Electrical Work for Renovating and Remodeling Your Kitchen

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The kitchen is the heart of every home. As the place family members come together to eat and enjoy one another’s company, it’s no wonder kitchen renovations are one of the leading home upgrades done by homeowners today. Whether your renovation plans are intended to increase your home’s resale value, or simply to improve the ergonomics and appearance of your kitchen, don’t start your kitchen’s electrical renovation without considering these four incredible upgrades. If you plan well and trust the professionals, you’ll have a safe and functional kitchen, complete with proper lighting and ventilation.

Lighting is Everything

Even the largest kitchen space can seem dwarfed by a lack of lighting. If you’ve recently enlarged your kitchen, adding accent lighting infrequently used spaces such as over the stove, in major walkways, or over the kitchen table will bring a sense of warmth and openness to your home. Because of their high lumen output, affordability, and efficiency, recessed downlights are an excellent option for heavily travelled walkways and task-oriented areas such as the stove and countertops. Use 6” recessed downlights with reflectors for walkway areas, and 3-4” directional recessed downlights as an accent light over the stove and countertops.

Dimmers

Although your kitchen’s lighting should be some of the brightest in your home, the ability to turn to reduce light output can come in handy when you’ve had a long day or are planning a romantic dinner for two. Wall dimmers can be paired with multiple bulb types, including LED and CFL; keep in mind, however, that a bulb must be dimmable in order to pair it with a dimmable wall switch.

Adding Sub-Panels

You’ll need more power in your kitchen than anywhere else in the home. Just think of all the appliances you’ll need to run.

You might have to install a sub-panel to handle your increased power consumption needs. You could either place the sub-panel close to the main panel or install it elsewhere in the room and connect it with a sub-feed cable. The most important thing that a professional will ensure is that the area around the sub-panel is clear of the floor and the ceiling. The installation of a subpanel doesn’t allow you to draw more power. It only gives you the option of having extra circuits for your appliances.

Planning the Requirements for Circuits

Your kitchen area will need sockets for all the standard appliances such as the microwave, jug, dishwasher and waste master but recommend having at least four more, so it’s easy to operate other appliances such as mixers and coffee machines. Most modern kitchens also tend to have sockets for portable phones and chargers for mobile phones and laptops. Another issue to discuss with your electrician is the amount of circuits that run from your switchboard to your kitchen. It is recommended to have at least two circuits in your kitchen as people operate a lot more appliances these days than when the average house was wired back in the 1960s.

It’s a good idea to place one socket for every 4 feet of counter space in the kitchen. Measure your countertop to determine the number of sockets you need. Every area that measures more than 12 inches x 24 inches should ideally have one socket.

You have to also equip your home with circuit breakers or fuses to prevent electric shock. The circuit breaker will stop the flow of electricity in case there’s an overload. Most homes have a rewireable fuse, a cartridge fuse or a plug-in circuit breaker on the switchboard. If you want to replace the fuse with a circuit breaker, you’ll need the help of an electrician.

For any work involving kitchen wiring, even for seemingly simple projects, it is advisable to leave the job to certified kitchen electricians. If you don’t, you may be risking the integrity of your home electrical wiring, or worse, your personal safety.