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Im not an electrician, but when I got my tub, the dealre told me the gfi/disconnect had to be at least 5 feet from the tub. The reasoning in simple English is so that someone cant be in the tub and getting ready to fondle a live circuit at the same time
It's the same in Canada about this disctance. And Buckeye, like you my central AC unit has a disconnect not one foot from the unit. And that was installed and inspected in a 30 year old home by the local utility inspector.So when it comes to codes and reality, these are two different things. My GFI panel is only a foot from the tub but below my removable step which access the panels for the mechanicals of the tub. The inspector said, ''well I guess you can't reach that without some effort!'' and signed off on the work. Hey whatever works for me. OH! and the dealer also agreed to the panel because I made them aware of it at installation time to not void the warranty.
Anybody familiar? Buckeye