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Can we use pendant lights at the vanity if they are Damp listed?

15 years ago

I saw that code prohibits pendant lights if they're within 3 feet horizontal or 8 feet vertical from the tub rim or shower threshold. The vanity in our small-ish bath is within those limits. Can we use pendants if they are UL Damp/Wet location listed and GFCI protected?

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Comments (6)

olychic
15 years ago
I just posted a similar question in the lighting forum. You'll see how confusing (or confused I was) the subject. Hope this helps

Here is a link that might be useful: Lighting forum; damp rated light fixtures
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Stacey Collins
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, oly.
I actually understand the wet/damp listing issue... but it's the pendant issue I am concerned about. pendants are specifically prohibited within that "damp zone" they were talking about. The edge of my vanity is less than 3 feet from the edge of the soaking tub. But my question is: if I find a pendant that IS Wet listed, will that trump the prohibition on pendants......
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Now that I see a picture, it makes a little sense why your electrician didn't say anything. " I should have said that the portion of the shower door near the pendant is stationary." Sounds more like a wall than a door. Most things in the NEC measure around walls, not through. The only problem I see is in the next statement. "And while the shower spray would not ordinarily hit the fixture, the base of the fixture is about 2' from the shower head with no glass separating them." So, the glass wall doesn't go all the way to the ceiling. How tall is the glass and the ceiling? If it did, then I believe that most inspectors would measure from the actual door opening. This tends to be where there is a little interpretation necessary by the local electrical inspector. Maybe the electrician already knows that it will pass due to previous encounters, but it would be good to call the inspector and see if they can swing by and give you some final clarification on this before you buy fixtures.
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yes..let me try through my pics though not through Houzz photos one.. they're actually different which is hard to see on the photo with lights on..here are the pendants (one can get puzzled why the mirrors don't reach the ceiling..no reason except for my silliness..I though" I don't want all the reflection in the mirror, cords canopies all that jazz.." well you can still see most of it reflected anyway. lol) they're centered to the space itself not to the mirrors since the mirrors are slightly different in width..framing would make it prominent. thus no frames. even though initially I planned frames etc. Also I somehow really didn't want backsplash. I felt like bathroom has enough going on. Frameless mirrors helped me to avoid the unwanted backsplash.
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MongoCT
15 years ago
We're wrestling with a couple of different code references here. In general:

1) You need at least one light in the bathroom that is controlled by a switch located at the entrance to the bathroom.

2) Light fixtures within tub and shower spaces should be marked "suitable for damp/wet locations".

3)Hanging fixtures cannot be located within a zone of 3Â horizontally and 8Â vertically from the top of the bathtub rim or shower stall threshold.

So just because a pendant fixture is "damp" rated and meets provision #2, it can't be installed within the tub/shower zone due to provision #3, which prohibits hanging fixtures.

Provision #2 is so fixtures in damp/wet areas do not corrode and become electrical shock/fire hazards.

Provision #3 is so that if someone is standing in the tub or in the shower and slips, they don't instinctively reach up and grab a low-hanging pendant fixture and pull it down into the water with them as they fall. Zap.

Provisionally, Mongo
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Stacey Collins
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, Mongo. That was what I'd finally realized this morning. looks like there is no way that pendants are going to be "legal" (or at least code-compliant) in my layout.

I think I've got all the other req's covered, though. 2 circuits: one is dedicated 20A receptacles. The other has all lighting, the radiant floor heating, and fan on it. I'm going to GFCI protect that whole circuit, I think, as well, since two of the lights on it -tub and shower recessed- need it. Don't see why not. Probably just with a GFCI breaker at the panel. Like this, except that the shower light is on the same (dimmer) switch as the other 3 recessed overheads, and the fan is on its own switch...
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palimpsest
15 years ago
Believe it or not, it has something to do with preventing you from being able to stand in a bathtub of water and put a finger in a socket.

Why they don't want to prevent you from holding one hand in a sink of water and sticking your finger in the vanity fixture is beyond me.
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brickeyee
15 years ago
"Believe it or not, it has something to do with preventing you from being able to stand in a bathtub of water and put a finger in a socket."

Or splashing water on a hot bulb and having it shatter, since very few pendant fixtures completely enclose the bulb.
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