Outlet for cold bathroom

My bathroom is in a dormer. I keep my house cool (55F) most of the winter, and heat the room I'm in with small electric heaters. The bathroom has two wall mounted lights, with two prong unpolarized outlets. I was running a small (600W) heater off of the light, until I discovered that the lights run off the old knob and tube wiring in the attic, which are partially covered in loose insulation. (!) This is the original lighting circuit (15A)that feeds most of the overhead fixtures installed when the house was built (c.1920).

I want new electric service, new panel, and removal of ALL the K&T and old BX wiring in the house. Then I can INSULATE (yay!).

HOWEVER, that will not happen this year. I need to run a circuit up to the bathroom from the basement to at least power a heater (600-1500W). I'd like to not have to re-do it when I re-do the rest of the wiring.

Bathroom will need, eventually: lighting circuit, an exhaust fan, a heater, and a courtesy outlet (shaver, hair dryer etc.).

Code requires separate circuit for a bathroom heater? Only if it's fixed? Plus, a GFCI for the courtesy outlet by the sink?

I'm wondering what the most practical solution is-one 12-2 for the heater for now, or a 12-3 to power the heater and the courtesy outlet? I have a GFCI receptacle and a 20A GFCI breaker. I haven't bought the wire, because I can't decide which would be best.

Reply to
Plague Boy
Loading thread data ...

In my opinion you should run enough 12/2+2 WG to run two completely separate circuits to the bathroom. 12/2+2 is a single type NM cable that contains a bare equipment grounding conductor, two white wires, and two black wires with a tracer color on one of each color One circuit will serve the convenience outlet by the basin. The other will serve an installed bathroom heater that will be fastened in place. The heater circuit will be GFCI protected in the panel using the GFCI breaker that you already have. The basin receptacle will have the GFCI receptacle. You can leave the lighting circuit alone as long as you remove the jumpers that supply the built in receptacles in the bathroom light fixtures. The reason that I suggest the two circuit approach is that it is not safe to have even the occasional use of a hair dryer on the old knob & tube wiring. An 1800 watt hair dryer is the entire ampacity of a fifteen ampere circuit.

-- Tom Horne

Reply to
Tom Horne

While not addressing your questions directly, I would like to leave some food for thought.

K&T wiring is safer than most people believe. Old is not bad, the insulation is a possible issue only if it may be touched or if it may contact you, a ground or conductive material. K&N will safely carry more current than a modern cable by about one wire size since it is air cooled better.

You will not have the safest and most useful wiring until you replace it. What you choose to do when depends a lot on your plans, money etc.

Personally I would look to do any upgrades in a way that will allow me to use those upgrades when I do the next remodel. I would be hesitant to upgrade something only to tear it out later.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Just curious, why do you feel it necessary to remove the BX?

nate

Reply to
N8N

  1. It's 50 years old and the insulation seems crumbly.
  2. The whole house needs remodeling. If I have to open up walls, etc, I want to do it before I remodel, plus it is probably easier to pull wires *before* I insulate.
  3. The current BX has no ground wire. Although the ground on the armor seems to work OK on some outlets, others have no available ground. It seems possible that the BX is spliced into the K&T, which is spliced into the BX down in the basement, where they SHEETROCKED OVER the boxes they used for the connections.

As an aside, I'm thinking of using armored cable for the rewire, rather than Romex. Any thoughts, anybody? I've lived here 40 years, I may be here another 40- I'm not "flipping" this house .

40 years of electrical starvation may explain why I want lots of power.
Reply to
Plague Boy

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.