Bathroom(s) Rewire Questions


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Old 04-02-14, 06:20 PM
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Bathroom(s) Rewire Questions

Hi all;
I am rewiring my 1917 home in Detroit; having original knob and tube wiring. Just had a new 200A service panel installed. I have two second floor bathrooms. The walls in a room below the baths are demo'd, and I want to get the circuits I need run so I can close them up.
I need new 20A GFI outlets in each bath, vent fans, and want to add some sort of supplemental heater for cold mornings. Two questions:
2. My only heater options are either the overhead 5 amp double bulb combo fan/heaters, or the 12A resistance wire combo fan/heater units. Anyone in cold climates have any opinions on either? I am not a fan of forced air heat of any type (too drafty) but the higher amp rating of the resistance units looks compelling. Which is more comfortable?
2.The baths are as far from the service panel as possible without being in the house next door. A 250 foot coil of cable will do about two circuits. To keep wire costs reasonable, how many 20A circuits do I need to run to comfortably service these two baths with all the new loads? I will rewire the lights too, but they will be connected to the 15A lighting circuits of the adjacent bedrooms.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Mark
 
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Old 04-02-14, 06:56 PM
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Code only requires the baths receptacles to be on a 20 amp circuit. That 20 amp circuit can only then serve the bathrooms GFCI's receptacle. We like to run a 20 amp circuit to eachbath's GFCI receptacle. That way there will never be any issues with the breaker tripping due to hair dryers, curling irons, and the like.

The double bulb heaters are like having a spot light, or a red light, on you while you are in the bathroom. I find them a little annoying.

The fan heaters are a better option IMO, however make sure to get one that is quiet otherwise that will be also annoying to listen to.

IMO the best option is to install short baseboard heaters or in wall heaters. They are almost silent (baseboard), they produce the heat low which will better fill the room, and you will have them on a thermostat so you can set it to the temp you want. Only bad side is they are slower to heat a room , but they will not produce any moving air. (no drafts) For two baseboard heaters (one for each bathroom) you will only need one 20 amp, 120 volt circuit. Or one 15 amp circuit 240 volts. (@ 750 watts each)
 
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Old 04-02-14, 07:12 PM
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In Floor Heat

Have you considered in floor heat. Depending on the size of the rooms 1 15A circuit could feed both floors. There are many brands available. Follow the manufacturers directions for the finished floor you decide to use.
 
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Old 04-02-14, 08:19 PM
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There are also small in wall heaters you can use.
 
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Old 04-03-14, 06:24 AM
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Thanks. The floors are the old mud tile jobs - 6" of concrete. Similar for the walls, mortar on metal lath. Since they are in good shape, that limits my options there.
Mark
 
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Old 04-03-14, 03:02 PM
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If you can find baseboard heaters that can be installed in a bathroom...
 
 

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