Basement bath renovations electrical

The scope of this electrical contract for bath renovations in a tight basement area was to provide all new point to point wiring and devices/fixtures. Also, to delete a pair of wall outlet locations, move one to coordinate with the new vanity cabinet location and enclosed shower stall, add a new ceiling fixture location and expand switching controls to provide for separate controls on each lighting point, the exhaust fan, and newly-added ceiling heater.

The NEC-required GFCI receptacle at the vanity features GFCI protection from a remote device in the utility room behind the shower enclosure (glass walls not yet installed), avoiding unnecessary button clutter on the devices located in this finished area.

3-gang lighting and fan controls includes a logic-controlled fan timer to conserve energy.

A damp location recessed fixture lamped with new LED technology will not need a lamp change for up to 50,000 hours of lamp on-time. The LED performs particularly well in this application, where the luminaire uses its focused downward beam to the maximum, the diffuser adds a bit of warmth to the otherwise slightly cool 3000K color temperature, and the difficult lamp-change procedure behind a gasketed damp location recess trim could be a nuisance using shorter-life lamps (even CFL's have a rated life less than half as long).

Robert Monk Electric delivered the electrical installation as quoted during coordination on a tight schedule with other trades. A $50 additional charge applied to relocate the heater timer from beside the entrance doorway to beside the vanity GFCI (requested during construction), and the customer approved a $10 charge (cost) for the upgrade to LED lamp for the recessed damp location ceiling light.

See also:

• Utilitech Pro 7.5W LED A19 Lamp Review
• Utilitech Pro 7.5W LED A19 Lamp at Lowe’s
• Lighting controls products

CFL’s are good, but not great

First, let me say that I recommend using CFL’s. It’s just that I wonder if mandating conversion from incandescents to new lighting technologies shouldn’t be coupled with some better education about the new lamps.

Soon to be mandated to exclusion of incandescents, are CFL’s as good as people make them out to be? CFL’s have several under-publicized issues that all customers should be aware of.

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