Hi Everyone
We have a small (7 x 8) walk-in closet and I am doing some work to make it more practical (cabinets, improving the layout, etc). The closet has a single bulb on a dedicated switch. Is it allowable for me to come off that bulb’s box and put in an outlet (which would also be switched)? The main purpose would be for a lamp, but I suppose it could find other uses over time.
Thanks!
There’s no specific restriction on receptacles in closets, but if it’s an old bare bulb it does not meet code and messing without it would make it lose grandfathered status, so you’d need to change it to a specific code complying light (enclosed incandescent or fluorescent specific distances from storage areas. It’s popular to put outlets in closets now that home networking is becoming a thing.
There’s also be an issue with having a plug-in lamp in the closet for the same reasons.
The NEC allows you to have lights and outlets on the same circuit so there’s no issue there. Local codes might require them to be on a separate circuit though, so check your local codes.
Note that there are two ways to wire up a light. The first way is to run the electrical feed into the switch first, and then run the switched feed up to the light. The second way is to run the electrical feed to the light, and then run a switch loop down to the switch.
In the first case, there’s no hot feed at the light. The hot feed only goes as far as the switch. At the light, you only get the switched feed.
In the second case, you’ve got the hot feed available at the light (and, also important in some cases, you don’t have the full hot feed down at the switch). So you can wire up the outlet to that and it won’t be switched.
Also note that any existing wiring only needs to be up to the code as it was when it was installed, and you can always replace like with like. As soon as you change something or add something, any changes or additions have to be up to the current code. The new outlet may need an AFCI even though no other outlets in your home may have them, for example (AFCIs are a fairly new addition to the code).
Thanks. I was aware that the old bare bulb in the middle of the ceiling was no longer kosher in closets, so I was planning to install an enclosed fixture anyway- though given the space is 7’ wide, I wonder if that still runs afoul of the rule. But no matter, since I am making the space nice we wanted a new fixture anyway.
Right- I haven’t got up there to see how it’s wired yet, but all the wiring for the area is pretty accessible from the attic, so whatever’s there shouldn’t be too hard to manage. I rather like the idea of the outlet being switched, since it’s in a closet. Maybe I am just weird.
For the AFCI, Ouch… I hand’t thought of that. I was under the impression that the AFCIs were being required for bedrooms- is that not correct, and does a closet in a bedroom count as a bedroom? In any event, I think that’s just swapping the breaker to make it current, no?
I do pride myself on doing my projects to code, as it just seems like the right thing to do (even if I don’t always pull permits).
They are required for hallways and closets too.
And yes, you can just swap out the breaker with an AFCI breaker.
Thanks for all the help. And appropos of nothing, whomever wired my house was an idiot. Every time I do a project, I find sloppy connections and shortcuts. I’ve had to fix two three way switches that were wired wrong… And I consider three way switches black magic, so if I am fixing your work it’s bad. And then there was the time (shortly after we moved in) the washing machine duplex melted. When I pulled it out the hot was just barely under the screw, and it appeared to me that it wasn’t well connected and had vibrated until the contact point was so small that the thing heated up like a filament.
On the other hand, the framer knew what he was doing…
Bolding and question marks mine.
What do you mean by “full” hot feed? Hopefully not meant to be intended as switching the neutral… But that is your implication as I read it.
If so, that is terrible advice, irrespective of any liberal interpretation of the NEC.
I apologize for the hijack, but how reliable are AFCIs nowadays?
A buddy of mine had a new house built a few years ago. The AFCI breakers would randomly trip on occasion. I went over to his house and pulled some suspect receptacles. I did not see any evidence of arcing. I told him to remove the AFCIs and replace them with standard breakers.
That’s not what I meant.
In the case of a switch loop, all you have at the switch is a hot wire and the switched hot wire. There’s no neutral. There’s no “full feed” (hot and neutral) available at the switch’s electrical box, i.e. you can’t tap off of there to feed something else.
They seem to be getting better, but I still hear stories once in a while about problems with nuisance tripping. Some brands seem more susceptible to nuisance tripping than others.
I’ve read that nearby RF interference can cause them to trip as well. Again, some brands seem to be more sensitive to it than others.
I don’t have a list of what brands work better than others, unfortunately.
Unrelated to the code question. You could try to wire an outlet into your switch that the top outlet is ran by the switch - for a lamp, and the bottom always has power. We have a few in our house like that, and I actually hate them, but it may work better for you
Understood now. Just never heard it called not full hot.
Admittedly, it’s a big slangy. It’s not a proper technical term.