Electrical – Multi wire circuit or 2 separate 120V 20A dedicated circuits

120-240velectrical-panel

I'm planning to purchase a portable indoor infrared sauna and locate it outdoors under my deck. The sauna will require a dedicated 120V 20A outlet. I'm wondering if it makes sense to install a multi-branched circuit rather than 2 separate circuits. (I would like an additional outlet so won't have to unplug the sauna anytime I needed power for other applications). This would require a twin 20A breaker at the main panel and 12-3 wire run in the crawl space to the receptacle near the sauna. My thought was if I were to decide to convert to a 240V 40A outlet in the future (ie upgrade to a 240V outdoor sauna), then couldn't I still use the existing wiring and simply change the twin breaker to a double pole?

Since this outlet will be located on the exterior of the house, I'm assuming that the receptacle should be GFCI, is this correct?

Best Answer

Multi-wire branch circuits (MWBCs) must be on a 2-pole breaker, never ever a twin! Measure between the two hots, that must always read 240V. If it reads 0V, you are overloading the neutral.

What you want to do is easy enough, though. Run yourself an 8/3 or 6/3 cable. In the service panel, land it on a 20A 2-pole breaker.

At the other end, bring it into a large box such as a 4-11/16 square deep box at the location where you would want that outlet. Then bring into that box your two 20A subcircuits, on 12 AWG wire. All the whites get wirenutted together, then black #6/8 to one of the #12 blacks, and red to the other black. Continue the #12 cables on to your outlet locations.

If you ever fit the sauna, you'll need to abandon the MWBC. You can't put 15/20A receptacles on a 40A circuit unless you fit a subpanel here. However if you think you might fit a subpanel, run #6 wire. That will let you breaker for 60A, and a 60A-fed subpanel will easily support the sauna and the 20A circuits at once.