Around the first of May I asked if there was any such thing as a permanently mounted GFCI wall tap effectively making that receptacle into perhaps
6 outlets. Unfortunately there isn't but someone suggested I use one of those power strips.
Tuesday I bought one at Walmart and mounted it on the side of my vanity. Works perfectly! Until one of y'all gets on the ball and invents one that screws into the original outlet this power strip will fill that gap. For whoever suggested this work around a hearty THANKS!!
If you watched This Old House Hour you'd know how to take out the single box and put in a triple-gang box. It's so simple even those DIY Network clowns could do it.
I don't do any electrical work except pay the electric bill.
Still would not have fulfilled my wants/needs.
Last year I did a complete bathroom remodel on the original bathroom of this house. Three (3) GFCI receptacles were installed. One for the new tub and one on either side of large oval mirror over the medicine cabinet. I am happy with those two. The power strip was for the second bathroom.
Were the ones on each side of mirror done just for a balanced look?
I can possibly see a separate circuit for the tub (spa?) but a separate circuit for each side of the medicine cabinet seems like over-kill. If it wasn't for looks, and it's the same circuit, why didn't they put a standard receptacle downstream of the GFCI?
3 GFCI's on one circuit in such a small area seems like over-kill. It seems to me that either the pair of sink ones could have been been placed down-stream of the tub GFCI or the tub could have been placed down-stream of the "matching pair" at the sink.
Do you know why they used so many GFCI's? Just curious.
The GFCI for the tub is not visible, it's behind a panel that surrounds a walk-in tub. Only one sink/vanity in this s-m-a-l-l bathroom and I asked for two receptacles in this area. He said fine and that they would be on the one circuit with the tub. It was just my personal choice to have two plugs.
I disagree. Based on what IJNJ described I can see using 3 GFCI's.
If the tub GFCI is behind a panel *and* is upstream of the vanity then it might be inconvenient to reset it if something at the vanity caused it to trip.
So, you run the wires off of the line side of the tub GFCI to the vanity and put a GFCI on the left side of the mirror. Then the client says "I want to balance the look, so please put another receptacle on the right side of the vanity."
Well, you can't "balance the look" with one GFCI and one non-GFCI, so you put a GFCI on the right side also, wired off of the line side of the left hand GFCI.
The result is convenient, non-daisy-chained GFCI's as well as the balanced look that the client asked for.
What's wrong with rewiring so the power goes to one sink-side outlet, and from there to the other and the tub? That way if the tub trips it is a simple matter to reset it. The ONLY rationale for using multiple GFCI outlets on a single circuit is if there is something on that circuit that MUST NOT be protected by a GFCI that cannot be moved to a non-protected circuit. Particularly when the bathroom was completely renovated and an extra outlet was installed, along with the "new tub" Whoever installed it either didn't know what they were doing or was lazy. There really is no other option. There was not even the excuse of using existing wiring as I strongly doubt the new "spa" tub was replacing an existing "spa" tub - . I could be wrong - but even then a "complete renovation" doesn't leave ANY excuse for 3 GFCIs on a single circuit.
There's nothing *wrong* with that method, but "nothing wrong" doesn't equate to the "only way".
Something that *must not* be protected by a GFCI? Like another GFCI perhaps?
Let's take the tub out of this and address your specific "ONLY rationale" assertion.
The client's desire for a balanced look is not enough of a reason for you? If you were being paid to do the work and the client said "I want the receptacles on both sides of the mirror to match", would you refuse to put 2 GFCI's on the same circuit based on some misguided thinking that there should never be multiple GFCI's on a single circuit? Why wouldn't you employ the simplest solution and use the line side of the upstream GFCI?
So in your mind, all of the various options at the following link are wrong? You are the only one in the whole world that is right when you say there is only one rationale for multiple GFCI on a single circuit? Really?
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Do us a favor. Draw us a diagram of the bathroom's wir "The result is convenient, non-daisy-chained GFCI's as well as the balanced look that the client asked for."
Am I right? I don't know. But neither do you. That is why I said there were options. Unlike you, I never claimed that there is only one way to do it. I also didn't insult the workers by calling them lazy or saying that they didn't know what they were doing.
You cannot take the tub out of the eqation because it is there. The GFCI for the tub is hidden. Doesn't make sense..
There may be an excuse for doing what was done, but no rationale - no "logical basis for the course of action" being the definition of rationale. two? sure, there may be a rationale - 3 - with one hidden for the tub? Nope. a GFCI breaker would make a lot more sense - or even a "deadhead" gfci in the linen closet which would allow the use of any type of receptacle the decorator wanted to use.
What doesn't make sense is how badly you missed my point. I'm not going to waste any time trying to explain it to you since you've made up your mind that only you are right and everyone else is wrong.
Do some research. Read some home inspection forums. There is nothing wrong with multiple GFCI's on one circuit as long as they are wired from the line side of of the upstream device.
Good grief. Now you're adding inconvenience and expense to the equation. Give it up. You're just digging yourself into a deeper hole.
Nothing WRONG perhaps, but certainly nothing right either. I'll take the recommendations of licenced electricians over a "home inspector" site any day of the year. Following the recommendations of several electricians and an electrical inspector, I have ONE circuit in my house retrofitted with
2 GFCI outlets. The circuit feeds a powder-room receptacle, a refrigerator, and an outdoor weatherproof on the rear deck. The refrigerator specifies "do not connect to a GFCI protected circuit" and both the outdoor and rhe powder-room receptacles required GFCI protection to pas the electical safety inspection (required to get new insurance coverage- re: aluminum wiring retrofit/inspection) Other circuits requiring GFCI protection have either GFCI breakers in the new panel, or a single "feed through" GFCI breaker. The inspector would VERY CLOSELY inspect the rest of the workmanship in a house where he found multiple GFCI outlets on the same circuit, assuming whoever did the job was "not up on" proper and accepted wiring technique.
...and as soon as (s)he noticed that the downstream GFCI were connected to the line side of the upstream GFCI, he'd understand that it was done for convenience sake and move on.
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