Electrical – Is it possible to install a bathroom fan, vanity power plugs, LED lights, a small towel dryer and a smart toilet on just 2 circuits

bathroomelectrical

I have this small toilet and I am surprised that it requires its own circuit
https://www.ovedecors.com/en/stan-toilet.html

    POWER OUTLET REQUIREMENT
This  product  must  be  plugged  into  a  working  GFCI  power  outlet  to  avoid  potential  damages  on  the  electronic 
component during electrical surges. The power outlet must have a dedicated minimum 1800W capacity for the 
smart toilet.

I currently have a GFCI power outlet that is used for the vanity
It needs to be relocated but the current position would allow me to split and reach both the new position and the smart toilet

The other circuit supports LED lights and the fun,
Not sure where to place the small towel dryer (probably on the lights/fun circuit??

Would these work ? Both are 15 AMP circuits

Best Answer

You can share GFCI receptacles. You might have to.

OK. Here's a science fact you do not know, and neither do the people who wrote that instruction.

A GFCI is not a receptacle. It is a system of protection that can protect any number of outlets. In fact they make GFCIs that are not receptacles - GFCI only, or GFCI+breaker, or GFCI+switch.

Anyway, every GFCI device can protect other equipment that is wired downline of it... it has a set of terminals called "Load" which are for exactly that purpose and no other purpose.

Now, obviously, a GFCI receptacle protects its own sockets but it still has those "Load" terminals that you're not supposed to use for anything else.

So GFCIs have 4 screws - 2 Line and 2 Load. Unfortunately, plain old receptacles have 4 screws. So when novices upgrade receptacles to GFCI, they just go "la la la, 4 screws = 4 screws done!". So they are accidentally putting the downline on the "Load" terminals, giving it protection they don't even realize.

Those instructions are written for novices, and so they told you it needs to be a GFCI receptacle. It does not: a plain receptacle fed from the "Load" terminals of an existing GFCI receptacle is perfectly fine for that requirement.

So you do not need to relocate the vanity GFCI for this purpose alone: you can simply feed off its "Load" terminals to grant GFCI protection to any other plain outlets in this same bathroom.

In fact, you may be required to: Code does not like GFCI receptacle in inaccessible locations, because it's too difficult to do the monthly required test.

However, the bidet requires a dedicated circuit

It's right there in the instructions, which you must follow (NEC 110.3(B)).

So that means your only wiring option is 1 circuit dedicated to the bidet, and the other circuit used for all other loads.

Bathroom receptacle circuits must be 20A

Keep in mind if this is NEW wiring, bathroom receptacle circuits must be 20A. All of them. You cannot use a 15A MWBC (shared neutral) as a substitute (though a 20A MWBC would certainly do the trick).

If you cannot meet the "accessible GFCI" requirement, you can fit a GFCI deadfront (which is a device that is GFCI only) at an accessible location.

Really, the correct way to wire an outlet for a dedicated circuit is to use a 1-socket receptacle. Those are not made in GFCI (except for GFCI+outlet+switch combo device) and so again, the deadfront might be the way to go.