Receptacle wall spacing

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360Youth

Senior Member
Location
Newport, NC
First, let me say, I'm sorry that I have not had the chance to look this up recently (my codebook is not always in front of me), but I was told by an inspector recently that, when it came to wall spacing receptacles in a res., ent. center cabinets in, say, a living room would be considered wall space and, as such, would require a floor outlet withinin 18" in front of any doors that fall within the "no point of the wall...6' from a recept." I was rethinking the situation with new projects coming up so I thought I would ask.
 

benaround

Senior Member
Location
Arizona
360,

I think if you write your question agian, explaining just what the situation is,

you will get more answers. Frankly I don't follow the res,ent,center cabinet,

18" from doors? I'm not picking on you, I just don't get it.
 

JohnJ0906

Senior Member
Location
Baltimore, MD
Personally, I disagree with this inspector, but it also looks like it is open to interpritation. If he considers the space in front of an entertainment center "wall space", you need an outlet. I wouldn't consider it wall space myself. Most of the ones I see have doors on the bottom, so you couldn't set anything there anyway.
 

busman

Senior Member
Location
Northern Virginia
Occupation
Master Electrician / Electrical Engineer
I think the idea is that if the EC covers the most of the wall height, then you should meet the spacing requirements by placing receptacles in the open shelf space above. Although, I have on occasion been asked to place them in the lower cabinets for A/V equipment. In this case, I rough the wires in behind the unit and make close note of the locations. After the unit is installed I use a jigsaw to cut holes for OW boxes and hook-em up.

Mark
 

stickboy1375

Senior Member
Location
Litchfield, CT
I get alot of rooms with built in book shelves and they always require me to have receptacles, I generally install them in the toe kick. But remember you can easily have a receptacle up to 5 1/2 ft. above the floor and still count as the requirement...
 

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
IMO an entertainment center is not a wall therefore the requirement for a receptacle(s) doesn't exist.
 

Smart $

Esteemed Member
Location
Ohio
infinity said:
IMO an entertainment center is not a wall therefore the requirement for a receptacle(s) doesn't exist.
If it is a part-of-the-structure type, I agree. If it is not, put the recpt in the wall, not the floor. Plugging anything into a floor receptacle in front of an e.c. would create a tripping hazard. Sheer common sense says no-one would want a floor receptacle in front of their e.c.!!!
 

360Youth

Senior Member
Location
Newport, NC
benaround said:
360,

I think if you write your question agian, explaining just what the situation is,

you will get more answers. Frankly I don't follow the res,ent,center cabinet,

18" from doors? I'm not picking on you, I just don't get it.

I'll try and cut back on the abreviations next time. Sorry.


The inspector seemed to be under the assumption that the doors to the permanently installed entertainment center are considered wall space and therfore required outlets in the floor, within 18", since they obviously could not go in the doors, and behind the doors in the back of the cabinet for electronics did not meet the requirement, nor did the recept I had installed above the countertops of the entertainment center at 44" AFF. I could not argue the point at the time. She may have said it would be a future requirement, 'cause she let it go. That is one that has always perplexed me. Of course, she also made me put a receptacle on a 25" wall in a bedroom behind a 34" door. Code calls for it, but...:rolleyes:
 

stickboy1375

Senior Member
Location
Litchfield, CT
360Youth said:
I'll try and cut back on the abreviations next time. Sorry.


The inspector seemed to be under the assumption that the doors to the permanently installed entertainment center are considered wall space and therfore required outlets in the floor, within 18", since they obviously could not go in the doors, and behind the doors in the back of the cabinet for electronics did not meet the requirement, nor did the recept I had installed above the countertops of the entertainment center at 44" AFF. I could not argue the point at the time. She may have said it would be a future requirement, 'cause she let it go. That is one that has always perplexed me. Of course, she also made me put a receptacle on a 25" wall in a bedroom behind a 34" door. Code calls for it, but...:rolleyes:


How wide and deep was the unit? you could not get receptacles on each side of the unit in the wall?
 

celtic

Senior Member
Location
NJ
360Youth said:
Very cool. Thanks. I had not come across that one before. I guess I've been to busy searching solitare games, instead.:grin:
Solitare?
No problem!
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From c|net's download.com site ...this is an upgrade from the 123 I have - THANKS!

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Jim W in Tampa

Senior Member
Location
Tampa Florida
If its fixed then i would think it falls into similar to a fireplace,sink,door.So that space does not need any receptacle.She let you go because she wasnt able to make her ruling stand up with a code number.
 

360Youth

Senior Member
Location
Newport, NC
stickboy1375 said:
How wide and deep was the unit? you could not get receptacles on each side of the unit in the wall?

It took up about 10-12' wide and 24-30" deep feet I would guess, it's been several months now.. It started with the wall on the right side and where it it ended I had my first recept within 6'.
 

charlie b

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Lockport, IL
Occupation
Retired Electrical Engineer
360Youth said:
The inspector seemed to be under the assumption that the doors to the permanently installed entertainment center are considered wall space and therefore required outlets in the floor, within 18", since they obviously could not go in the doors. . . .
That is about as much nonsense as I have ever encountered. A ?door? is considered ?wall space?? If she had said that the entertainment cabinet as a whole counted as wall space, there would have been room to discuss the issue. But to consider a door as wall space leaves no room for anything other than incredulity.

360Youth said:
. . . behind the doors in the back of the cabinet for electronics did not meet the requirement, nor did the receptacle I had installed above the countertops of the entertainment center at 44" AFF.
If the cabinet is a wall, then any outlet placed no more than 66 inches above the floor within that wall must be allowed to count as the required outlet.
 

allenwayne

Senior Member
I`ve never considered a built in ent. center as usable wall space, the only time they get one or more is if it is on the print.Same as a built in book case, fireplace etc.As far as the 25 in. wall goes it must get a receptacle regardless of the fact of being behind a door.
 

celtic

Senior Member
Location
NJ
allenwayne said:
As far as the 25 in. wall goes it must get a receptacle regardless of the fact of being behind a door.

Yup.
After all the furniture is placed, that may be the only one available for vacuuming.

210.52(A)(2)(1) is pretty exacting.
 

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
360Youth said:
and behind the doors in the back of the cabinet for electronics did not meet the requirement, nor did the recept I had installed above the countertops of the entertainment center at 44" AFF.

If you put receptacles in the back of the center and above the center, what more could anyone ask? You don't need all of this to meet code but it keeps the homeowner happy.
 

A/A Fuel GTX

Senior Member
Location
WI & AZ
Occupation
Electrician
busman said:
In this case, I rough the wires in behind the unit and make close note of the locations. After the unit is installed I use a jigsaw to cut holes for OW boxes and hook-em up.

Mark

When I'm faced with putting power into any wall mounted cabinet, I used one of Carlons Adjustable Boxes and let the cabinet guy do the cut out. That way I'm not taking a chance of splintering a cabinet that could cost a few thousand dollars. Then you simply turn a screw to bring the box flush with the surface.
 
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