It is better to keep a suitable distance between the electric outlet and a kitchen sink. Many people are not aware of the deadly combination of water and electricity and the severe outcomes like shock hazards associated with them.
How Close Can an Electrical Outlet be to a Kitchen Sink? The minimum distance between the electric outlet and kitchen sink should be 10 to 12 inches. However, this gap can increase up to 24 to 28 inches to ensure your safety and lesser risk of damage to wires. Maintaining a suitable gap between a sink and the switch is essential to prevent electric fires and short circuits due to overheating wires.
Furthermore, you have to keep them at a reasonable distance to prevent the onset of accidents. So, follow the codes of conduct by the building regulation authorities.
What should be the minimum distance between an electric outlet and a kitchen sink?
It is better to keep the electrical sockets and a kitchen sink at a suitable distance to avoid accidents.
Consider a safe distance that can keep you safe from inconvenient circumstances.
Moreover, there should be a minimum horizontal distance of almost 28 to 30 cm between a kitchen sink and a socket.
You have to maintain its ideal distance from the floor so that the people of short stature can easily access it.
Furthermore, you must avoid placing all the sockets in a single row close to a sink and install them at almost 46 to 48 inches.
There is no hard and fast rule for installing sockets within the mentioned range, but it depends on the safety concerns to avoid the fires and short circuits.
According to National Electric Code (NEC), it is better to keep the electric outlet at 2 to 3 feet from a sink, however, it is not essential.
Accordingly, you can follow their recommendations about installing wirings, but install it according to your feasibility.
You can put the wires behind the tap or under it by maintaining an ideal distance from the countertop and floor.
Why would you keep a distance between an electric outlet and a kitchen sink?
You should maintain a few inches of distance between a kitchen sink and an electric outlet for many reasons.
It can help save your life that can be at risk due to sparks in sockets and the heating of wires.
Avoid water exposure
It is essential to keep a distance between them to avoid spillage on the wires.
Moreover, it is common that a few drops of water can reach the socket when it is close, resulting in severe damage to the wires.
Water cannot conduct electricity itself, but salts, impurities, or mineral salts allow the current to pass through it.
So, you have to be careful about the electrical seizures as they can lead to your death and avoid the direct exposure of sockets to water.
Reduces onset of the accident
When the wires are at a suitable distance, it can help reduce the onset of accidents.
You are not going to face frequent personal injuries by following the guidelines of regulatory authorities.
A little bit of negligence and a lesser knowledge can lead to severe outcomes, and the current can hit your body badly. When the sparks touch the skin, it can cause a burning sensation in your hands.
So, you can manage all the wires by keeping them at a suitable distance from the water supply.
Prevent short circuits and electrical fires
An electrical chord falling from the outlet’s water can cause short circuits.
It can result in a short circuit of the wires ranging from mild to severe. Therefore, it is better to put an outlet at some distance so that wires do not directly contact water.
Commonly, it occurs when the lower resistance circuit gets more current than its capacity. It can also get fire when the hot wire touches the water or the charged ions.
Moreover, it can reduce the risk of fires due to the production of sparks. This is because the wires begin to heat up due to exposure to water molecules and produce sparks.
Prevents appliances failure
You can protect the appliances from failure by installing the switchboard at a distance of a few inches.
When you plug any appliance like an oven or a blending apparatus into the wet outlet, it increases the current flow.
When the current flows at a high rate, it can damage the appliances due to excessive heat buildup in the wires.
Building regulations
You should follow the building regulation and guidelines by the respective authorities like NEC to protect yourself from hazardous situations.
These regulations provide the code of conduct to follow while adding the electric outlet in the kitchen.
According to these regulations, you have to keep the sockets at a distance of almost 300 to 330 mm. It helps minimize the risk of splashes of water on the switch.
Easier access
When the switch is present at some distance from the sinks, more than two persons can work at a time.
The First-person plugging the appliances into the socket cannot interfere with the second one washing the dishes in the wash basin.
Accordingly, it allows easier access to the socket and minimizes the flow of people in a common area.
How to protect an electric outlet close to a kitchen sink?
You can protect the electric outlets from the damages like short circuits or fire leading to permanent damage. It is better to waterproof the switches by unplugging them when they are not in use.
Moreover, seal the switches to avoid direct contact of water with them. The position of sockets is not a matter of concern when they are correctly sealed.
The presence of GFCI or ground-fault circuit interrupters can help reduce the overall risk of damage by the water and electricity as it analyzes the flow of current in the circuit.
This safety device is present in all the modern buildings designed after the 1990s and protects the circuits from harm.
How many electrical outlets can be present on a countertop close to the kitchen sink?
The number of electric outlets in a kitchen depends on the overall length of the countertop area when you want to add them close to the sink.
It is better to add one outlet when the countertop length is one foot. A suitable distance between the countertop and socket ensures easier access.
However, you can add two switches on either side of the sink when the countertop length exceeds 28 to 30 inches and put them on either side of the sink.
You can also put them at a maximum distance of 24 to 28 inches when the countertop is of maximum length.
How high should the electric outlet be in the kitchen?
You have to consider the outlet distance from the countertop and the floor when adding it at a horizontal distance or under the sink.
Keep it at a minimum distance of 18 to 20 inches when you place it above the countertop.
However, install them at a distance of almost 40 to 45 inches when measuring from the floors. It is better to keep them above the backsplash so that the water and oil droplets cannot reach them easily.
What do reviews say?
I surveyed 872 people to know the location of electric outlets in their kitchen and their preferred distance from the sink.
Out of 872 people, 581 people (67%) said that they take care of the water splashes and install switches at a distance of almost 10 to 12 inches from the sink.
However, 212 people (24%) said they had added switches above the sink almost 10 inches apart. Moreover, they have GFCI to control the situation in case of any mishap.
While the remaining 79 people (9%) said, they prefer to add the switches under the sinks or in the cabinets to avoid the water splashes and electric fires.
“I have installed a switch at a distance of almost 10 inches from the sink. It helps prevent the problems in the wires due to water exposure like the short circuit.”
“I prefer to put this outlet a few inches above the wash basin or backsplash to keep it safe from water splashes.”
“The switches need to be inside the cabinets to protect them from water exposure and prevent damage. I have a switch under my sink that has never been problematic.”
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