ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Plug Molds instead of receps...

Had a strange request today.. A couple renovating there kitchen does not want to see any receps on the walls. Instead they way plug strips / molds on the underside of there cabinets.. Can I do this? I would think as long as they are GFCI protected and spaced as per the code it would be permitted.. Any thoughts?

James

We've done it several times. Mounted on the wall, just against the bottom edge of the uppers. GFCB's with no problems. You cannot use multi wire circuits though. No way you're going to splice in one of those. One 12/2 is all that's gonna fit.
My only problem is rust over time. Have yet to see one years later to see if it's a concern.

Isn't there a 18" or 20" maximun height above the countertop that these receptacles can be located?
I have done this several times, I agree, use just one 12-2 romex. Also you may want to keep the plugmold an inch or so from the back wall or edge of cabinet because someday, someone may want plug in an item that has a large male connector or a plug in transformer. If the plugmold is too close to the ajacent wall the transformer or connector may not fit.

I'm partial to mounting the plugmold face down, paying attention to the length of the mounting screws so they don't penetrate the cabinet floor.

I too do this occasionally. It is usually a pain in the rear. Keep this in mind for $$. I try to talk customers out of it. It is a pain to plug things in. You see a cord hanging. Most people have items on the counter they can put in front of a plug to hide them. Another option would be to locate the receptacles just above the countertop horizontally.

Speedy,

If you're concerned about rust, there is at least on manufacturer of non-metallic plugstrips.

Tom

Couldn't you use 2 circuit plug mold and a 2-pole 20A GFCI breaker?

It wouldn't be the cheapest way to go but it would work.

We were going to do this once. Could not talk the customer out of it.

We put the GFI's in the eating area and load sided off them. Because we pipe everything here and can only use short 3/8 greenfield wips we had to feed them off other boxes that were for the major appliances.

After the granit counter tops were in and the walls were painted they changed their mind and wanted it back in the wall above the counter tops.

As soon as that was chainged they still were not happy. They did not want it the normal hight they wanted them right on top of the backsplash.

Just be worned when the costomer wants a modern home but does not want to see any recepticals you will waste a lot of time.

Tom