Think twice about keeping your electrical panel in the bathroom
If your home is strapped for space, you may consider installing or keeping your electrical panels in the bathroom. After all, who wouldn’t want the ability to toggle fuses in a conveniently located bathroom instead of a dark basement? Unfortunately, electrical panels are not permitted to be in residential bathrooms due to the high risk of electrical fire and shock. Let’s take a look at the electrical panel location rules and regulations.
No, it’s not permissible to install an electrical panel in the bathroom. In fact, you can’t install any conductors or equipment in damp or wet locations, including bathrooms. There’s a federal law in place, National Electric Code Volume 70, that prohibits breakers, fuses, and disconnect switches from appearing in residential or hotel bathrooms.
So if you are designing a house or conducting some renovations, do not plan on adding any electrical components in a bathroom other than ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets. Let’s take a closer look at the electrical panel location rules and regulations.
Electrical panels are disallowed from appearing in or around bathrooms because it’s widely considered dangerous to the integrity of your system and the people inside your home. Electrical conductors perform poorly when exposed to gasses, fumes, vapors, liquids, and temperature fluctuations, and bathrooms contain almost all of these offending agents. The steam from a shower and the uptick in humidity wears down the components and over time, this leads to corroded panels and service interruptions. In rare cases, bathroom-adjacent electrical panels cause shocks and electrical fires.
If you currently have an electrical panel in your bathroom and need to relocate it, you’ll need to budget for the cost of hiring an electrician to move it. Moving an electrical panel costs $1,000 to $3,000, depending on the number of house stories, the number of circuits in the panel, whether it’s indoors or outdoors, and whether the existing box can be used as a circuit junction where a current can be split.
Keep in mind that this electrical work is best left for professional electricians, as electricity is unpredictable and dangerous. Hiring a local electrician to move your electrical panel out of the bathroom ensures your personal and home’s safety, as they have the appropriate skills, tools, and experience to get the job right. Don’t forget to budget for the cost of hiring an electrician, which is typically $50 to $100 per hour.
If you can’t install or keep an electrical panel in the bathroom, then where should you put it? The best location to have an electrical panel is a safe, dry, and accessible spot, which has ample room for you or an electrician to make repairs.
Here are the top spots for an electrical panel:
Basement
Laundry room
Garage
Underside of a staircase
Utility room
Moving and replacing electrical panels is serious work, so here are some useful tips.
Location is everything: Finding the best location for the panel is extremely important, so follow our best practices. Bathrooms are out. Closets are out. Crawl spaces are out. Instead, place it in the garage, basement, or utility room.
Make sure it’s reachable: If you have an electrical problem, you want the panel easily accessible by every adult in the house. Make it reachable and place it no higher than 6 feet and 7 inches.
Look into permit and inspection requirements: Moving an electrical panel often requires extending or shortening affiliated wires. This is a significant undertaking, and many states require permits and electrical inspections to complete this type of work.
Weatherproof outdoor panels: If you are moving a panel to the great outdoors, make sure to weatherproof the components against corrosion, water, snow, and wind damage.
The NEC prohibits the installation of electrical panels within clothing closets. Closets are filled with flammable items like clothing, mothballs, shoe polish, plastic containers, and exposed light bulbs. If the panel develops a small electrical fire, it won’t take long to bloom into a real disaster. If you have an electrical panel in one of your home’s closets, move it as soon as possible with the help of a professional electrician.
The Occupational Safety and Home Administration (OSHA) requires an electrical panel to have a minimum of three feet (36 inches) of room from the front of the panel to the closest obstacle. In this case, the word obstacle refers to nearly everything, including walls, machines, and other fixed objects. Additionally, panels require at least 6½ feet of headroom in the area directly in front of the fixture. These requirements help ensure safe use of the panel and allow electricians plenty of room to work.
Yes, placing an electrical panel in a bedroom is perfectly acceptable, so long as it meets other space requirements as indicated by OSHA and related agencies. When installed in a bedroom, electricians typically place it in the area directly behind the door swing. This method allows for easy access when conducting electrical panel repairs.
