Of course you can. In order to do that (have one centered in each wall) you have to have three per wall, twelve in the room. Absolutley absurd for a room that does not need that much service. Minimum code for that room is eight. That in itself is overkill. It is an area of the code where there is no common sense IMHO.
In most rooms, every point of a wall (with some exceptions) must be within 6' of an outlet. This is because most corded items will have
6' cords. This translates into outlets every 12', with one within 6' of the end of wall runs.For kitchen counters, you need 3 times as many outlets. That is, every point on the counter wall needs to be within 2' of an outlet, because kitchen appliances typically have 2' cords. With a typical 2' deep counter, a 2' cord can't reach beyond the counter to be a hazard. This requirement translates into outlets every 4', with an outlet within 2' of the end of counter runs.
Cheers, Wayne
Well, the National Electric Code spells out explicitly where outlets are required. What you need to do is check what the NEC says and see if your existing layout complies. If it does, and the inspector is asking for something beyond the NEC, you have some hope of appealing. If the inspector is only requiring what the NEC itself requires, you are out of luck and need to put in the receptacles.
Cheers, Wayne
The code isn't designed to produce the number of receptacles you're probably going to need. It's designed to make sure that there's one within cord-range of anywhere you're likely to put an appliance*.
As for "overkill", there is no such thing as too many power outlets or too many ethernet drops. Trying to economize on them isn't penny-wise and pound-foolish, it's just stupid.
--Goedjn
I kicked the inspector off my property. Him and his bullshit about to many outlets in a garage. His buddy in the building dept was also kicked off the property for the same thing when I was building it. I really do not care what they try since I live in the country, outside city limits on 60 acres of land. I had nearly the same issue in town a few years back when they would not sign off the final inspection. Since I build better than code anyhow I told them where to shuff their BS. Had no problems selling the house later. Present family is very happy with it.
They want you to have it inspected not for the saftey BS they give you but so they can raise your taxes. Fuck them.. MY property, my way.
Hi, You need minimum outlets per code at certain height and distance. Many times some outlets are covered by furniture, etc. Code is code and it's there for a reason. If you did something against code is appeal going to do? If one exception is made for some, then the purpose of code becomes lame. Whoever did the wiring, made bad mistake. Tony
Outlets are now required every 6 feet? I seem to remember 12 feet. Apparently I am out of date
Within 6 feet of every point on a wall, putting them approximately 12 feet apart! Makes sense, doesn't it? Tom
No, you just have either a parsing problem or visualization problem. Generally, having no point on a wall more than 6' from an outlet and having outlets at least every 12' are about the same thing.
Very clear. Thanks.
For the purpose of outlet placement, a wall segment continues around corners until there is a break, such as at a doorway. So if 8 receptacles provides adequate coverage for the room, then you should be able to shift all the receptacles a bit to get one centered on each wall by only adding one or two receptacles.
Cheers, Wayne
Why did you bother filing for a permit if you're not going to abide by their rules? Seems to me that's just pissing your money away and setting yourself up for a fight.
R
Are you qualified electrician or?..... Actually I take it you're BS'ing. Merry Christmas. Tony
Think of a 12' wall beginning at a doorway. You must have at least one outlet 6' from a doorway. If you think every 12' from then on to the next outlet, you would end up with only 1 outlet on that wall. When you use the no more than 6' to an outlet rule, then you would be forced to have at least 2 outlets on that wall. Kevin
I have a 22' x 20' family room. One wall has an 8' slider door and near the other end, a woodstove. That wall has only one outlet in the center proving that common sense does prevail in some cases. The other three wall have two per wall, including the one with the door to the hallway. The unfinished utility area has only one on a long wall but since it is not considered living area it is OK like that.
So, using that logic, I guess you should just put them around the wall every six inches. Of course there can be too many! Twelve in a large dining room with essentially no load requirements is too many. In order to get one centered on each wall that is what would be required. It is not a matter of econmizing, it is a matter of what makes sense, what is really required.
And with a lighted China Cabinet even meeting the code you still can be over six feet from the outlet because of the exit height.
Probably OK to code just barely as the slider is not counted as part of the wall in the 6' rule. Around here you will get 1 outlet for the entire unfinished basement and that is probably a GFCI that feeds the outside outlets. When I finished my basement I put an outlet every 4'. This gives me at least 1 exposed outlet in each room. Exposed meaning not blocked by furniture etc. Kevin
What are the dimensions of the dining room, and where are the doorways?
Wayne
19'6" X 16' with the doors on the long walls in opposite corners. One door is a 4' creating one short wall (approximately 11' continuous). The shortest wall would have qualified by code for a centered single I think, however, that is not a normal furniture location wall.
Think about it, you have young kids around the house. Which is safer, cords behind the furniture not accessible to them, or dangling out to the side where they can get them and pull on them.
Lived in the house for fifteen years and have never used more than two outlets with the exception of Christmas when we plug in a 15 Watt candle on the window sill.
Doesn't matter, When I install the raised panel wainscoating, the outlets will end up where they should be.
Not sure I am visualizing this right: with two doors in opposite corners, each one on a long wall, then a 4' door would leave 15.5' on that long wall.
So let me suppose there's a 4' door on one 19.5' wall (leaving 15.5' of wall) and a 3' door on the other 19.5' wall (leaving 16.5' of wall). Then you have one continuous wall line (going around the corner) of 15.5' + 16' = 31.5', and another continuous wall line of
16.5' + 16' = 32.5'. [This assumes that the amount each door is offset from the corner is the same.]You can cover a 36' wall line with 3 receptacles: spaced at 6', 18', and 30' from either end of the wall line. So the minimum number of receptacles for your dining room is 6. Now you mentioned you wanted a receptacle centered in each wall; I'll assume you mean centered ignoring the doors. Then if you work it out, you'll need only 8 receptacles, assuming the centerward edge of the smaller door is at least 3'9" from the very corner.
Cheers, Wayne
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