Electricians question for you on heated flooring

[Asian_defender]

I have a basement bathroom that was just put up as part of my development. The electrician put the heated floor on the same circuit as the light and the bathroom fan. I still have to check to see if the power outlets to see if they are on a seperate circuit.

I thought the heated floor would be on a seperate circuit and I have concerns with the load.

What does code state? Is this acceptable? I am thinking he is an idiot as everyone I have talked to so far believes it should be on a seperate circuit. Now that its all drywall and painted this might be a difficult task :banghead:

[Star1995]

Electricians follow the same rules as electricity, the path of least resistance. It may or may not follow code, is it easier to put another circuit in? Even if it is within the code I'd still want a separate circuit with a ground fault GFCI.

[chathamf]

Does seem like a lot to put on a circuit but I don't know much about heated floors. Do you have the model and whatnot for the heated floors and approx square footage that was put down? Was this a side job or through a legit company?

[Crazyjoker77]

Code states you can load a breaker up to 80% of its rating for continuous use.

15ax120v=1800w
1800wx.8=1440W

I'm willing to bet that the plugs are gonna be on their own circuit in which case it makes perfect sense to put lights,exhaust fan and the heated floor on a circuit since they are all known loads.(usualy around 300w for lighting 250w for the fan which leaves you just under 1000w for the flooring) This would leave a whole empty 15A circuit for the plugs which IMO is needed since every women seems to have a 1200w hairdryer these days.

If he did wire the plugs in he defiantly took the ultimate cheap contractor route but its not against code (from the few details you gave)

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by Asian_defender
I have a basement bathroom that was just put up as part of my development. The electrician put the heated floor on the same circuit as the light and the bathroom fan. I still have to check to see if the power outlets to see if they are on a seperate circuit.

I thought the heated floor would be on a seperate circuit and I have concerns with the load.

What does code state? Is this acceptable? I am thinking he is an idiot as everyone I have talked to so far believes it should be on a seperate circuit. Now that its all drywall and painted this might be a difficult task :banghead:

Average bathroom floor ~ 35 sq ft
Average heating wire needed: ~ 27 sq ft

27 sq ft heating kit is around 340 watts... 2.8 amps.
The programmable thermostat has it's own, built-in GFCI breaker.

I'm sure you're fine.

[chathamf]

Yea I read that wrong didn't realize it was just a small bathroom with the heated floors. I wouldn't be worried at all.

[mr2mike]

Test it out, Turn on everything, get a hairdryer going and plug a toaster into the other plug then go to the panel and see if breaker is red hot. (kidding of course).

Depends on the house. My old house, it's one feed in and the GFI, lights and fan are all off same circuit. I probably wouldn't add heated floors unless I ran another circuit. Which then requires a larger panel. Which adds significantly more work.

[Asian_defender]

I'll double check tonight, thanks for all the input guys