5

In my bathroom, a double electrical box near the door contains: a GFCI outlet; and a duplex switch for the light and exhaust fan. I will be replacing the aging GFCI soon.

On opening the box, I see that the GFCI load terminals are unconnected (the outlet protects only itself.) The hot and neutral for the light and fan are the normal unprotected circuit hot and neutral.

The light fixture is on the wall, physically within reach from a normal standing position, barely. The fan is not.

Would it be wise (even if not necessarily required by code) to move the light and fan to be downstream of the GFCI; i.e, their switched hots and neutral to be supplied from the "load" terminals?

(I inspected a similar arrangement in my 2nd slightly newer bathroom (80s not 70s) and that fixture was configured exactly this way: gfci outlet, load terminals, switch, light.)

Improve this question
1
  • While you could protect lights with GFCI, You really need to work on it for it to be any safer to you. GFCIs are there to only protect you from shocks. They do nothing to protect the circuit itself. Light fixtures seldom fall into sinks/tubs. Toasters probably fall into bathtubs a lot more.
    – crip659
    Commented Aug 25 at 14:31

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
8

Don't put the light on the GFCI

Putting a bathroom light on a GFCI is unwise, because you don't want the bathroom light to go out when the GFCI trips because your significant other dropped their curling iron in a full sink and now has to unplug it and fish it out to let it dry.

The fan may need to go on the GFCI though

However, some bath fans require GFCI protection when installed in a wet location. You will have to read the manual for your specific bath fan to determine whether it requires this or not, as well as correlating that to where the fan is installed.

Improve this answer
6
  • 3
    This explains why you wouldn't want the light on the same GFCI circuit as the socket.  But wouldn't it improve safety to put it on another GFCI-protected circuit?
    – gidds
    Commented Aug 25 at 11:10
  • @gidds you could use a deadfront GFCI to do that, but it'd be a bit...clunky
    – ThreePhaseEel
    Commented Aug 25 at 14:08
  • Happily, the "curling iron" gfci outlet, closer to the sink, is on a completely different circuit! That's the bathroom-dedicated 20-amp. The main light and outlet by the door are on an older shared circuit. The chances of someone tripping this gfci during normal bathroom use are very low
    – rgeorge
    Commented Aug 25 at 15:37
  • the fan says it requires gfci when over a tub or shower, which mine is not
    – rgeorge
    Commented Aug 25 at 15:44
  • @ThreePhaseEel: Nah. Just put it on a GFCI in another room, like say the one for the bedroom clock (still an extra plug) or the hallway one for the CO detector. It's effectively dedicated because those small devices are unlikely to ever trip it without being a deadfront.
    – Joshua
    Commented Aug 25 at 21:06

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.