Additional Outlet in Laundry room

11 years ago

Our existing laundry room has a counter (about 14' long) with the washer/dryer located underneath the counter on one end of the room. There is a dedicated 20 amp circuit that feeds a GFCI located above the counter, the load side of that GFCI feeds an outlet located under the counter that the natural gas dryer and washing machine are plugged into. There is also a 30-amp 240v outlet for an electric dryer under the counter.

I would like to add another outlet above the countertop but on the opposite end of the washer and dryer. I have fished a lot of wire before but in this particular case it will be a major pain to try and tie into that existing circuit to add another outlet to it. It would be easier to simply pull a new circuit to feed the new outlet. Please correct me if I am wrong but I am assuming since this is a laundry room it will have to be a 20 amp circuit, and have a GFCI outlet. Am I allowed to put anything else on this circuit though? Perhaps another outlet outside of the laundry room area? Not sure if it makes a difference that there is already a dedicated circuit in the room.

Thanks

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Comments (5)

Ron Natalie
11 years ago
You can put as many receptacles on the 20A laundry receptacle circuit as you want. If you want to pull a new circuit, you can, but it needs to be 20A (dedicated to the laundry room receptacles) and GFCI protected as well.

You can't have any other outlets other than laundry area receptacles on these circuits. No lighting, no other rooms. Hence, you can't extend a circuit from some other are into the laundry room.

This post was edited by ronnatalie on Thu, Jan 22, 15 at 16:33
jmvd20
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you for the information, I thought that might be the case but wanted to double check. I'll just pull another wire for a few other outlets I'd like to add outside the laundry room. I don't like using extension cords or power strips and we have a few left were still using.
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joefixit2
11 years ago
Ron I believe the GFCI requirement for laundry receptacles is new for 2014, right? (unless a sink is within 6 feet).
Ron Natalie
11 years ago
Correct. That was a 2014 change. I suspected since his first receptacle was GFCI his muni might have already been on the newer code. It's a simple enough issue (especially if he's just extending the existing one).

For those interested there were two changes in 2014 for GFCIs (which I think were the only GFCI changes in the last few versions of the code) for residences:

1. Laundry areas receptacles (15/20A 120V only) are now required.

2. The "other than kitchens" restriction on those near sinks was removed.

3. Dishwashers explicitly now require GFCI protection.
jmvd20
Original Author
11 years ago
Our house was finished in September of 2013, not sure what code we were under at that time but the electricians did put the GFCI in the laundry room. There's a chance they did that for me as I even asked for our exterior lights to be on GFCI's as well... I have a great deal of respect for electricity, natural gas/propane systems etc... I've always been amazed at how many people feel like cutting corners in these areas is OK, to me they are major life safety issues.