[Absberg2k]

I have a walkout basement with a poured concrete foundation. Next to my patio outside my basement, I would like to add an outlet. Access will be pretty easy. I was planning on adding a dedicated circuit from the electrical box in the basement, run the wire along the floor joists, exit the exterior wall above the concrete foundation, and then run pvc conduit straight down to an outlet box hung on the concrete wall. The total run will be about 50 feet.

My questions are:

1. Is it better to use a GFCI breaker in the box or a GFCI outlet on the outside wall?

2. Is a 20 amp breaker correct for this purpose?

3. What type of wiring would you recommend? 12-2 NM sheathed cable?

4. Do I need to strip the sheathing from the wires at the point it exits the house? Or is it okay to run romex type cable all the way to the outlet box? I have heard to use unsheathed wires only inside conduit.

5. Is it okay for the pvc conduit to enter the outlet box on top? In other words, can I run it straight down the wall and into the top of the outlet box for a cleaner look?

I am located in the Des Moines, Iowa area.

Thanks in advance for any advise or suggestions.

[ballengerb1]

I would recommend the GFCI breaker over the outlet and go with 20 amp using 12-2 UF for you application. I am having difficulty picturing where you are runnning your power to and where it terminates, what will it be used for. Can you clarify this?

[Absberg2k]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try to clarify my application. I am trying to get an outlet to my patio outside my walkout basement. My intention is to bring the wire through the wall above the poured concrete foundation (which is the basement wall) and then run it straight down the outside wall in pvc conduit to terminate in an outdoor outlet box about 1-2 feet above the ground. So only about the last 8 feet of the run will be outside and it will be in pvc conduit.

It will be used to power a small fountain in my landscaping and for general outdoor power uses (electric leaf blower, occasional power hand tools... ).

[tkrussell]

The problem is the NM cable is not rated to be outdoors, even if in a conduit. This is why Ballenger suggested UF cable.

An outdoor conduit is a wet location, and NM cable and the wire inside the cable is only rated for dry location.

So, the NM cable will need to stop at a junction box at the point you change over to conduit that will run outdoors. Then you can use either UF cable inside conduit, as long as the conduit is large enough to contain the UF cable, or use THHN/THWN wire, 3 # 12, black, white, and green, from the JB to the outlet.

[Absberg2k]

Thanks to you both for your help. A little further investigation leads to another question. Can I use 10-2 UF for this purpose? It would save me having to pull new wire. This outdoor outlet I am installing is actually going in the same location as a hot tub circuit for a hot tub I just removed. In other words, there is currently a 240 circuit running to this same location using 10-2 UF wiring. Can I use that same wiring if I change the breaker to a 20 amp GFCI and put a 20 amp receptacle on the other end outside? If that doesn't work, then I will run a new length of 12-2 UF cable from the panel to the receptacle. Thanks again.

[tkrussell]

You can use the existing #10-2 UF cable. The #10 will not fit on the terminals of the receptacle, you can splice 6 inches of #12 onto the #10 to connect to the device.

[Absberg2k]

Thanks again. That will make this quite a bit easier. I will also need to splice in about 8 to 10 feet of 10-2 UF to reach my receptacle location, assuming that is permissible. Just to explain this a bit better, I will post a picture below.

[Absberg2k]

TK,

Attached is a picture of my current setup for the old hot tub. I have a subpanel on the outdoor wall about 6 feet off the ground. Thus, the 10-2 UF wire terminates in that panel. I need to get to about one foot off the ground. I was planning on just removing the subpanel and putting in conduit from the elbow at the top to the receptacle near the ground. Of course, that means the 10-2 doesn't reach to the ground. Can I splice in another 8 feet or so of 10-2 from the elbow at the top (or maybe in a jbox in the ceiling inside the house) so that I have enough wire to reach my desired location for the receptacle? That would allow me to reuse the 10-2 already in place and still reach my desired location for the receptacle.

I guess one more question would be how close to the ground can I go with the receptacle?

Thanks again.

[tkrussell]

Yes you can extend the circuit by splicing, this will give you the opportunity to change over to #12 wire so you can connect to the receptacle.

The outlet can be where ever you want, even on or in the ground.

Obviously, common sense comes into play. For example, if you get snow where your located, you may want to be sure the outlet is not so low it will be buried in snow.

[Absberg2k]

TK,

I got into my project to discover that the wiring to the now removed hot tub is actually 8-3. Obviously very large gauge wire. Am I still okay using it. I will swap out the 50 amp breaker and replace it with a 20 amp GFCI breaker. I will still splice in 12-2 UL wire that will run outside to the receptacle. Is that still acceptable? Thanks again.

[tkrussell]

Yes.