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Dedicated laundry circuit question

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imagineer

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Electrical question…

Mrs. Imagineer has a new cordless sweeper and needs a convenient spot to store and charge it. In all of Casa-de-Imagineer, the only spot that makes sense is in the laundry room.

Whereas there is a duplex outlet on the wall opposite where the sweeper hanger will go, there isn’t one on the wall to be used. There is, however, an outlet for the laundry machine. It’s a single outlet, 20amps and is a dedicated circuit for the washing machine.

How wrong would it be for me to swap out this single outlet for a duplex and use it for both the washing machine and the wall-wart charger for the sweeper?
 
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Innovate1

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Apparently some place require single outlet for clothes washer? I have a standard duplex receptacle and it passed inspection. But I think they are a bit more lax on such things here. Seems like a simple thing to install and then switch back when selling.
 
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dave*99

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Norcal said:
It used to be allowed to use a single receptacle for a dedicated appliance to avoid GFCI requirements.
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My washer, dryer and garage door openers all have singles without GFCI. House was built to 2014 NEC, but I think the dedicated singles were an exception even then.
There is an additional duplex receptacle in my laundry room.....it's a GFCI.
 
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Norcal

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dave*99 said:
My washer, dryer and garage door openers all have singles without GFCI. House was built to 2014 NEC, but I think the dedicated singles were an exception even then., single
There is an additional duplex receptacle in my laundry room.....it's a GFCI.
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I had to use a 2017 but the requirements for GFCI's for garage receptacles are unchanged from the 2014, that they all have to have GFCI's, single receptacles were not a option, but NJ has some different rules.
 
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dave*99

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Norcal said:
I had to use a 2017 but the requirements for GFCI's for garage receptacles are unchanged from the 2014, that they all have to have GFCI's, single receptacles were not a option, but NJ has some different rules.
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Exactly. Years prior in my previous house I wired a new garage addition. I put the GDO on a GFCI. I was talking to the electrical inspector at the rough in inspection. I complained about NEC requiring GFCI for my GDO's. He commented yeah, but we excluded that requirement. Go ahead an put them on a non-GFCI circuit. And I did.
 
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BrandonV

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Norcal said:
I have a number of Danial Woodhead cord caps I have no use for.
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I'm a big fan of the fused ones. Imagine how hard it is trying to find a fused plug... Woodhead is the one one I can find. Expensive but quality.
 
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mike93lx

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BrandonV said:
Indoor blower/handler was wired like that along with a single pole switch.

No clue if that is code. Blame the HVAC guys.
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Its not. Permanently installed equipment should be hard wired...wonder if they did it to allow it to run on backup power as it's more work than hardwiring
 
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BrandonV

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mike93lx said:
Its not. Permanently installed equipment should be hard wired...wonder if they did it to allow it to run on backup power as it's more work than hardwiring
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Maybe. I suspect in the area I saw this, it's an issue of the HVAC company being told not to touch electrical and the electrical company not to touch HVAC.
 
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exranger06

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210.52(F) says you need at least one receptacle in "areas designated for the installation of laundry equipment." I would consider the entire laundry room as the "area for laundry equipment." So you need a minimum of one receptacle in the whole room, though you could certainly have more than one. The code doesn't say that the receptacle(s) have to be used strictly FOR laundry equipment; it just says you need at least one receptacle in the laundry area. Though it's implied/assumed that you'll be using at least one receptacle for the washing machine, you're free to use the other receptacles however you want.

210.11(C)(2) says you need at least one dedicated 20A circuit to feed the receptacle(s) required by 210.52(F). So as long as you have a 20A circuit that feeds laundry room receptacles and nothing else, you're good to go. You can add more receptacles onto that circuit (as long as they are also in the laundry area) and plug whatever you want into them.

NEC also requires all 120V laundry area circuits (receptacles AND lighting) to have AFCI protection (210.12(B)). I'm not saying you have to install it now, that's up to you, I'm just saying that current code requires it. Current code also says all laundry area receptacles (not lighting) also need GFCI protection (210.8(A)) That includes the 240V receptacle for the dryer. Again, I'm not saying you HAVE to make these changes, just informing you of what the current code says.
 
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Norcal

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exranger06 said:
210.52(F) says you need at least one receptacle in "areas designated for the installation of laundry equipment." I would consider the entire laundry room as the "area for laundry equipment." So you need a minimum of one receptacle in the whole room, though you could certainly have more than one. The code doesn't say that the receptacle(s) have to be used strictly FOR laundry equipment; it just says you need at least one receptacle in the laundry area. Though it's implied/assumed that you'll be using at least one receptacle for the washing machine, you're free to use the other receptacles however you want.

210.11(C)(2) says you need at least one dedicated 20A circuit to feed the receptacle(s) required by 210.52(F). So as long as you have a 20A circuit that feeds laundry room receptacles and nothing else, you're good to go. You can add more receptacles onto that circuit (as long as they are also in the laundry area) and plug whatever you want into them.

NEC also requires all 120V laundry area circuits (receptacles AND lighting) to have AFCI protection (210.12(B)). I'm not saying you have to install it now, that's up to you, I'm just saying that current code requires it. Current code also says all laundry area receptacles (not lighting) also need GFCI protection (210.8(A)) That includes the 240V receptacle for the dryer. Again, I'm not saying you HAVE to make these changes, just informing you of what the current code says.
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The code is not retroactive, not required on existing installations, unless changes are made.
 
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alfredeneuman

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exranger06 said:
Current code also says all laundry area receptacles (not lighting) also need GFCI protection (210.8(A)) That includes the 240V receptacle for the dryer. Again, I'm not saying you HAVE to make these changes, just informing you of what the current code says.
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Norcal said:
unless changes are made
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Ohio recognizes the 2017 Code so it doesn't apply in this situation, regardless of any changes.
 
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exranger06

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Norcal said:
The code is not retroactive, not required on existing installations, unless changes are made.
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Are you referring to the code sections about laundry circuits I cited, or is this about the AFCI/GFCI requirements? If it's about the AFCI/GFCI, I already said he doesn't HAVE to change any of that. I was just letting him know what the current code says, and left it up to him to change it if he wanted to.

If it's about the dedicated laundry circuit, I agree that if code didn't require a dedicated circuit at the time, he doesn't need it now. However, he DOES have a dedicated 20A circuit, so he's already up to code in that regard, even by current standards. So I was basically reassuring him that what he wanted to do was ok and is code compliant, and even if he doesn't HAVE to bring it up to current code, his circuit still complies with those current code sections.
 
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BrandonV

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wyliesdiesels said:
Doesnt need a 20a plug. Somebody used whatever they had in the bottom of their van
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Walked by the area today. Now I remember what happened. There used to a 20A window AC unit. Guess when they ripped it out and put the air handler in the same area, they decided to just piggyback on what was already there.
 
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wyliesdiesels

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BrandonV said:
Walked by the area today. Now I remember what happened. There used to a 20A window AC unit. Guess when they ripped it out and put the air handler in the same area, they decided to just piggyback on what was already there.
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which makes no sense because an air handler doesnt need a 20a plug and a 15 plug works on a 20a receptacle
 
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Fly YX

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I used to do a a lot of industrial wiring in the Chattanooga area years ago. I was helping a contractor to some residential wiring. The house had 20a circuits for the receptacles but I put in 15a ones in. I showed him the specs of the receptacles they were 20 A pass-through and 15 A at the plug. He was fine with that. He thought that I have lost my mind when he found out, I was the one that did the work because he always commented on what I did. I can, though this was years ago.
 
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