Lights on GFCI for bathroom

[Mike Huppi]

I can not find any info on if it is allowed to have the GFCI control the outlet and the lights also. I do not think it should be allowed because if your wife was in a closed bathroom and the GFCI got tripped with your wife using her hair dryer then all the lights go off and you cant see whats going on.

[Bruce Breedlove]

I would think that is a good thing!

[Mike Huppi]

Oh to leave her in there with a hair dryer in the dark with water. Hows the life insurance policy?

[Jerry Peck]

How old is the house?

From 1993 on (I think it was, could be 1996) bathroom receptacle outlets were no longer allowed to have other outlets on them, except, if each bathroom was supplied by its own circuit - then one entire bathroom could be on one GFCI circuit.

Before that time, it was common to find all GFCI receptacle outlets (except the kitchen) on one GFCI circuit. Which means other outlets were allowed on that circuit, including the bathroom light outlet.

[John Arnold]

Don't mind me. I'm just checking to make sure we can spell in$urance a different way so the FREA, or any other company, pop-up doesn't appear. Hey, I guess I learned something from the spammers!

[Mike Huppi]

The house was a 73. Thanks for the info.

[Scott Patterson]

Don't mind me. I'm just checking to make sure we can spell in$urance a different way so the FREA, or any other company, pop-up doesn't appear. Hey, I guess I learned something from the spammers!

Space out the letters or add a "." to it. F.REA or insuranc.e

[cliff kornegay]

How old is the house?

From 1993 on (I think it was, could be 1996) bathroom receptacle outlets were no longer allowed to have other outlets on them, except, if each bathroom was supplied by its own circuit - then one entire bathroom could be on one GFCI circuit.

Before that time, it was common to find all GFCI receptacle outlets (except the kitchen) on one GFCI circuit. Which means other outlets were allowed on that circuit, including the bathroom light outlet.

This is obviously an old thread, but has this changed for any reason since 2007? Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[Jerry Peck]

This is obviously an old thread, but has this changed for any reason since 2007? Thanks in advance for any feedback.


Any reason for what?

Not sure what you are asking.

[cliff kornegay]

Can the entire bathroom (receptacles and lights) still be on one dedicated GFCI circuit? Apologies for any ambiguity...

[paul hardy]

The current codes IRC and NEC both allow either a circuit that supplies only bathroom receptacle outlets or a circuit that supplies all outlets (lighting and receptacle) within a single bathroom.

from the 09 IRC


E3703.4 Bathroom branch circuits. A minimum of one 20-ampere branch circuit shall be provided to supply bathroom receptacle outlet(s). Such circuits shall have no other outlets.

Exception: Where the 20-ampere circuit supplies a single bathroom, outlets for other equipment within the same bathroom shall be permitted to be supplied in accordance with Section E3702.

[Kary Krismer]

This is an old thread, but assuming the GFCI outlet and the switch for the light are in the same box, fixing this so the light isn't run through the GFCI shouldn't be a big issue.

[cliff kornegay]

I can't remember the last time I saw this set up, but it left me scratching my head. It's new construction so I'm sure they'll leave it as is.