Electrical Remodeling – How to Add Another Outlet in Bathroom for Bidet

electricalremodeling

I want to add an outlet near my toilet for a bidet. There is an existing 20 amp GFCI outlet near the door. It is on a separate circuit from the lights. It is connected to another GFCI in the master bedroom. There is also a PVC pipe (vent pipe) running up the wall behind the mirror from the sink.

Are there any problems with placing the new 20 amp outlet (non-GFCI) near the toilet and running 12 ga Romex up the wall, through several studs, around the PVC pipe, and tapping off the existing outlet (using the load terminals)? Are there any major pitfalls/code violations with this approach? Any advice would be much appreciated!

New outlet wiring plan

Best Answer

Likely far easier to go down the wall and into the cabinet, across the back of the cabinet and either into the wall to a receptacle, or you could even install a receptacle into the side of the cabinet.

As far as GFCI, you have two options:

  • Connect a new ordinary receptacle to the LOAD side of the GFCI/receptacle. Done right, this is cheapest and highly recommended.
  • Pigtail off the LINE side of the GFCI/receptacle and install another GFCI/receptacle.

The rationale for a second GFCI/receptacle is easy reset. But that really only makes sense (if at all - I have receptacles in two bathrooms on the same circuit with the GFCI in one and the other connected via LOAD, and it is not a problem at all since GFCI trips are extremely rare) if the receptacles are in different rooms. With the receptacles just a few feet apart, using LOAD to connect the second one makes a lot of sense, and saves money too.

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