Questions for Electrical Experts: Re minr remodel and circuits
 

I'm planning a minor remodel on my kitchen that will involve removing a wall and relocating the existing stove/oven and adding a wall oven. I'm not getting a permit but I want to do this correctly and to code.

My Questions:
1) Since I am adding a wall oven to my existing gas stove/elect oven combo, should I have seperate circuits for each appliance or combine them?

2) What is the normal routing for 220 wiring? My current stove/oven has the 220 wiring running under the house but all the 110 household current is wired thru the attic.

3) should I be running the 220 wiring inside of conduit (thinking the flexible aluminum type)?

4) I plan on running one circuit for ordinary outlets and a seperate circuit for lighting. Should Fridge, Dishwasher, Microwave be on a seperate circuit from all other 110 circuits?

Not doing anything immediately but doing my due dilligence now so that I can start purchasing materials and planning out my project.

For where I live:

1) all separate, and counter outlets are split, separate feed to each half, opposite phases.

2) Does not matter, shortest is best

3) No conduit for the correct wire. Individual conductors need a conduit, don't do that.

4) Yes, separate. Some people like to have all the inductive loads on one phase, lighting on the other phase.

1. Separate circuits.
2. The routing is generally what is the most accessible.
3. Running through the attic, where you might eventually have an exposure to rodents, it would not be a bad idea to have the wiring in some form of metallic conduit that would be more resistant to their damage. There are a couple versions of this .
4. In general, it depends upon how much power they consume. You also may have a limited amount of space to add new circuits in your existing panel. It's hard to give any specific advice without knowing more information. If you have the space in the panel, it may not be a bad idea to have things like the refrigerator on its own circuit.

First, always consult a certified electrician in your area.. My home depot has one on site.
1) are you planning on running them at the same time ? My guess is current demand would warrant a 2nd circuit
2) this was probably done for convenience your oven sits on the floor right ?
3)shouldn't be a code requirement if you're running it inside .. again consult the guy at Home Depot or an electrician
4)again look at the current requirements the microwave can suck a LOT of current

Thanks! All makes sense.

When you sell your house, you will likely be asked to sign a seller disclosure, aksing whether ll work was permitted and inspected.... ;)

Current NEC code, counter receptacles need to be split on 2 GFI circuits. Appliances, Fridge, DW, micro, etc are separate circuits.

I used to run a bunch of circuits for lighting, now with LEDs less critical, lights are 10% of what they used to be.

Stick to what Dad911 said. Also, around here, a dedicated circuit is needed for each appliance what a motor. If you are having a instant hot water unit under the sink, I would install a separate circuit there as well.

Get a permit, (owner builder) its cheap. Cover your ass this way.

Also separate circuit for garburator under sink. If you don't have one easier to do it right the first time than tear out walls a second time. Get the permit. Better to have it inspected and found out something is wrong than have your house burn down and have no insurance. :)

How old is your existing panel and other wiring? If you permit (which I do suggest) you might have to retrofit more of your existing wiring to bring it up to code. AFCI's for bedrooms as an example - or anything else that has been modified that wasn't up to code and/or permitted at the time.

All these questions can be answered by your local inspector and for the $30 or so for a home-owner permit, it's worth it.

It's also worth it so it doesn't have to be permitted, inspected and fines paid when you go to sell your house.

And it's also worth it so if, by chance, something goes wrong (like a mouse chews through a wire or a stove has a loose connection), your insurance company will pay for damages in the event of a fire. Even if the fire has absolutely nothing to do with the new un-permitted wiring, if they find out there was un-permitted work, they will refuse all claims.

Pay for the permit. It's there to protect you, not them.

OK, I will go the permit route.

I still want to gain as much info as I can as to the correct way to do this, long before I get started (which migh not happen till June).

I had to add smoke detectors throughout the house when I did my kitchen. Be ready for a bunch more work once the inspector is there. Local rules apply so outside of general concepts you need to talk/work with locals.

good luck

Call your building and safety and they will tell you exactly what you need. I still suggest pulling a separate circuit for all appliances and the garbage disposal. this way you are covered. The other issue room for additional breakers in the panel. depending how big icier panel, the inspector may make you perform a load calculation for the additional breakers. A sub panel maybe needed but I am shooting in the dark here since I can't see your panel. You doing this yourself?

My current breaker box has 5 empty slots. However, I purchased a 200 amp service box (been in my attic for a couple of years in it's original box). It has many more available slots than my current box. I may bite the bullet and install the new service box at the same time as the kitchen remodel. That said, I would use an electrician and a permit for that.

Main panel change out will need a permit for sure. I think its code now you have to leave two slots for solar installation in the future. Well, LA anyway.

A couple of years ago I bought a 200 amp service box that has at least 3 times the number of slots as my current Zinco box.

Now that I'm going to do a remodel of the kitchen (albeit a small remodel), this will be the time to install the new breaker box because the kitchen wall that I'm eliminating, has a 4 breaker, super old sub panel. If I'm going to move that, I might as well get this all fixed correctly.

Do you have 200 amp service cables to the house?

That may open a small can of worms, like arc fault & gfi breakers.

If you only have 100 amp in the house now and want to upgrade you will need a lot more than just a new panel box. You will need a new mast, mast head and maybe a meter box. Also 220v wires for the new mast. You will also have to get a site location for the new mast from your power company. At least up here you need that. :)

I think he will too. Just use an AFCI and GFI at the panel. A little costly, but will do the trick

About a year ago one of my main power lines coming into the house had to be replaced by PG&E. At that time, I asked the guy what it would take to upgraded to a 200 amp service. He told me that the power was already going to the house but that I would have to replace the wires in the mast to handle the extra heat and then install the box.

The 200 amp box that I already bought has the meter built into it (at least the big round hole and connectors).