Espresso bar: Electrical rough-in.
Before being able to finish framing the rough opening, I first had to rough-in the electrical for our espresso bar. Because I need access to the wall between the kitchen and the bar, I also have to complete the rough plumbing before I'll be able to install the header and jack studs. The electrical was straight-forward.
Essentially, the setup includes:
- Outlet in the base cabinet where we plan on plugging in our La Pavoni Zip grinder and (for now) Rancilio Silvia Pro so we don't have to see the cables
- Outlet above the countertop for plugging in a tea kettle, small grinder, etc.
- Switch for under-cabinet lights
To center the outlet above the countertop (shown above), I had to screw a scrap block to the house's original stud. That way neither espresso machine will be in front of it. For inside where the base cabinet will go there’s already an outlet right where I need from which I could pull power. Here's my quick sketch of the wiring diagram:
The first (top) diagram would work, but after consulting an old, photocopied electrical book I still have stashed I realized I could simplify it by running a pigtail from the always-hot receptacle to the switch.
Thankfully, there was plenty of cable already in the wall so I didn't have to add a junction box. I used what I had left of the 12-2 cable from installing a Cadet heater in our basement this past winter. Yep, pretty straightforward. Everything works and the switch is ready for the cable from the cabinet light our friends will be picking up for us on their Ikea trip this weekend (crossing fingers it's in stock).
(Umm, something in that photo above is not like the others… )
