I noticed in a new home I recently bought in Ontario that I have a bathroom outlet that was installed in the wall that is also the wall to the outside. Now in the last house I had, I asked the builder to do this but he said that it was against code to do that. So why is it this builder can now install a wall outlet on the wall that is the outside wall as well ? Is there a violation of the code by installing a wall outlet on a outside wall ? Thanks.
???? Why on earth would code care about an outlet in an outside wall? IMHO, previous builder was BS'ing you. At what point in process did you ask for outlet? If walls were already closed in, and electric rough-in already inspected, he probably just didn't want to mess with it. Calling a electrician back in to snake one wire, especially if he had to fish it, would have cost him several hundred bucks, possibly more than he thought he could get you to pay for it.
aem sends....
I don't know about Canada but in the US the bathroom circuit can't serve other loads. That is a fairly new rule and it was common in the olden days tyo serve the outside outlet from the bathroom GFCI.
Never install an outlet on an exterior wall if you live in an area prone to outdoor freezing. The reason is that the wires will freeze in winter.
And the electricity will be cold, and less powerful.
I sure don't know your codes up north, but the only thing I can think of would be aluminum wire. It would be more likely to end up with condensation and corrosion due to temperature differences and that in turn could cause a fire. Your new home would likely be less likely to have aluminum wire.
Just a guess: When you put an outlet on an outside wall you are penetrating the vapor barrier on the inside-house side of the insulation and reducing the insulation at that point. Both are undesirable. Breaking the vapor barrier can allow humid inside air into the insulation where it can freeze and produce both thermal and water problems. A bathroom could be a particularly bad source of humid air, although the air only has to have a dew point higher than the outside temperature. The penetration can be sealed with a plastic box that goes behind the electrical box and seals to the vapor barrier and wires.
You could ask a builder and repost - inquiring minds want to know.
-- bud--
Frozen electricity can be kept for up to 2 years. However, if it thaws it should be used immediately.
Canadian building codes require that boxes installed in exterior walls MUST be properly sealed to the vapor barrier. This is often done by "bagging" the box in a chunk of vapor barrier, and when the sheet vapor barrier is installed, they puncture it over the box, and the edges of the box bag are pulled thru and tuck-taped to the sheet. There remains only some small penetrations where the cables were punched thru the "bag".
They also make plastic boxes with "vapor barrier" tabs on them for the same purpose.
Other than that, there are no unusual restrictions on interior outlets/switches mounted on the inside of exterior walls.
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