There is no minimum height for exterior outlets. But good design practice would have it be high enough to not get damaged by mowers or weed eaters.
Symptoms of bad breaker. Lost all loads
- Thread starter gathermewool
- Start date
There is no minimum height for exterior outlets. But good design practice would have it be high enough to not get damaged by mowers or weed eaters.
I like to put mine high enough to stay out of the snow as well.
After seeing the other reply, I need to clarify. I meant outlets inside of a garage. They're normally located 3-4' high and I wasn't sure if this req'd by code, for convenience (accessibility), or a combination of both.
No code requirement for garage outlet height. Put them at whatever height works best for your application.
I put together my office in the basement and have some outlets at chest height--I figured, there would be times I would need to plug something in temporarily, just to check something out. I could see myself doing that much more often in the garage. Why bend over? Just put an outlet up high, and one low (for anything longer term).
Really can't have too many of them these days... short of overload, of course. I forget, is it 10 or 15 outlets per circuit?
Really can't have too many of them these days... short of overload, of course. I forget, is it 10 or 15 outlets per circuit?
I only buy those backwire receptacles, they are great. Well worth the small extra amount of money to buy. I wish though that they did the same feature on the ground screw! no idea why they don't.
I was buying the special ground wirenuts but lately do Wago's instead. Outlets that are in a daisychain have to have at least one wirenut. Stating the obvious in case it's not obvious to all: good to have some wirenuts (of one's choice) on hand if one needs to replace an outlet. One of the plugs that tell if the outlet is wired properly is great too, and of course should be used to verify that the outlet is actually dead before doing work.
Dumb question here: that electrical box is recessed, but it's behind tile. Is that up to code? I'm guessing so, but only guessing--I realize tile is like drywall, flame resistant, thus it doesn't have to be perfectly flush. But might as well ask.
[Guessing the tile was added later, so it's not surprising that the box is recessed. Just curious about the detail, that's all.]
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
I’m not sure. I believe the PO did some work on his own. He was not an electrician.
As far as the electrical I did have an electrician go through the place and note issues to be fixed. They didn’t find anything really of note, except needing to have GFCI in the kitchen. Shame on me, of course.
As far as the electrical I did have an electrician go through the place and note issues to be fixed. They didn’t find anything really of note, except needing to have GFCI in the kitchen. Shame on me, of course.
The kitchen and possibly your bathroom. Any outside outlet too. All outlets that are within six feet of a water source.
When was this home built ? Electric code only applies at the time it was built or when (major ??) renovations* take place. A house built in 1965, for example, does not need GFCI outlets. You can add them of course but nothing is wrong if they don't have them.
* Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but if you remodel a kitchen, for example, but leave the outlets where they are, you don't have to bring them up to current NEC specs. If you add any or move them, then you would have to.
That might depend on the city/state laws. Some of them basically state that if you exceed a certain percentage in cost, you have to bring it all up to code. Doesn't matter if you touch them or not. Depends on who is make the rules when issuing permits.
There's no limit on number of outlets per circuit. Number of outlets has nothing to do with overloading. You can have one duplex receptacle on its own dedicated circuit, and you could still overload it. For example, one duplex receptacle on a 15 amp circuit with two appliances plugged into it. Each appliance draws over 12 amps. Meanwhile, you have another 15 amp circuit with 10 outlets, but only 2 of them have anything plugged into them, and they're drawing a total of 5 amps...
Granted, the more outlets you have on a circuit, the more likely you are to accidentally overload it, but the NEC doesn't have any rule on maximum number of outlets per circuit.
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
Everything else mentioned is GFCI
Mainly convenience and easier for the electrician to install. The reason for that height is to accommodate a workbench. Keeping them at that height all around is easy for installation and takes into account any other modifications like shelving etc.
Just an FYI for everyone on GFCIs: The 2020 NEC requires GFCI in the following locations:
all outdoor receptacles
all garage receptacles
all basement and crawl space receptacles (this includes finished basements)
all shed/barn/outbuilding receptacles
all laundry area receptacles
all bathroom receptacles
kitchen countertop receptacles
any receptacle within 6 ft of a water source
And all of that applies to both 120V AND 240V receptacles.
all outdoor receptacles
all garage receptacles
all basement and crawl space receptacles (this includes finished basements)
all shed/barn/outbuilding receptacles
all laundry area receptacles
all bathroom receptacles
kitchen countertop receptacles
any receptacle within 6 ft of a water source
And all of that applies to both 120V AND 240V receptacles.
You can have as many outlets per circuit as you want. The code does not have a limit.
Can you still get away with a single dedicated outlet if it's for a specific item like a refrigerator or washer? I had an inspector that wanted me to put in a GFCI in a laundry area but told him I could just put in a single dedicated outlet just for the washer.
For new construction (or renovations in certain cases like I referred to above and Wolf359 added to). Just so no one thinks they have to run out and have GFCIs installed in their existing homes.
In an existing home ? You're a realtor, if I'm not mistaken, so I suspect you mean an inspector involved in a home sale. You do say he "wanted" you to put one in as that's the standard for current electric code so yeah, it's not a bad idea.
That was a section 8 inspector. They don't know what they're doing sometime. They cite code that doesn't exist. Or rather confuse HUD property codes with the state sanitary code which are different. The forms I sign mention nothing about HUD standards, so the only code violations they can cite are state sanitary codes and electrical codes.
And then only if your locality has adopted the 2020 NEC.
