Hairdryer in bathroom

[puntloos]

So.. I've seen all the movies, and clearly in some cases, a hairdryer in a bathroom isn't a great idea. But - I think that it can be done safely in theory, by for example doing this hotel-style (no plug, just a device wired into the wall, and not enough wire to reach the closest water source) and of course making sure there's a good RCD or somesuch behind it. 

 

But. Can this be done legally? And even if so, is it advisable?

[Marvin]

I think the problem comes back to no switches allowed because of possible wet hands, like the light switch in the room being a pull chord.

 

I'm certainly fed up with dragging an extension lead in and it being a trip hazard. I still think the zoning applies:

 

"Electrical sockets are permitted in bathrooms or shower rooms as long as they are located more than 3m from the edge of the bath or shower."

 

Well that excludes us then! 

 

 

 

[Russell griffiths]

So how come you can put an electrical socket within easy reach of a kitchen sink. 

I think the regs need updating for bathrooms, with fast acting breakers is there really a risk?

and abroad it is always a done thing to have a socket near the sink. 

This country needs to get a grip of reality, how many people would die per year if you had a light switch in your bathroom, probably zero. 

[ProDave]

The best you can do with UK regs is a socket just outside the bathroom and a long flex on the hairdryer, or a suitably large bathroom so you can get a socket 3 metres from the bath or shower.

 

Most other countries manage this without lots of people killing themselves.  For instance in Australia it is normal to have sockets right next to the shower for the hairdryer and you often find the washer and dryer in the bathroom.

 

 

[Dave Jones]

shaver socket where you intend for it to go. get signed off, swop for normal socket.

[saveasteading]

4 hours ago, Russell griffiths said:

So how come you can put an electrical socket within easy reach of a kitchen sink. 

Because in the kitchen you are unlikely to be bare footed and standing in a puddle. Hence light switches are allowed inside a 'cloakroom' with wc and basin, but not in a bath or shower room. 

What's the big deal when pull cords are easy to install?

 

 

[MrSniff]

Always surprised me to find switches and sockets right next to a bathroom basin in Europe. But here it’s a 16A radial protected by an RCBO so presumably safer than a 30A ring final protected by RCD?

[Mr Punter]

I am looking at washing machine in bathroom and the simplest way looks like a plug on a flex through the wall plugging into a socket in the adjacent room.  Could do a switched spur one side with outlet the other but that would mean cutting the plug off.

[saveasteading]

13 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

plugging into a socket in the adjacent room. 

I did that with a heated radiator. I think i fitted a switched spur so there are no cables visible in the other room.

[Onoff]

Just get a cordless hairdryer. Simples!

[Marvin]

1 hour ago, Onoff said:

Just get a cordless hairdryer. Simples!

Yes my friend... but I want to cut my hair...

[saveasteading]

1 hour ago, Marvin said:

Yes my friend... but I want to cut my hair

Cordless scissors.

[SteamyTea]

7 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Because in the kitchen you are unlikely to be bare footed and standing in a puddle

And you are less like to be naked in the kitchen.

Imagine family members standing around your naked body on the bathroom floor as they wait for the police and ambulance to turn up.

Two to four hours of sniggering.

[Onoff]

8 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Because in the kitchen you are unlikely to be bare footed and standing in a puddle.

 

You haven't done that?

[Russell griffiths]

20 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Because in the kitchen you are unlikely to be bare footed and standing in a puddle. Hence light switches are allowed inside a 'cloakroom' with wc and basin, but not in a bath or shower room. 

What's the big deal when pull cords are easy to install?

 

 

You cannot plug curling tongs or a hairdryer into a pull cord. 

[saveasteading]

I did read somewhere that uk electrocutions are a lot lower than other countries with 200+ volts.

That needs checking though.

[Blooda]

 

16 hours ago, Onoff said:

Just get a cordless hairdryer. Simples!

Readily available [other retailers are available],

Towels | M&S (marksandspencer.com)

 

[gaz_moose]

just stick a wall mounted bathroom fan heater up. then you can enjoy hands free hair drying

[AliG]

UK workplace electrical deaths-

 

 

USA

 

 

So 5x the population and 30x the deaths at work.

 

For total electrical deaths per year the UK averaged around 10-12 for the years 2012-17

 

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/adhocs/009176numberofdeathswheretheunderlyingcausewasexposuretoelectriccurrentbysexandfiveyearagegroupengland2001to2017

 

France apparently averages around 40 and they have been complaining about people using hair dryers in bathrooms and apparently a new issue of using your phone in the bathroom while plugged into the charger.

 

https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/French-consumer-agency-DGCCRF-warns-against-danger-of-bathroom-device-use-due-to-electric-shock

 

The UK has very strict safety standards and seems to benefit. It is actually something we should be proud of.

[SteamyTea]

35 minutes ago, AliG said:

It is actually something we should be proud of.

Don't let Jacob Rees-Mogg here that, he will lower the standards.

Was told that he thinks childhood illnesses like whooping cough and mumps need to come back to give the country some backbone.