OT - Wiring Question

Remodeling basement due to minor flood last year and just got all the insulation and wall framing up and adding some wiring while everything is open. I want to add an outlet near the new stairs I just built which will be carpeted - soon. Wife wants an outlet nearby for the vacuum. Only circuit that is handy is a lighting circuit for the basement lights (14ga wire, 15A circuit).

I've traced it out and it goes around the basement to 3 light fixtures then terminates going up through the 1st floor into a living room outlet where we have a lamp plugged in. I was under the impression (obviously wrong) - that wiring for lighting circuits were supposed to be on their own circuits and have no outlets. Rationale being that if the circuit breaker trips while using say a vacuum cleaner, you still have lights.

At any rate, anyone know if the NEC has anything against this for residential? I was planning on making it a GFI outlet since all other basement outlets are on a GFI breaker. That line is not near where I want to place the outlet...

Figured that if the contractor that built the house 30+ years ago must have had an electrical inspection and that the wiring scheme met code - then. I'll give our local code office a buzz in the am to see if they have any qualms about it but they have given me bad/wrong advice in the past - so they're hard to believe.

Thanks for your time,

Bob S.

Reply to
BobS
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I'd skip the "handy" circuit completely. Start from the box and run a couple of new circuits. They can be surface mounted in plugmold if needed. But you say everything is open, so now's the time to prepare for the next 30 years.

Pete Stanaitis

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BobS wrote:

Reply to
spaco

The only thing wrong with your plan is that if anything causes that breaker to trip you won't be able to see how to get out of the basement. If it were my house I would connect the outlet to some other circuit no matter how long the wire needed to be.

You can get a ground fault outlet to install instead of changing the breaker to achieve ground fault capability. These will shut off the power only to the GFI outlet and to any additional outlets that are wired after this outlet in the string and the rest of the circuit will stay on. There isn't a code problem no matter which way you do it, but it sure would be a good idea to have at least one light stay on when the breaker trips.

Charley

Reply to
Charley

Charley,

Thanks for the input. The outlet will be a GFI type. Having a light remain on if a breaker trips is obviously a good thing - my shop is wired that way. But in the 20+ years we've lived here, my basement has never gone dark because of something tripping the breaker. It has gone dark many, many times because our local "Flicker & Flash" power company has dropped power. Backup generator plus emergency UPS's keep things humming and flashlights all over keep us from tripping over things that go bump in the night.

Bob S.

Reply to
BobS

Pete,

Thanks for your comments. I have a 200A service and all the breaker slots are full. About 10 years ago, I opened up the garage wall where the breaker box is located so I could run extra circuits along with adding 60A service to my shop. The wall I want to put the outlet on has only shelves for storage (pantry items) and never had a need for power in this area other than the light above it.

My question was about code for lighting circuits. See my reply to Charley below for a bit of an explanation.

Thank you,

Bob S.

Reply to
BobS

Okay, I see. But, as one last thought, how about "piggyback" breakers? Two of them fit in each slot. ----At least a thought for future changes.

Pete Stanaitis

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BobS wrote:

Reply to
spaco

Pete,

I've installed one of those (dual 20A breakers) for a circuit in the garage where I have a small dust collector and my Performax drum sander. Neither unit draws anywhere near 20A but if I plug the sander in one circuit and the DC into the other, the DC breaker will trip....? I plug it into another 15A circuit in the garage and it works fine. Could be I have a defective breaker.

But at any rate, adding more circuits means opening two walls so I can get at the cables and box - not a 10 min project. I have installed plenty of

20A circuits where I need them - it's just this one location. Maybe I'll just get her a cordless vac and end the hassle.........;-)

Thanks,

Bob S.

Reply to
BobS

Have a look at the $30 Shark cordless vac. I got one because it was cheaper than a replacement set of heavy duty batteries for the Dustbuster.

My wife likes the motorized brush attachment for cleaning the carpet on the stairs - no cord, very little weight. She's happy, so I made a good choice ;-)

John

Reply to
John

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