Planning Bathroom Points: Geyser, Exhaust Fan, Light and Safety

Bathroom electrical points: the short answer

Bathroom electrical points in an Indian home are usually four: a light point, an exhaust fan point, a geyser point and, where wanted, a socket for a trimmer or hair dryer kept well away from the shower. Their switches commonly sit outside the bathroom door, with the geyser on a 16A or higher point switched by a DP switch with an indicator.

A bathroom is the one room where water, metal fittings and bare feet meet electricity every day. That changes the planning. Points are fewer, they sit higher or further from water, switches move outside, and the circuit benefits from earth-leakage protection by an RCCB, which trips on the small leakage currents that an MCB cannot see.

This guide covers each bathroom point in turn: where it commonly goes, what rating it takes, which switch suits it, and the parts we make for it at our works in Marol, Andheri East, Mumbai. All of it is planning and checking. Any wiring in a bathroom is a job for a licensed electrician, with the MCB off and the circuit tested dead first.

What electrical points does a bathroom need?

A bathroom commonly needs a light point, an exhaust fan point and a geyser point, with a 6A socket for a trimmer or hair dryer where the room allows one well away from the shower, and an attached bathroom often has one light instead of two, while a utility bathroom may add a washing machine point.

Our house electrical layout plan gives a worked 2BHK these figures:

Common bathroom: 2 light points 1 exhaust 1 × 6A socket 1 geyser

Attached bathroom: 1 light point 1 exhaust 1 geyser

Add a mirror light over the basin if you want one, and a washing machine point if the machine lives in the bathroom. Leave out anything that would sit inside the shower area. A socket outside the door for a hair dryer is often the safer choice.

Should the bathroom switch be inside or outside?

Bathroom switches are commonly placed outside, on a small board beside the bathroom door, so the light, exhaust fan and geyser are switched with dry hands before entering and the switch board stays out of steam and splashes, which is the arrangement most Indian electricians follow in homes.

Outside the door gives you three things: dry hands on the switch, no steam in the board and one place for all three switches. A board with a light switch, an exhaust switch and a DP switch for the geyser typically fits a 3M to 4M plate.

The board height outside the door follows the room’s normal board line, about 4 feet; our switch board height from floor guide gives the figures. Inside the bathroom, keep only what must be there: the light fitting, the exhaust fan and the geyser point.

An indicator on the geyser switch shows from the passage that the geyser is on, which saves units and reminders. Our guide to the switch with indicator explains how they work.

Where does the geyser point go, and at what height?

The geyser point is commonly fixed high on the wall, about 6 feet (1,830 mm) from the finished floor and close to the geyser, on a 16A or higher point fed by its own circuit, while the geyser’s switch sits outside the bathroom on the board by the door.

The full height table for every room is in our switch board height guide; for the bathroom, the points that matter are these: high, near the heater, as far from the shower as the geyser allows, and its own circuit and MCB.

A storage geyser typically draws 2,000 to 3,000 W while heating, as our appliance power consumption chart lists, so it belongs on a heavy point. The cable for that circuit is sized by your electrician; our guide to wire size for AC and geyser explains how.

For the switch itself, see our guide to the geyser switch, which compares 20A, 32A and DP options.

Which switch should a geyser use?

A geyser commonly uses a 20A or 32A DP switch with an indicator, which breaks both phase and neutral and shows when the heater is on, though some electricians use a 20A single pole switch with an indicator, and the rating is always matched to the geyser and its circuit.

A DP switch cuts phase and neutral together, so the heater is fully isolated when off; our DP switch guide covers it in detail. VIZA V1250 is a 32A DP switch with an MRP of ₹330. A single pole switch cuts only the phase, which is why the phase must be the wire it switches.

Leave the choice between them to your electrician, matched to the geyser’s rating plate.

Where should the exhaust fan point go?

The exhaust fan point is commonly placed high on an outside wall or in the window, near the ceiling and, where possible, on the side away from the door, so steam is drawn across the room and out, with the fan switched from the board outside the bathroom on an ordinary 6A switch.

Placement rules that hold in most bathrooms: high on an outer wall across from the door clear of the shower spray.

An exhaust fan is a light load, so a standard switch handles it. KEMPS K141 is a 10AX 1 way switch at ₹65 MRP, and in a conventional board the VIYONA 101 1 way switch is ₹22. Many homeowners wire the exhaust and light on separate switches so the fan can keep running after the light is off.

A bathroom with no exhaust fan stays damp, and damp finds its way into switch boxes. Our guide to a switch getting hot or socket sparking lists moisture among the usual causes. We do not make exhaust fans; we make the switches and the points they connect to.

Which light fitting suits a bathroom?

A bathroom suits an enclosed light fitting, fixed on the ceiling or high on the wall above the basin mirror, away from the shower spray, with a rating for damp or wet locations stated by its maker where it sits near water, and switched from outside the door.

Look for an enclosed fitting, a stated IP rating near water and neutral or natural white at the mirror, where faces need even light. An open bulb holder over a shower is the arrangement to avoid.

Our catalogue does not state an IP rating for our LED lights, so we do not claim any of them for wet zones. If you want an LED surface light or panel near the shower, ask the maker of that fitting for its rating; our guide to IP65 vs IP66 explains the digits.

Away from the spray, a ceiling fitting works well. Our panel light vs downlight guide compares the three main ceiling types, and our LED range includes a 6W concealed surface LED light (1006) at ₹160 MRP.

Can you have a socket in a bathroom?

A socket in a bathroom is common practice only where it sits well away from the shower and bath, usually near the basin or outside the door, at a height above splashes, on a circuit protected by an RCCB, and many homeowners simply keep the hair dryer and trimmer socket just outside the bathroom.

If you do fit one inside: far from the shower above splash height shuttered RCCB on the circuit. A socket at floor level in a wet room is where water collects.

For a washing machine in the bathroom, the point goes above the machine and to one side of the tap, on 16A; our height guide gives the figure. Never run a washing machine through a multi plug on a wet floor. Our guide on a washing machine giving shock covers earthing faults.

KEMPS K192 is a 6AX 3 pin socket with shutter at ₹110 MRP, and VIZA V262 is a 6A 2 pin socket with shutter at ₹78.

Does a bathroom circuit need an RCCB?

A bathroom circuit benefits from an RCCB, commonly 30 mA, because it trips on earth leakage through a person, which an MCB cannot detect, and protecting bathrooms with one is widely recommended practice in Indian homes, decided for your DB by a licensed electrician.

The two devices do different jobs. An MCB trips on overload and short circuit to protect the cable. An RCCB trips on leakage to earth to protect people. A geyser with a failing element can leak current into its body and the water long before any MCB trips.

We do not make RCCBs. We make the MCBs beside them: VIYONA 401 is a single pole 10 kA MCB from 6A to 32A at ₹145 MRP. Our guide to the difference between RCCB and ELCB explains the older device you may find in an old board, and our isolator vs MCB guide shows how all three sit together.

What earthing and wiring does a bathroom need?

Behind a bathroom wall, every metal-bodied appliance point such as the geyser needs a sound earth connection, cables should run in conduit with any joints kept in accessible boxes outside the wet area, and wiring should never be run through the shower wall where water and drilling for fittings meet.

Three things to ask the electrician: earth at the geyser point no joints in the shower wall conduit under the waterproofing.

A geyser body is metal and full of water; if its element fails, the earth wire is what carries the fault away. Our types of earthing guide explains how the earth path is made.

Joints belong in boxes that can be opened later, not buried in plaster. Our guide to the junction box vs concealed box explains where each kind of box goes. Plumbers drill bathroom walls more than any other; a wiring photograph of each wall before tiling shows them where not to drill.

Bathroom electrical mistakes to avoid

The most common bathroom electrical mistakes are switches or sockets within reach of the shower, a geyser plugged into a low socket, no exhaust fan, bare bulb holders over the shower, joints buried in wet walls, no RCCB, and extension cords for hair dryers or washing machines on a wet floor.

Run down this list on any bathroom, new or old:

Switch inside the shower area Geyser on a floor-level socket Extension cord on a wet floor No exhaust fan No indicator on geyser switch Open bulb holder over the shower

Taking possession of a new flat? Our electrical checklist for a new flat adds these to a full walk-through, and our kitchen electrical points guide covers the other wet room. For checks after you move in, see the home electrical maintenance checklist.