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Electrical Outlet in Kitchen Island: Within 24 inches of sink??

11 years ago

Hi! I have been searching obsessively for an answer to this question but haven't found anything conclusive so I thought I would put it out to all of you with kitchen islands that include a sink.

We are planning a large (10-foot) island with a sink more or less in the center. My architect is telling me that the outlet in the island HAS to be within 24 inches of the sink to satisfy code.

I feel like this can't be right - I know this is code for countertop sinks, but isn't there an exception for the island? With our cabinet design, it would be very difficult to find a place for an outlet at the sink.

Any advice? If you have a sink in your island, did you have to install an outlet that close? Or is it just in the end of the island?

Thanks so much!! (Tearing my hair out here... :)

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Comments (7)

senator13
11 years ago
I am pretty sure that is correct. I know some people install the opp up ones. Here are some other ideas, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: island outlet
poohpup
11 years ago
You can put an outlet in a cabinet. Doesn't have to be one the outside and visible. I have two outlets in my island. One is hidden behind a false front and the other is in a cabinet. Could you put one inside the sink cabinet?
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We have an 8' island with a small prep sink at one end. We had an outlet installed near the prep sink but I tend to use it rarely. All my large appliances go on our other countertops (which I have plenty of) so that the island is for cutting etc. I do use the hand mixer or stand mixer on the island if needed but that is rare for me. What we wish we had done and may actually do at some point is put some outlets on the other side because like someone else said we use our laptops here at the island all the time. In fact right now mine is beeping at me that the battery is low and I am not thrilled about draping the cord across the top of the island just to be plugged in. in terms of looks we didn't do anything to hide the outlet we have, but it's on a side of the island that guests wouldn't see so it's not that 'visible'. The cover is colored similar to our cabinet stain so I never notice it. If we had outlets on the other side, since we have stools there I'm sure it would never be noticed at all.
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oldalgebra - thanks gizmonike - hoe ingenius! stacyneil - FYI, the Wiremold brand plugmold is 7/8" deep when mounted and 1 1/4" high. So might not work if you have drawers. I'm assuming you want the receptacles facing front, not down, so you don't have to bend over to see where you're plugging things in. You also need to allow enough room for your plugs on the ends of your cords - some of them can be quite wide. I can plug appliance cords into mine with app. 1/2" above and below my plugmold (2 1/8" b/t top of lower counter and bottom of upper) but can't fit most cellphone chargers, etc. - anything with an AC/DC transformer on it.
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Mass. is on the 2011 NEC (not that it makes much of a difference, there hasn't been a whole lot of substantive changes other than the TR requirement) with regard to things of late. As far as the code goes, if that thing is an ISLAND (that is, no side of it touches a wall), you are only required to have ONE receptacle on it. I'm not sure I catch all the lines in your picture. You can place the receptacles under the counter overhang as long as the countertop doesn't hang over more than 6" If this is really a peninsula (i.e. the sink side is up against a wall), you only need one receptacle on the peninsula side but you need to follow the normal wall rules on the wall side (no point along the wall more than 2' so you'd need one in the area to the right of the sink).
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Are you planning hardware that protrudes? I think part of the reason for counter overhang is so the counter protrudes the same or a little more than hardware. Also, drips over the counter edge tend to land on the floor rather than down all your drawer fronts. this info is all just FYI. It's my cautionary tale. At least you are making an informed choice. I have kicked myself over and over for not catching the aisle width oversight on my own drawings. I didn't realize the error until it was too late and too costly to move a wall with gas and electric in it.. I have a counter depth fridge, but with the thickness of the fridge door, the fridge handles and the counter/hardware on the opposite side of the aisle, there's only 32 inches left in front of my fridge.
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chiefneil
11 years ago
An outlet under the sink for the garbage disposal doesn't count?
breezygirl
11 years ago
Code in my municipality doesn't dictate an outlet within 24" of island sink, only that there be one on both sides of ths sink somewhere on the island. Your code may be different. I suggest you contact your electrical inspection office where you live to see if your architect is correct. (My inspector was very helpful.) I've not seen anyone here state that that code has been applicable to them.

Below is a link to a recent thread about island outlets in general. I wish I had a spot for a false drawer front like Poohpup. I couldn't willingly give up valuable island drawer space. An outlet under the sink didn't meet code for me. I described my solution on this thread.

Here is a link that might be useful: Island outlet ideas
Cloud Swift
11 years ago
An outlet under the sink for the garbage disposal doesn't count. Usually when an outlet is required by code it has to be within 12" of the counter surface because the a main point of the code for kitchen outlets is to put outlets close enough for short appliance cords to be plugged in without extension cords.

The actual statement in code is fairly brief and different localities interpret it differently. Yours may apply the same 24" that they use for sinks on wall counters (which would make sense for the same reason). If you doubt that, you could ask the architect or your GC to contact the local code department to check. We were initially told that the outlets we wanted on the corner of our island under the overhang wouldn't count because outlets under an overhang of more than 12" don't, but that didn't make sense since the outlet would be much less than 12" from the side of the overhang. He checked and the county code guy said it was fine.

We put one on a panel in front of our prep sink - the one that could otherwise be a tip out. No change for the storage on the cabinets needed.
angie_diy
11 years ago
The 2008 NEC model code, which many communities have currently adopted as their local code, states:

Where a range, counter-mounted cooking unit, or sink is installed in an island or peninsular countertop and the width of the countertop behind the range, counter-mounted cooking unit, or sink is less than 300 mm (12 in.), the range, counter-mounted cooking unit, or sink is considered to divide the countertop space into two separate countertop spaces as defined in 210.52(C)(4). Each separate countertop space shall comply with the applicable requirements in 210.52(C).

and

Island Spaces. At least one receptacle shall be installed at each island space with a long dimension of 600 mm (24 in.) or greater and a short dimension of 300 mm (12 in.) or greater.
Faith_
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks so much for your help, everyone! We're going to check more closely with the local inspector to see what we can work out.

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