Robes not being used

In many countries having a socket that’ll accept a timer plug goes against regs (or codes in US) in a bathroom.

JF

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They make timers that are especially for the gfci outlets, most commonly used for outdoor holiday lighting but also in bathrooms.

Yeah, but you need the socket to use it. In the UK you wouldn’t get your EICR certificate if you have a socket (other than that for a shaver) in a bathroom.

At least that was the regs five years ago, and I doubt they’ve loosened since then.

One of our bathrooms here has three open sockets, and as far we’re aware, nobody gives a FF.

Don’t drop that hairdryer…

JF

I think it’s a semantic issue, I say outlet, you say socket. We have gfci (ground fault circuit interrupter) (3 prong with a circuit breaker) sockets in our bathrooms and usually at least one in the kitchen too and definitely for the ones outside. However, there are also plug-in timers that are made for these specialized sockets.

Not semantics, different regs.

I must confess that I forgot, you can have a socket/outlet, as long as it’s 3m from any water source. Generally speaking, that rules it out for most UK bathrooms.

JF

The US electrical code recommends bathrooms have two or three protected outlets. All outlets within 6 feet of a water source have to be protected by a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter). They shut off the power within about 1/40th of a second if they sense a ground fault (as in @JJD 's hairdryer being dropped into water).

The left (or top) image is a standard US GFCI duplex outlet, and the right (or bottom) image is a standard US non-GFCI duplex outlet
image

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Correctly wired GFCIs will also protect other outlets on the same circuit. So just because a bathroom outlet does not have the GFCI built into it doesn’t mean it is not protected.

I am not a licensed electrician, but I cannot find anything in the US code that prohibits the use of timers like the following in a bathroom.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074L2ZLQQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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I have a bidet seat on my toilet that is plugged into a GFCI outlet right next to the toilet. It’s a foot away from where the water line comes into the house for the toilet. At a glance it doesn’t look like GFCI but it’s a protected circuit. The outlet with the reset is on the other side of the wall. That circuit was installed when I had a jacuzzi tub installed 25 years ago and was plugged into an outlet inside the wall but they put an outlet on the outside so it could be reset without opening an access panel. Now the tub is gone but the circuit remains. It made it so easy to intstall my Bio Bidet seat.

It would be very easy to install a heated towel rack here but it’s so temperate and dry that it doesn’t make much sense. But if I lived in a cold or humid climate I’d get one. A heated bathroom floor is also something I’d recommend for anyone redoing a bathroom in a cold climate.

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My neighbors who Airbnb right behind my house have robes and I noticed their guests commented favorably about them in the reviews. I decided to give it a try and then I changed my mind because I already spend so much time searching for stray hairs on everything since they don’t always come out in the wash and I thought, four more things to search for hairs, what am I crazy? I returned them.

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This sounds very interesting. Care to share with us a link for purchase or more information about this?

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For more than 4 years, I have been providing Crocs in different sizes and colors. I think 70% of guests wear them because our floor tiles are cold. I wash them in the washing machine with soapy bleach gel at 30°C. Once I washed them at 60°C and they became deformed. A returned guest told me that he even asked his mother a pair of Crocs as birthday gift after having discovered them during his stay in our studio. They are very durable except those I washed at 60°C.

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Oh dear. If I even suggested providing crocs (:face_vomiting:) for guests I’d find myself sleeping in the car, and disowned by my children.

Each to their own I suppose.

JF

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Each to their own, but Crocs are really much more comfortable to walk with than disposable slippers provided by many hotels and they are machine-washable.

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Quote from my youngest daughter, the fashion police, “OMG, that guy’s wearing Bermuda shorts, Birkenstocks with black socks and a fanny pack!”

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Ok, so of course after writing this post one of my robes got used again, and stained…

So it looks like they leaned into a plate of pasta with red sauce on one sleeve. So it would be like if a guest used a white towel to clean red sauce… I saw it, pre treated and most of it came out. It is currently soaking in cold water and detergent… Hopefully I can get it out.

RR

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Sorry about that @RiverRock. But to my point…too much laundry. Plus, people are naked under robes. It almost feels like providing and washing their undies.

Suddenly, I realize as I write this that I have hand scrubbed much worse than marinara out of my lovely white towels & sheets, all of which have surely touched nakedness, so I guess the above thought is silly. But still. 6-7 hours of laundry full of who-knows-what is enough for me :crazy_face:

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I have quality robes hanging in the bathroom closet. Sometimes they are used, often not. I will continue to have them there.

Have you ever considered using a wash and fold service? There’s one right by your place, it’s only $1.25 / lb. It probably costs more than that for just the water in your area when you do it yourself. That’s a lot of laundry.

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It IS a lot of laundry. It includes the final load of cleaning cloths/mop pads & there’s extra in the cold weather months (throws and extra blankets)…thank goodness those are few here!

Thank you…I will think your suggestion over. I use an HE washer & solar for my water heater. I’m soooo picky about stains, etc. but I guess I could pretreat. I would like to have a plan for times I may be unavailable or too tired to do the heavy lifting, so to speak.

We still pre-treat before we drop it off, I definitely recommend that.

Or even if you just need an easier day sometimes.

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Maybe I’m a weirdo but I wouldn’t really want to wear a bath robe someone else has been all up in. I realize I sleep on used sheets and dry off with used towels but a bath robe … just seems different. :man_shrugging:

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