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Outlets on island - can you shorten plugmold? Wires?

12 years ago

We're trying to figure out how to provide outlets on the ends of our island. I think plugmold would work well if we can shorten it. It comes in 36" lengths, and I think we would need 24". Can we cut it down to fit? Does that work?

Also, if you've used plugmold on an island, where do the wires go if you do not have a decorative post to run them through? Do they go in a conduit in the back of a cabinet? Do we get a false back built for the cabinet and hide them there? What do people generally do?

Thanks!

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Comments (5)

bostonpam
12 years ago
Mine are less than 24" by task lighting (they come as small as 9"). I have them installed on both sides of the island under the seating area. They were expensive but this company was the only tamper resistant plugmold to meet code here. I had to order them thru my cabinet guy since they didn't sell directly to consumers. This was a few years ago. I believe the wires were run thru the back of the cabinet.

Here is a link that might be useful: task lighting
scuzz
12 years ago
Thanks..this is helpful to me as well. I am at this stage of figuring out what I need to do for plugs on my island.
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I like my plugmold pointing straight down--it means that the cord falls straight down instead of jutting out at an angle and poking into the working space. The conduit comes out of the plaster wall, and goes into the box that is used at the beginning of a Plugmold run. There's a collar that holes the conduit in place. Go ask over at Kitchens, bcs lots of people have pics of their Plugmold installations. Were I to do it over again, actually, I would put the outlets way down by the countertop, inside a 2" or 3" backsplash made of the countertop material. Then, anything left plugged in for very long (toaster, etc.) would NOT have cords traveling up the full height of the backsplash. One thing I do like about Plugmold is that there's an outlet every 6 inches--that's sort of nice, to be able to plug in almost anywhere.
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I did not get the quick-connect splices but I can get them at Lowe's. I'm only going to install one strip under a 34" long upper cabinet. Would I still need the quick-connect splices? The wire I'm going to use was previously an electrical outlet in the kitchen so I'm going to assume it is a GFI (but I'll check to make sure). Thanks!
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You aren't going to like my suggestion, but here it is: Install the outlets in the walls. It's just not that hard. I've done it a million times in plaster and lath walls. The easiest way is using metal boxes with expanding "ears" on the sides that grip the existing wall. To cut the hole for the outlet, you drill starter holes in all four corners then use a fine tooth hacksaw blade so you don't break out the plaster. You have full access from the basement - so you won't have to channel any walls. The end result will look right, it won't look like it was added on after the fact. Show us a photo of your baseboard / wall.
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Oh, I should have specified a few things. It is for kitchen undercabinet. We already have romex in, since we didn't think about it early enough. Now, if we deicde to take out the backsplash outlets and replace them with plugmold instead, do we have to replace all that wiring? thanks! p.
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snoonyb
12 years ago
Keep in mind, that if you are subject to inspections, and are within 6' of the sink, the recep. need to be GFI protected.
So you might consider a standard recp.
And yes the conductors are run in the cabinets.
breezygirl
12 years ago
Snoonyb--those outlets can be protected upstream with a GFI and meet code. None of my kitchen outlets are GFI. My electrician put the GFI upstream of them hidden in the pantry.
bellsmom
12 years ago
Check out PCS34-90 - Kitchen Power Grommet from Mockett.com.; I learned of these here on GW and love the one on my island.
These pics are from their website.

Here it is closed:

And here it is opened:

Sandra

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