According to my understanding of code, the kitchen countertop outlets
have to be on two 20-amp "small appliance" circuits.

My current kitchen countertop plugs are all on a single 20-amp circuit
(previous owners redid the kitchen about 10 years ago).

I'm putting another, smaller counter on the opposite wall now (8ft long,
12" deep). I'm running a new 20-amp circuit to the outlets over this
counter.

Does this meet code (technically there will be two 20-amp circuits)? Or
must I run a two-circuit 12/3 cable to these new outlets?

I'm assuming I don't need to redo the previously wired outlets if I
don't mess with that circuit.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks to all who contribute to this group.

*moc

As long as your combined countertops are fed with at least two 20 amp
circuits, you meet the code. Incidentally, those same two circuits can be
used to feed the outlets in the dining room
"mike" wrote in message
...
According to my understanding of code, the kitchen countertop outlets
have to be on two 20-amp "small appliance" circuits.

My current kitchen countertop plugs are all on a single 20-amp circuit
(previous owners redid the kitchen about 10 years ago).

I'm putting another, smaller counter on the opposite wall now (8ft long,
12" deep). I'm running a new 20-amp circuit to the outlets over this
counter.

Does this meet code (technically there will be two 20-amp circuits)? Or
must I run a two-circuit 12/3 cable to these new outlets?

I'm assuming I don't need to redo the previously wired outlets if I
don't mess with that circuit.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks to all who contribute to this group.

*moc

In article , mike wrote:
According to my understanding of code, the kitchen countertop outlets
have to be on two 20-amp "small appliance" circuits.

For work done after the Code incorporated that provision, yes. *At least* two.
Doesn't mean you can't have three, or five, or seventeen.

My current kitchen countertop plugs are all on a single 20-amp circuit
(previous owners redid the kitchen about 10 years ago).

Met Code at the time...

I'm putting another, smaller counter on the opposite wall now (8ft long,
12" deep). I'm running a new 20-amp circuit to the outlets over this
counter.

Okay.

Does this meet code (technically there will be two 20-amp circuits)?

AFAIK, the Code does *not* say that there need to be two circuits serving each
segment of countertop, just that there must be at least two circuits serving
the *room*.

Or must I run a two-circuit 12/3 cable to these new outlets?

You can if you want, but it's not required by the NEC.

I'm assuming I don't need to redo the previously wired outlets if I
don't mess with that circuit.

Better ask your local inspector about that one. He may require that you bring
the entire room up to current Code if you touch *any* of it, and I'll bet that
the spacing between the existing receptacles doesn't meet current Code. (Used
to be every six feet, now it's every four.) You may not have the GFCI
protection required by current Code, either.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Talk to your local inspector. He's the guy with the final say.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

"RBM" rmottola1(remove wrote in message
...
As long as your combined countertops are fed with at least two 20 amp
circuits, you meet the code. Incidentally, those same two circuits can be
used to feed the outlets in the dining room
------------------------cut------------------------------------------

Using the kitchen circuits for the dining room is a violation as I
interperate the NEC
210-52.b.2 page 44 of my 1999 code book
"the 2 or more small appliance brancn circuits specified..... shall have no
other outlets."


better check locally

On 2005-02-28, SQLit wrote:

Using the kitchen circuits for the dining room is a violation as I
interperate the NEC 210-52.b.2 page 44 of my 1999 code book "the 2
or more small appliance brancn circuits specified..... shall have no
other outlets."

Umm, 210.52(B)(2) reads as quoted, where specified is "specified in
210.52(B)(1)". And 210.52(B)(1) reads

In the kitchen, pantry, breakfast room, dining room, or similar area
of a dwelling unit, the two or more 20-ampere small-appliance branch
circuits required by 210.11(C)(1) shall serve all receptacle outlets
covered by 210.52(A) and (C) and receptacle outlets for
refrigeration equipment.

So the upshot is that, oddly, the circuit serving the dining room
receptacles may not serve receptacles other than in the kitchen,
pantry, etc. I wonder what the thinking behind this rule is?

BTW, Exception No. 2 to 210.52(B)(1) allows the refrigerator to be on
an "individual branch circuit rated 15 amperes or greater." Sounds
like this would preclude running two refrigerators on a single 15 amp
circuit.

Cheers, Wayne

AFAIK, the Code does *not* say that there need to be two circuits serving each
segment of countertop, just that there must be at least two circuits serving
the *room*.

Or must I run a two-circuit 12/3 cable to these new outlets?

You can if you want, but it's not required by the NEC.

On the other hand, if you're anything like me, your power-hungry
appliances are all clustered together in one place, to leave room
for dirty di... ahh.. to leave more workspace.. yeah. So it makes
sense to have the outlets alternate, or even split.
I forget what the conclusion was, last time around, will a GFCI
recepticle even work on an edison circut?

--Goedjn

In the kitchen, pantry, breakfast room, dining room, or similar area
of a dwelling unit, the two or more 20-ampere small-appliance branch
circuits required by 210.11(C)(1) shall serve all receptacle outlets
covered by 210.52(A) and (C) and receptacle outlets for
refrigeration equipment.

So the upshot is that, oddly, the circuit serving the dining room
receptacles may not serve receptacles other than in the kitchen,
pantry, etc. I wonder what the thinking behind this rule is?

I'm pretty sure that that applies only to the Dining-Room outlets
that feed any COUNTERTOPS in the diningroom, not the convenience
outlets scattered around the room, and it's because, when you're
using such a countertop, you're likely to have things like
crock-pots, fondue-pots, warming lamps, champaign fountains,
cube-refridgerators, beer-coolers, and other equipment plugged in.
A built-in side board is, functionally, an extension of the kitchen
counters.


BTW, Exception No. 2 to 210.52(B)(1) allows the refrigerator to be on
an "individual branch circuit rated 15 amperes or greater." Sounds
like this would preclude running two refrigerators on a single 15 amp
circuit.


Why would you want to?. If you're running wire anyway, you should
either make it a 20A circut, or better, a split recepticle on a 3
wire branch.


--Goedjn

On 2005-02-28, Goedjn wrote:


In the kitchen, pantry, breakfast room, dining room, or similar area
of a dwelling unit, the two or more 20-ampere small-appliance branch
circuits required by 210.11(C)(1) shall serve all receptacle outlets
covered by 210.52(A) and (C) and receptacle outlets for
refrigeration equipment.

So the upshot is that, oddly, the circuit serving the dining room
receptacles may not serve receptacles other than in the kitchen,
pantry, etc. I wonder what the thinking behind this rule is?

I'm pretty sure that that applies only to the Dining-Room outlets
that feed any COUNTERTOPS in the diningroom, not the convenience
outlets scattered around the room

No, 210.52(A) covers the convenience outlets, and 210.52(C) covers the
countertop outlets, so the above requirement does apply to all dining
room outlets.

Cheers, Wayne