Hi,

I have a new powder room in the basement, close to the electrical wiring that leads to an Exterior receptacle on porch. I check and that exterior receptacle is on its own 15 Amp breaker. I am thinking of using that line to power my powder room.

The plan is for the powder room to have an exhaust fan, receptacle & 2 pot lights. Fan & lights on different switches.

Here is what I am thinking:

- run a pigtail off the receptacle to the powder room switch for the lights but I am not sure how to run the wires for the exhaust fan & receptacle in the powder room.

Any feedback would be welcome.

 

First of all, where are you? We can tell you what should be done in North America, but both the electrical service and the regulations are different in other countries.

Here, the receptacle in the powder room would require a new 20A circuit. The other loads there - the fan and the light - could be powered off that circuit. The receptacle would have to be GFCI protected but the fan and light would not.

Would this work for you?

 

It is not required but I like to run power to the GFCI then use the GFCI protected terminals on the back to feed to the light and fan.

 

Thanks guys, yes I am in NA, Canada to be exact.

 

Nashkat1 why a 20A circuit? Is that code requirement?
Why did they use a 15 Amp for just one exterior outlet?

I really did not want to put in a new circuit just for the powder room.

 

I've run into nuisance tripping doing that. Anything that's safe and compliant and cuts down on no-charge service calls, plus helps build customer confidence by not having a problem in the first place is all to the good as far as I'm concerned.

For that reason, I've developed the habit of terminating the feeds for loads such as fans and lights in the bathroom in the spare slots on the LINE terminals, and only connecting the feeds for any additional standard receptacles to the LOAD terminals.

FWIW

 

When a jurisdiction has adopted the NEC, yes, it is.

DK. To save a couple of cents?

Since any bathroom is required to have a dedicated 20A circuit, or a 20A circuit that only serves the receptacles in no more than two bathrooms, there's not really an alternative. Even if your outdoor receptacle was on a 20A circuit, that circuit could not be shared with a bathroom.

 

OK, cool. Your power supply is the same as the supply in the US and I think most of the regulations are very close if not identical. But you need to check your local regulations, not only because they either the CEC or based on the CEC, but because all codes is local. What that means is that your local jurisdiction may have modified the straight CEC by adopting language of its own.

One difference I'm aware of is that you will be required to install a 20A receptacle in your powder room, whether it's a GFCI receptacle or a standard receptacle with the GFCI protection at the breaker. Here we can use 15A devices that are rated for 20A pass-through, but the CEC requires devices to be rated at the overcurrent protection value of the circuit. IIRC.

BTW, CANADA is one of the choices for location in a member's profile. If you make that change it will help the rest of get a better sense of your building environment without having to ask. Thanks.