinet?

>> > The cabinet is NOT recessed, and Ive removed the back.

>> > So basically we are placing the cabinet, opened at the back, over the

>> > finished (drywalled) wall/GFCI.

>> > All other outlets (well the only other one) in the bathroom are

>> > downstream from this GFCI.

>> > 2) We have an old house. The entire upstairs (2 bedrooms, 1 bath) was

>> > on a single, ungrounded circuit (with this ugly cotten (i think)

>> > sheathing, which is basically falling off the wire - ug)

>> > We are ONLY redoing the washroom (at this point).

>> > The plan is run a cable up through the wall from the main panel

>> > downstairs and add a small subpanel (2 breaker) with a kill-switch (or

>> > whatever you call it) in the bathroom. This sub-panel will be located

>> > in a small closet.

>> > The expectation is that if/when we re-do the bedrooms, we now have an

>> > avalible circuit for them easily.

>> > My guess would be this panel can't be in a closet. I'll check this

>> > with the code book, but thought I'd ask here to get peoples opinions.

>> > Any other major gotchas you see with doing this?

>> > Thanks!- Hide quoted text -

>> - Show quoted text -

> Thanks for the responses guys.

> Yes, there is an outlet outside the medicine cabinet as well

> (downstream from the GFCI), so all is good there I think.

> The main issue with the sub panel is my wife - she would freak if I

> suggested that subpanel in the hall or something - shes wants nothing

> to impead the vision for her design.

> thanks

Posted by John Grabowski on March 20, 2007, 8:28 pm

> Two bathroom questions:

> 1) Is it ok from a code perspective to have a GFCI outlet INSIDE a

> medicine cabinet?

> The cabinet is NOT recessed, and Ive removed the back.

> So basically we are placing the cabinet, opened at the back, over the

> finished (drywalled) wall/GFCI.

> All other outlets (well the only other one) in the bathroom are

> downstream from this GFCI.

> 2) We have an old house. The entire upstairs (2 bedrooms, 1 bath) was

> on a single, ungrounded circuit (with this ugly cotten (i think)

> sheathing, which is basically falling off the wire - ug)

> We are ONLY redoing the washroom (at this point).

> The plan is run a cable up through the wall from the main panel

> downstairs and add a small subpanel (2 breaker) with a kill-switch (or

> whatever you call it) in the bathroom. This sub-panel will be located

> in a small closet.

> The expectation is that if/when we re-do the bedrooms, we now have an

> avalible circuit for them easily.

> My guess would be this panel can't be in a closet. I'll check this

> with the code book, but thought I'd ask here to get peoples opinions.

> Any other major gotchas you see with doing this?

> Thanks!

Instead of installing a subpanel in the closet you can install a junction
box. Bring one or two (Or three) circuits up and terminate them in a
junction box in the closet where you can access them later. You could get
some deep metal switch boxes and gang them together and recess it into the
wall to make your junction box flush. Another thought is to just bring some
spare circuits up into the attic to be used in the future. Leave plenty of
slack on the wire so you won't need to install junction boxes up there.

FYI GE makes a white flush mount panel for mounting in hallways and such.
You can buy them at Lowes.

Posted by Dan Lanciani on March 20, 2007, 11:41 pm

| It's fine to install the outlet in the cabinet, although I'm sure it would
| meet the bathroom outlet requirement, which is to say, to meet code, you may
| need an outlet outside the cabinet as well.

Speaking of outlets in medicine cabinets...

My house (like many of its age) has bathroom outlets integrated into the
medicine cabinet/light or over-cabinet light assemblies. It seemed to me
that it should be easy to find replacement lighting fixtures with integrated
GFCI outlets, but after poking around the big box stores and doing a lot of
Googling I didn't see any. At first I thought that outlets in bathroom
lighting fixtures were simply no longer allowed and/or that you are expected
to install a normal GFCI in the wall if you are replacing the cabinet, but
then I found some bathroom lighting fixtures with *non*-GFCI outlets.
(Unfortunately, the non-GFCI outlets aren't Decora so swapping in a GFCI
would require some metal work and would probably void the UL listing...)

Eventually my Google search came across a patent on (I think) the concept
of GFCI outlets in bathroom lighting fixtures. Please tell me this isn't
the reason for the scarcity of such products. :(

Dan Lanciani
ddl@danlan.*com

Posted by mm on March 21, 2007, 1:26 am

On 21 Mar 2007 03:41:11 GMT, ddl@danlan.*com (Dan Lanciani) wrote:

>| It's fine to install the outlet in the cabinet, although I'm sure it would

>| meet the bathroom outlet requirement, which is to say, to meet code, you may

>| need an outlet outside the cabinet as well.

>Speaking of outlets in medicine cabinets...

>My house (like many of its age) has bathroom outlets integrated into the

>medicine cabinet/light or over-cabinet light assemblies. It seemed to me

>that it should be easy to find replacement lighting fixtures with integrated

>GFCI outlets, but after poking around the big box stores and doing a lot of

>Googling I didn't see any. At first I thought that outlets in bathroom

>lighting fixtures were simply no longer allowed and/or that you are expected

>to install a normal GFCI in the wall if you are replacing the cabinet, but

>then I found some bathroom lighting fixtures with *non*-GFCI outlets.

>(Unfortunately, the non-GFCI outlets aren't Decora so swapping in a GFCI

>would require some metal work and would probably void the UL listing...)

>Eventually my Google search came across a patent on (I think) the concept

>of GFCI outlets in bathroom lighting fixtures. Please tell me this isn't

>the reason for the scarcity of such products. :(

I have no idea, but you can find the circuit breaker for your light
fixture with outlet, and replace that breaker with a GFI breaker.
That fulfills the code and will work with any outlet, in a fixture or
not.

> Dan Lanciani

> ddl@danlan.*com

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