Plug Socket in kitchen island

FreeBear

naf123 said: Are pop up sockets an option ?

Pop up sockets (or at least the ones I've seen) are just fancy extension leads and need a socket to plug in to.

A socket with a built-in USB connector will need a fairly deep back box. Some suggest a 25mm box is deep enough, but others need 35mm. Best to go deeper and then the electrician isn't having to fight to get the faceplate screwed down neatly.

Rosa_Damascena

FreeBear said:

naf123 said: Are pop up sockets an option ?

Pop up sockets (or at least the ones I've seen) are just fancy extension leads and need a socket to plug in to.

A socket with a built-in USB connector will need a fairly deep back box. Some suggest a 25mm box is deep enough, but others need 35mm. Best to go deeper and then the electrician isn't having to fight to get the faceplate screwed down neatly.

I like these though, multiple point of access and tucks away neatly. I'm just not too keen on having the back of my kitchen cabinets hacked to pieces to accommodate them!

Doozergirl

naf123 said:

Are pop up sockets an option ?

They are awful things. Bulky and unnecessary, they'll also get easily dirty with spillages.  

I replaced a kitchen last year when the thing took up an entire cupboard 😂. You couldn't even put the shelf in.  

I don't think this is quite the idea of how to fit them successfully, but a regular socket on a side of the cupboard would have been infinitely more discreet, and a lot cheaper.  

Like Freebear says, the pop ups are glorified extension leads.  
 

Doozergirl

Rosa_Damascena said:

@NSG666 and Doozer - diagram? I'm struggling to visualise

https://youtu.be/AaMOavOiCnE

The OP will have no problem.  Between the service void and anything being planted onto the back to make the island look good, there's more than enough room for an electrical backbox.  

phoebe1989seb

Pop ups are hideous, imho 😎

I like my island to be completely free of surface *stuff* such as appliances/sink and surface mounted, pop up sockets. Therefore we designed ours to be on the side. 

Although I confess that having designed islands for three of our previous houses, this is the first to have sockets.

We are fortunate that beneath our current kitchen is an undercroft, dating from the building's time as a mill, so bringing cabling up through the floor wasn't an issue when we were having rewiring done 😉

coffeehound

FreeBear said:

A socket with a built-in USB connector will need a fairly deep back box. Some suggest a 25mm box is deep enough, but others need 35mm. 

I was thinking of USB-only sockets rather than mains sockets with USB, e.g.

Doozergirl

coffeehound said:

FreeBear said:

A socket with a built-in USB connector will need a fairly deep back box. Some suggest a 25mm box is deep enough, but others need 35mm. 

I was thinking of USB-only sockets rather than mains sockets with USB, e.g.

We don't just use ours for little devices. The laptop gets plugged in a lot, but so do random kitchen appliances that don't live on the surfaces - the handheld blender, the Kenwood mixer/food processor and the deep fat fryer being three.  

We also now have a mix of USB and USB-C ports in our house, so we've got some USB plugs dotted around the house and haven't yet used them!    I'd be interested to know how fast things charge through them though.  We have the expensive USB-C fast charging plugs for the iPhones, so I haven't really considered using the ports 😬

NSG666

FaceHead said:

Thanks all. Very helpful to have people to think it through with.

Agree the carcus is something like 18mm MDF, plus another 18mm of the side panel or back panel so there's a roughly 36mm thickness for the 35mm backbox. Almost like they designed it that way. 

Only now to decide if having a socket in the side of the island and also the back (i.e. around your knees when sitting at the bar) would be overkill. 

Ah I think I misunderstood as I thought you wanted the sockets in the upstand but pointing towards the worktop. If you want them on the knee side below worktop height then, as Doozergirl has pointed out there's usually a service void at the back of the units.

Rosa_Damascena

Doozergirl said:

naf123 said:

Are pop up sockets an option ?

They are awful things. Bulky and unnecessary, they'll also get easily dirty with spillages.  

I replaced a kitchen last year when the thing took up an entire cupboard 😂. You couldn't even put the shelf in.  

I don't think this is quite the idea of how to fit them successfully, but a regular socket on a side of the cupboard would have been infinitely more discreet, and a lot cheaper.  

Like Freebear says, the pop ups are glorified extension leads.  
 

Thanks Doozer, between you and @phoebe1989seb I am now minded to jettison this particular plan of mine and stick to standard sockets. 

coffeehound

Doozergirl said:We don't just use ours for little devices. The laptop gets plugged in a lot, but so do random kitchen appliances that don't live on the surfaces - the handheld blender, the Kenwood mixer/food processor and the deep fat fryer being three.  

We also now have a mix of USB and USB-C ports in our house, so we've got some USB plugs dotted around the house and haven't yet used them!    I'd be interested to know how fast things charge through them though.  We have the expensive USB-C fast charging plugs for the iPhones, so I haven't really considered using the ports 😬

Yeah it comes down to what the OP want to use them for I suppose.  USB-A are still pretty universal as long as they can provide 2.4 amps or more.  I just tried an iPhone 11 on an old USB-A charger and it is happy enough, though as you suggest it'll take longer than the USB-C charger.   Probably comparable with the 15-watt Magsafe contact chargers.