GFCI question regarding hardwired vs plug-in disposal

mystic_cobra

My old garbage disposal was hardwired to its own 15A non-GFCI circuit using a cable coming straight out the wall. After renovation the entire kitchen, we decided to switch to a countertop button with the air/vacuum type switch. Now I'm using a plug in cord and a std outlet/receptacle that I installed under the sink. Should this be a GFCI outlet?

1965 house, Northern VA

thanks
Jimmy

gregzoll

It is up to your local regulations to decide that or not. If you want to feel safer, go ahead and install a gfci outlet under there.

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Speedy Petey

Regardless of how it is wired, it does not need a GFI.
Put one in if you like, but it is not required.

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electures

GFI is not required.

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mystic_cobra

Thanks guys. I guess it makes sense. Not much chance of a garbage disposal falling into a sink full of water while someone is washing dishes.

k_buz

Actually, it doesn't make much sense at all...but per the code, you don't need to install a GFI under a sink.

mystic_cobra

I guess you could have an internal short inside the disposal or something, right?

If you guys were installing one of these in your own kitchen would you install a GFCI?

gregzoll

Not, due to not required either on the Disposal, Dish washer, Trash Compactor, Stove, Fridge. Only needed on the countertops.

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k_buz

No I wouldn't. I just don't understand the thinking behind some of the codes, and this is one.

k_buz

That's not true. If an outlet is within 6' of a sink, it needs to be GFI protected. But the disposal and dishwasher doesn't count because they consider the outlet to be protected by a physical barrier...which is either the countertop, or the sink itself...while ignoring all the plumbing under the sink.

Speedy Petey

I don't understand the logic behind this.
How is this ANY different from having wiring or device boxes in stud bays with plumbing? Or having a panel next to a slop sink? Or having a hard wired septic pump?
NONE of which are inherently unsafe, nor would benefit from GFI protection.

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Speedy Petey

GFI protection has nothing to do with short circuit protection. That is what the circuit breaker is for.
Contrary to what many/most people think, a GFI is NOT a circuit breaker.



I didn't in mine, and don't for customers either.

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gregzoll

May want to go back and read what I posted, then go and read the NEC regarding Where they are and are not required in a Kitchen. I do believe that I covered that under the word "Counter tops". When have you seen a gfci outlet or protected outlet on a baseboard in a Kitchen?

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electures

No. Because it is not required.

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itsnotrequired

i thought the 6' sink rule only applied to sinks NOT in a kitchen. by default, all the receptacles serving countertops in a kitchen need to be GFCI so anything by a kitchen sink would be GFCI anyway. the receptacle under the sink for a disposal is not installed to serve countertop surfaces and thus does not need to be GFCI protected.

but this brings up an interesting question: say i have a wet-bar sink with a disposal and a receptacle under the sink to serve that disposal. would that need to be GFCI? it would be within 6' of the sink but 'protected' by the countertop, cabinet door, etc. i mean, if the wet-bar was in the middle of a room with a wall behind it, a receptacle on the other side of the wall wouldn't need to be GFCI. i'm thinking the disposal receptacle would not need to be GFCI.