The kitchen is considered the most “voracious” consumer of electricity – in fact in this room is concentrated 75-90% of all home appliances. The total capacity of kitchen electrical equipment can be 12-16 kW. That is why it is so important to properly connect all the equipment in the kitchen – otherwise its performance will be zero.
You need to make the connection of the equipment according to a pre-compiled project. After all, you need to pre-select a place for a microwave oven, oven, refrigerator, hood, hob and, according to this, determine where each outlet will be installed. It is important that the places of connection of equipment to the power grid are located so that they are easily accessible, but at the same time not in sight.
What you need to know when connecting equipment to the electrical network
Connecting any technique in the kitchen requires the installation of an electrical cable. It can be implemented in 2 ways:
- hidden, that is, in the wall;
- surface – in the protective box.
The best way is considered a hidden method, but it requires preliminary planning, through which you can distribute the load to the mains.
The difference will also be in case if you use not conventional, but built-in equipment. For the built-in hood, oven, microwave oven, functionality and decorativeness are characteristic. In addition, this way of locating equipment in the kitchen is considered incredibly economical in terms of spatial organization. It is important not only to connect the hoods, stoves and so on, but also to protect the room from possible emergency situations associated with wiring. To do this, the guard is supplemented with a fuse – it will cut off electricity throughout the apartment if the voltage exceeds the permissible values.
It is also necessary to consider the power of appliances in the kitchen – for a microwave oven, oven, hob, hood, it can vary from 1 to 6 kW. Depending on this, it is determined which socket and plug is required to connect this or that device. It is clear that these components must have a “euro” execution.
Important! Some experts suggest to exclude a bunch “plug-socket” from an electric network, making connection of technics in kitchen directly by means of plugs. They argue that this type of connection increases the reliability of the electrical network. In fact, this connection is dangerous – the owner of the room should always be able to independently disconnect the device from the network.
If the connection of appliances with a large energy consumption (for example, a powerful hood, an oven, a hob) is done in an apartment with old wiring, then for each individual product its own wiring from a suitable cable is mounted.
There are also special recommendations for connecting the oven and hob – for them, a power outlet is mandatory. In addition, do not forget that the hob is connected only after the countertop is installed.
Basic rules for installing and selecting outlets
In most cases, each apartment already has an old power grid with outlets, but they are inconvenient and do not allow you to transfer equipment to the desired location. And so the installation of new furniture, hob and oven is accompanied by the transfer of sockets. It may be necessary and the addition of sockets in the kitchen – for example, for a microwave oven.
Each outlet in the kitchen is installed in accordance with the following recommendations:
- For the hob, the socket is installed at a height of 15-40 cm – behind the stove or furniture. The socket is installed at 32 A. The high power of this equipment (5-6 kW) forces the socket to be powered from a separate machine.
- For the oven (2-3 kW), a standard socket is mounted, at the same height – 10-40 cm.
- Other household outlets in the kitchen (for example, for a microwave oven) are installed at an altitude of 1.0-1.2 m, along the countertop, according to the furniture plan.
- The outlet for the hood is mounted at a height of 2 meters from the floor level.
Important! On one outlet line, so many devices are connected so that their power does not exceed 4 kW in total (it is clear that this is for cases when all devices work simultaneously). If the power of the equipment is significantly higher than the recommended one, then a separate line is run through the machine.
