# panel in kitchen



## LBT CONSTRUCTION (Jan 9, 2010)

How do you guys feel about putting a panel in the kitchen.


----------



## slickvic277 (Feb 5, 2009)

I've seen it before,really not an ideal spot but as long as its not out in plain view or being blocked by something I guess it's fine outside of the aesthetics of it.Are you replacing an existing panel or adding a new one?If adding a new one I would try to place it somewhere else.


----------



## jwjrw (Jan 14, 2010)

I just did a historic house and had to put a panel on the wall near the back door. I had no real other option and since it was beside the exit it didnt stand out a whole lot. But I try to stay away from it because alot of people make the kitchen the showoff room here.


----------



## Speedy Petey (Jan 10, 2007)

Many times it is hard to make clearances in a kitchen, unless of course it is a big kitchen.

Agreed, as a last resort it is fine.


----------



## Greenblinker (Aug 4, 2008)

Wish I had a picture, about a year ago I worked in a kitchen and the panel was covered up by a cabinet. Open the door to the cabinet, move some dishes, papers, and pill bottles and you've got free access to open the panel door, right after you pull the 2 shelves out.


----------



## jwjrw (Jan 14, 2010)

Greenblinker said:


> Wish I had a picture, about a year ago I worked in a kitchen and the panel was covered up by a cabinet. Open the door to the cabinet, move some dishes, papers, and pill bottles and you've got free access to open the panel door, right after you pull the 2 shelves out.


Cant tell you the number of houses built in the 50's and 60's like that. Some of them you couldnt even get the cover off without tearing cabinets down.


----------



## jbfan (Jan 22, 2007)

I saw a house hunting show that had the panel in the kitchen.
It was a gally type kitchen and the panel was in the end of the gally.
This was a samll condo.


----------



## codeone (Sep 15, 2008)

Not a code issue if you can make the clearances!


----------



## egads (Sep 1, 2009)

The trick is to put it in the seemingly worst place, smack dab in the middle of a blank wall. That way it can be covered with artwork, like a safe. You just have to be careful that it does not end up on a wall that a future owner might want cabinets on.


----------



## s.kelly (Mar 20, 2009)

I saw a panel once that was behin the stove


----------



## jwjrw (Jan 14, 2010)

s.kelly said:


> I saw a panel once that was behin the stove


If I had a nickel for every time I saw that! I'd have at least 50 cent:thumbup:


----------



## rdr (Oct 25, 2009)

Or I've seen a couple that were on the wall beside the bathroom sink, 
more than several that were in some corner of the basement recessed way back in the wall and framed, and more than I can count that were in bedrooms.


----------



## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

A panel in the kitchen can be legal, but it would be an exceedingly poor design choice.


----------



## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

I like having a panel near the kitchen , especially if its a commercial kitchen


----------



## RePhase277 (Feb 5, 2008)

I just rewired a house this past week, including a new panel, but leaving the old meter in place. When I met with the customer, they told me the panel is located in the laundry room, and they want it to stay there. When I went in there, I found it was indeed a laundry room, and the panel was behind a picture on the wall.... above a toilet:laughing:. Turns out they needed another toilet, and the best place was in the laundry next to the washer. 

I explained that it may be a technical code issue, if we could define that room as a "bathroom". But, guess what? When I left the place, all freshly rewired, they had a brand new 30/40 panel... over the toilet:laughing::laughing:


----------



## RePhase277 (Feb 5, 2008)

s.kelly said:


> I saw a panel once that was behin the stove


I searched a house high and low once for a panel because a circuit quit working. I finally found a fuse box behind a painting at the foot of the bathtub!


----------



## LBT CONSTRUCTION (Jan 9, 2010)

Thanks for all the responces. The reason i asked was, we are doing a fire job. The whole house has to be rewired and the panel was on a small wall as you walked into the kitchen. The only other place i could think of putting it was in the hallway going back to the bedrooms. I dont like putting them in bedrooms even though I have seen plenty of them like that. You never know who is going to get that bedroom and you really dont want the panel in a bedroom that a child might be in. This is an older house and the owner really could care less where I put it.


----------



## Rudeboy (Oct 6, 2009)

Put it in the hallway. Sub-panel in a kitchen sucks.


----------



## knowshorts (Jan 9, 2009)

What's wrong with a panel in a bedroom? Why would it be a concern if it was a child's room? Most apartment and condo's I've been in, the panels are located in the bedroom behind the door.


----------



## Rudeboy (Oct 6, 2009)

Hallway.

Am I misreading this post?

Put it in the hallway.

Most apt i've wired or have been in have the sub in the entry (hallway) or the hallway in the middle of the unit. In houses, upper levels, I usually focus on the laundry room for a good spot.


----------



## crazymurph (Aug 19, 2009)

I have a customer who has a panel in the kitchen. The panel is hidden behind a spice rack that is on hinges. Unlatch the spicerack and it swings out of the way leaving plenty of working room. The spice rack fits so well in the room, no one would know that it is hiding a panel.


----------



## Amish Electrician (Jan 2, 2010)

Since kitchens these days have lots of circuits, I'm all in favor of putting a panel in the kitchen to serve the kitchen.

As a design matter, I do not like the idea of locating the only panel for the residence in the kitchen.


----------

