Is it against code to install an electrical panel in a bedroom?

No. The NEC prohibits panels in clothes closets, dwelling bathrooms, and on stairways, but not bedrooms. You must maintain 110.26 working space of 30 by 36 inches by 78 inches high and keep the top breaker no higher than 6 feet 7 inches.

Do bedroom circuits from the subpanel need AFCI protection?

Yes. NEC 210.12(A) requires AFCI protection for 120 volt 15 and 20 amp branch circuits in bedrooms and most other living areas of a dwelling unit, including an ADU.

Can I Put a Subpanel in the Bedroom of an ADU?

A user asked the app whether a subpanel can go in the bedroom of an accessory dwelling unit. Yes. Nothing in NEC 2023 prohibits a panelboard in a bedroom, and in small ADUs a bedroom or hallway wall is often the only spot that works. The code cares about three things: where panels are outright banned, the working space around the panel, and the protection required on the circuits it feeds.

Where a panel cannot go

240.24(D) keeps overcurrent devices away from easily ignitable material, and the section calls out clothes closets specifically, so the bedroom closet is off the table. 240.24(E) bans overcurrent devices in dwelling unit bathrooms, and 240.24(F) keeps them off stairways. The bedroom itself appears nowhere in those prohibitions. Panels also cannot sit over the steps of a stairway per 110.26(A)(4) and should not be where the required working space would be used for storage.

Working space still applies in a house

110.26(A) requires a clear space 30 inches wide, 36 inches deep, and 78 inches tall in front of the panel, and the panel cannot be behind a door that blocks that space when open, or behind the headboard of a bed for practical inspection purposes. The 30 inches does not have to center on the panel, and the panel door must open 90 degrees. Mount the center of the top breaker no higher than 6 feet 7 inches per 240.24(A). A dresser or bed frame pushed against the panel is technically a violation the day the furniture arrives, so pick wall space that furniture will not fight over, and remember 110.26(D) requires illumination for panels in dwellings only by the general lighting in the room.

AFCI and the feeder

Every 120 volt 15 and 20 amp branch circuit in the bedroom, and nearly all habitable rooms of the ADU, needs AFCI protection under 210.12(A), which the new subpanel makes easy with AFCI breakers. The feeder itself follows the subpanel rules everyone knows: separated neutrals and grounds per 250.32(B) if the ADU is detached, plus its own grounding electrode system.

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