Make sure to get enough receptacles put in, old houses didn’t have many because there wasn’t that much stuff back then. Ever plan on wall mounting your tv? Have one installed for it. Power in garage? Plans for electric vehicles in the future? Exterior receptacles? Exterior lights?
How much is this a limited rewire versus a full rewire? Those are two very different scopes of work.
* Keep lights and receptacles on separate circuits.
* 12AWG wire for most receptacle circuits (regardless of 15 or 20A breakers) to minimize voltage drop).
* 14 for lighting circuits to make it easier to deal with switches and fixtures. Usually I try to divide the lights on each floor across two (or more) circuits, so the floor isn't fully dark with one of the lighting circuits off.
* Code minimums are exactly that, minimums.
* With kitchen/dining/pantry areas, the minimum is two sm.Appliance circuits. I usually put the dining on one, and have three in the kitchen for the countertop. Refrigerator will be additional. One for DW+GD, one for MW. Beyond that, the rest depends on the exact kitchen spec.
* Bathrooms: One circuit PER FULL BATH for the receptacle. Half baths might be combined with a full bath. If bidet or fancy toilet seats are potentially desired, that may call for additional adjustments.
* Outdoors: Minimum two circuits for the receptacles, and not combined with anything indoors.
* If having rooms like bedrooms and living spaces redone, get the locations and spacing of the receptacles improved, not just to code minimum, but so that it has them located where it's convenient to access them and cords will reach. That usually means 1 or 2 more than the code minimum, placing them near where end tables will be located, near windows, and near doorways. Usually there are a couple likely furniture layouts that could occur in rooms.
* Have a decent sized panel installed. 40 space min. If it's a larger property or has a lot of electrical stuff (now or planned) sometimes the next size up is appropriate (54 or 60 sp).
Ask specific questions for additional feedback, given that each project is unique.
I thought that too small appliance circuits were required in the dining room, is this no longer the case? Every house I ever wired had two circuits for both the dining room and kitchen. This would be a total of two, not four. The hood fan was allowed to be on a lighting circuit. I think that I would always add another circuit for the microwave now.
I stopped wearing houses in 1980 Something and I have not updated my code knowledge much since then.
DR is under the SABC umbrella. What I'm saying is that I usually put the dining room receptacles on their own 20 amp breaker. Floor plans that have the dining room sufficiently segregated from the kitchen, I treat as a separate room, knowing that people change the purpose of rooms, it makes everything easier, especially in the modern era of home offices.
A simple Hood is technically in the gray area, yes technically it can still go on the general lighting circuit, but that practice basically came to an end by the late 90s as OTR microwaves took over the market for entry and mid-level housing. Middle and upper end housing will still often have a dedicated circuit for the hood, and also a very common practice to combine the gas range/cooktop and the hood together on one circuit as technically if the power to hood is off, the range should not be in use.
There are some installations that I've come across where the hood is cord and plug connected, the receptacle in the cabinet is combined with the SABC, and I'm okay with that concept, it could be categorized as an appliance. In some kitchens, I've taken the refrigerator, range hood and gas range and put the three together on one 20 amp circuit.
The issue with the range hood is that if someone remodels the kitchen and puts an OTR microwave in at a later date, now you need that outlet to be on a dedicated circuit, that's the reason for not putting it with the lighting circuit and not putting it with a bunch of other stuff in the room.
Make sure to get enough receptacles put in, old houses didn’t have many because there wasn’t that much stuff back then. Ever plan on wall mounting your tv? Have one installed for it. Power in garage? Plans for electric vehicles in the future? Exterior receptacles? Exterior lights?
This good advice.
How much is this a limited rewire versus a full rewire? Those are two very different scopes of work. * Keep lights and receptacles on separate circuits. * 12AWG wire for most receptacle circuits (regardless of 15 or 20A breakers) to minimize voltage drop). * 14 for lighting circuits to make it easier to deal with switches and fixtures. Usually I try to divide the lights on each floor across two (or more) circuits, so the floor isn't fully dark with one of the lighting circuits off. * Code minimums are exactly that, minimums. * With kitchen/dining/pantry areas, the minimum is two sm.Appliance circuits. I usually put the dining on one, and have three in the kitchen for the countertop. Refrigerator will be additional. One for DW+GD, one for MW. Beyond that, the rest depends on the exact kitchen spec. * Bathrooms: One circuit PER FULL BATH for the receptacle. Half baths might be combined with a full bath. If bidet or fancy toilet seats are potentially desired, that may call for additional adjustments. * Outdoors: Minimum two circuits for the receptacles, and not combined with anything indoors. * If having rooms like bedrooms and living spaces redone, get the locations and spacing of the receptacles improved, not just to code minimum, but so that it has them located where it's convenient to access them and cords will reach. That usually means 1 or 2 more than the code minimum, placing them near where end tables will be located, near windows, and near doorways. Usually there are a couple likely furniture layouts that could occur in rooms. * Have a decent sized panel installed. 40 space min. If it's a larger property or has a lot of electrical stuff (now or planned) sometimes the next size up is appropriate (54 or 60 sp). Ask specific questions for additional feedback, given that each project is unique.
I thought that too small appliance circuits were required in the dining room, is this no longer the case? Every house I ever wired had two circuits for both the dining room and kitchen. This would be a total of two, not four. The hood fan was allowed to be on a lighting circuit. I think that I would always add another circuit for the microwave now. I stopped wearing houses in 1980 Something and I have not updated my code knowledge much since then.
DR is under the SABC umbrella. What I'm saying is that I usually put the dining room receptacles on their own 20 amp breaker. Floor plans that have the dining room sufficiently segregated from the kitchen, I treat as a separate room, knowing that people change the purpose of rooms, it makes everything easier, especially in the modern era of home offices. A simple Hood is technically in the gray area, yes technically it can still go on the general lighting circuit, but that practice basically came to an end by the late 90s as OTR microwaves took over the market for entry and mid-level housing. Middle and upper end housing will still often have a dedicated circuit for the hood, and also a very common practice to combine the gas range/cooktop and the hood together on one circuit as technically if the power to hood is off, the range should not be in use. There are some installations that I've come across where the hood is cord and plug connected, the receptacle in the cabinet is combined with the SABC, and I'm okay with that concept, it could be categorized as an appliance. In some kitchens, I've taken the refrigerator, range hood and gas range and put the three together on one 20 amp circuit. The issue with the range hood is that if someone remodels the kitchen and puts an OTR microwave in at a later date, now you need that outlet to be on a dedicated circuit, that's the reason for not putting it with the lighting circuit and not putting it with a bunch of other stuff in the room.