3 bathrooms, 1 circuit?

[Matt Fellman]

This seems like a lot for a single 20 amp circuit....

Main level half bathroom - 1 outlet
Upper level guest bathroom - 2 sinks, one outlet next to each one
Master bathroom - 2 sinks, one outlet next to each one plus an additional outlet at a make-up 'station' vanity setup.

I know this has been discussed before but I coudn't find anything recent.

[Jerry Peck]

Meets "minimum" code requirements.

Might not make "common sense" but there is nothing about using "common sense" in the code. :)

[Matt Fellman]

Thanks... the people that write the code obviously don't have teenage daughters :)

[ken horak]

Thanks... the people that write the code obviously don't have teenage daughters :)
Keep in mind the National Electrical Code is a MINIMUM requirement not an installation manual.
It's not the code making panels place to design the electrical system for a structure.

The design of the electrical system falls on the builder or the person footing the bill for the construction. Your situation was most likely designed by a builder/ owner who was cheap and wanted code minimum.

[David Argabright]

It's not uncommon to find three bathrooms, two exterior receptacles, and a garage receptacle on the same GFCI circuit. All that extra wire too save a few $$ on a few GFCI receptacles.

[Jerry Peck]

It's not uncommon to find three bathrooms, two exterior receptacles, and a garage receptacle on the same GFCI circuit.


If it is a "newer" house, I believe it was the 1996 NEC when that changed, that should be really, really, really rare in finding the bathrooms on a circuit with those other receptacles.

Prior to that, yeah, they would put all the GFCI receptacles on one circuit and put a GFCI breaker in the panel or GFCI device at the closest receptacle on that circuit and then just wire away to wherever.