I am installing a whirlpool bathtub.The instructions say I have to plug the pump into a 15a 110v seperate circuit protected with GFCI, and the heater into a 15a 110v seperate circuit protected with gfci.I take it I have to run wires to my main service box.I notice that gfci circuit breakers are very expensive.Can I just install regular circuit breakers and hook them up to gfci sockets by my bathtub. Thanks
Hi, There is a GFCI 15A circuit breker for that. Our tub is wired with it. It is regular breaker like but with a tab which pops when there is trouble in the circuit.
Won't pass inspection, although you may not have it inspected if you DIY. But it is an item that a house inspector would spot in a second if you go to sell the house. And if there's ever a short without a GFI, the house may be up for sale by the heirs.
Steve
Hi,
I think that what Mr. Trexxxmeis wanted to know is if he could use a GFCI socket instead of a GFCI breaker because a GFCI breakers are expensive.
I am not an expert in NEC code but I think that a GFCI breaker is better in the respect that the GFCI's protection is outside the bathroom away from water. Consider the following scenario. If water from the bathtub were to get behing the GFCI socket which is in the bathroom, this effectively eliminates the GFCI protection. The GFCI breaker being in a different area of the house is of course not exposed to this risk.
I suppose that GFCI socket could be used so long as that socket is outside the bathroom and no water could get behind the GFCI. However this now allows other appliances to be pluged into the same circuit as the Whirlpool tub. This then breaks the "dedicated circuit rule." I suppose you do not want to overload that 15 amp circuit for the whirlpool heater.
Just my 2 cents.
best, Mike.
Yes you can. Run the two circuits to the location under the tub where the support equipment is located and install a large deep two gang box with two GFCI outlets in it , one for the pump and one for the heater
Usually a whirlpool bathtub requires a 20 amp circuit for each. You could use the receptacles as ground fault protection but they would need to be located away from the tub so that they could not be accessible by someone standing in the tub. I don't know if this would pass inspection though as the inspector might consider this a bathroom receptacle.
I usually use GFI switches for hydromassage bathtubs. They look like GFI receptacles but do not have the openings to plug something in. The cost is just a little more than a GFI receptacle. I prefer to locate them in a linen closet in a bathroom or behind a door; a place where they are not visually obvious, but readily accessible.
Isn;t there something in the code that says permanently mounted equipment can't be on a plug/cord/outlet arrangement? And doesn't that apply here?
Yes, you can as long as local codes allow it.
These units come with cords and plugs attached to them and are U.L. approved. The outlets you install for them are located under the tub, totally inaccessible without removing the access panel. Another approach is what John Grabowski recommends, faceless GFCI's, but you still have to install outlets under the tub, as that's how they're designed to be connected
Isn;t there something in the code that says permanently mounted equipment can't be on a plug/cord/outlet arrangement? And doesn't that apply here?
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