I just talked to my contractor and he said plugmold won't work because the outlet has to be directly wired. Anyone suggestions on where/how to put an outlet on my island?

I do not know where you live, but is it possible that a mockett gromett would help you? They are popup outlets that fit inot the countertop and pop up. Several people on the board have them and love them. Look at the website and take the info to the contractor. Can't hurt to check and they are really cool.
Gayle P. S. do a site search for the popup gromett and several threads come up discussing them.

The Building Inspector for Napa County, CA, said I did not have to have an outlet in my island (42"x120") because it did not have a sink or rangetop. And if I did need one, it could be mounted inside a cabinet door, either the underside of the countertop or on the side wall of the cabinet. That made me happy!

Call the building inspection authority in your city/county yourself. Electricians and GCs do NOT always know the code, or sometimes misinterpret it.

When I remodeled, my electrician told me I had to have an outlet on either side of the island. I wanted one on the side, and one inside a cubbyhole that held the microwave, which he said I couldn't do. Turns out he was wrong and I got what I wanted.

Also, code in my county states one electrical outlet every 8' on a regular wall, and every 2' along a countertop. My regular wall had an 8' window, 10" of wall, then a slider. No space for an outlet every 8', so I thought I'd have to install one in the floor. Not true. One expanse of counter was 9' long with a 7' window. I had one outlet on the far right, then another on the side of the cab at the end of the run. So it was not required that I have one every 2'.

Ooooh, ooooh, I have a Mockett!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Mockett. It may not be in code for you (frankly, I don't know and don't care if it was for me) but here's a picture of mine. It hurt, physically hurt, to see them cut that hole in my granite but it was soooo worth it. here's a pic...sorry about the huge pics, we just switched software and haven't figured out how to resize without my old programs!
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Thanks for the replies. rmlanza I'll look into the Mockett. ALthough I'm not sure I'd want to cut into my granite. Is that wired or plugged into something? Weed30--The inspector did come to my house today and I didn't pass inspection because of the outlet issue. So it looks like I have to have one even though I don't have a sink or range top in my island. I live in the Bay Area (South Bay) and I guess the codes can vary from city to city. The inspector suggested attaching an outlet to the bottom of my overhang--which I think would be odd and your legs would bump into it. I just don't know where else to put this outlet given that the other two sides have all drawers or doors and no room in between.

I saw Mocket-like devices in all the British kitchen design mags. They look intriguing but what happens if liquids spill?

I have a mockett on one end of the island by the sink. It has a gasquet to keep the water out which is how it got its UL (or what ever that is) rating ( I think they beefed this up after they took it off the market for a while). The mockett is not hardwired, is plugged into an outlet under the sink, but supposedly meets code.

Plugmold is hardwired, so it should also work.

I also have two low profile boxes made by Plugmold (available at HD) that sit under my counter's overhang, one on each side of the island. They don't bump your knee and only hang down about an inch.

Our GC's electrician thought an outlet under our overhang wouldn't meet code, but we had him check with the inspector. The inspector was fine with an outlet under the overhang near the edge of the overhang as long as it was within 6" of the counter edge. Here is a picture:

I don't understand. If Bldg Insp will allow you to attach a box to the underside of 12" overhang, why wouldn't he allow it inside the door cabinet?

Yup, the Mockett has a rubber gasket to prevent liquids from spilling down into it. Mine is plugged into an outlet inside a cabinet in my island. I have full height doors on the two angled end cabinets and it goes down into the left one. It doesn't take up much room though, I have my KA mixer in that same cabinet. If you have all drawers it won't work without modifications. This picture is before the Mockett was installed but it went into the cabinet on the far left...

I'm on the southern end of California (in the "fire zone"), and we were told that we HAD to have an electrical outlet in the island, no matter what the size of the island. That was code - though they did not say WHOSE code (San Diego County or California). Ours is in about the same location as Cloud-swift's - we just had to search for a location where it would not interfere with drawers, the hidden trash can, or the sliding shelves in the island.

BTW, Cloud-swift, you have me thinking - I have an ordinary boring plastic outlet thing - I should look for a wood one that might match my cabinets!!!

For the record, at first I objected to the cost of putting an outlet in this island. But now that I have it, I understand why. We've used it for the electric knife several times in the last 6 weeks since the kitchen was finished! I'm GLAD I have an outlet!

rmlanza - uba tuba granite, by any chance? That's what I have and I love it! (DH picked out ours.)

DonnaR/CA

We used a drawer space above our trash pullout to install outlets. The drawer front flips up & out of the way to use it.

gizmonike, that is SO cool! But doesn't it waste a whole potential drawer? Or is there a drawer back there somewhere? I don't get it! DUH!

Donnar57, yup, ubatuba. I love mine, too...as boring and common as many people think it is for granite...it lets my multicolored floor take center stage!

Robin

We had the same issue. The outlets wouldn't fit on the side (no space inside for the box) and under the overhang was too far from the edge of the counter (per code). Due to the length of our island we were required to have two outlets. We ended up telling the inspector that we weren't doing the island. We stashed the cabinets in the garage, got the occupancy permit, and then installed the cabinets and put two outlets on the rear under the overhang. In TWO YEARS I have never used these outlets.

Talk to the inspector and see if he will work with you on the location of the outlets. If not, but the cabinets in the garage and do what I did.

kristinar - Plugmold comes in both plug in and direct wire. We are using the direct wire one and it meets code. Your contractor may only be familiar with the plug in version :)

Yes, our outlets take the place of a drawer, but this drawer was smaller & over the trash, and we have plenty of space in the island, so we decided the drawer was expendable. This puts power in the middle of our island & baking center, which makes it more practical for us than at an end.

There have been several posters who put an outlet in or behind a drawer, but that was for charging small electronics with the drawer shut. That probably won't meet island code, and the drawer would have to stick out during operation of any small appliances.

Thanks again for all of the suggestions. Cloudswift--your placement may work for me too. I'm just a little sad that we already put an outlet in--but in the wrong place--and therefore already cut into a cabinet panel. Bummer! But we need to pass our inspection. chiroptera_mama--I'll check for the wired plug mold. If I do that under the overhang--will I see wires? claybabe--do you see wires with your plugmold that is under your overhang? Do you have a picture of it? gizmonike--that is a great idea, but I'm afraid too late for us. I'm not sure how I could do that after the fact.

All of these ideas are great, I just need to make sure we get this placement right before cutting into my cabinets again.

Thanks again for all of the help! Kristina

I also have a Mockett. LOVE it. I actually have 1 on each end of my 11 ft. island. You can't even tell it's there... and it's passed inspection!

rmlanza and orie---where does the Mockett go when you push it down. Does it hang below your counter's overhang? Or does it go into an empty cabinet? My issue is finding a place where the outlet box does not interfere with the drawers on my island.

That's the problem, if you have a drawer it won't work unless you modify the drawer somehow (ie, make it shorter?). Mine goes down into a cabinet with a full height door (no drawer at the top). We have it positioned so it's way back in the far corner so as not to take up too much space. Later I'll take a picture of the inside of my cabinet with the Mockett in the down position if you like.

Robin

Thanks tonda1 for the pictures. Your kitchen is really lovely. I'm not sure if the plugmold will work because the outlets need to be GFCI.

Would a GCFI circuit breaker pass code with the plugmold?

We have a GFCI under our cabinet that the plugmold is then hard wired into. They are protected because the GFCI comes before it in the run. Ours passed inspection no problem.

Thanks for the kind comments on our kitchen. Yours will be done someday too! ;-)

We discussed the Mockette briefly. I'm sure the gasket is fine initially but in my experience the rubber for gaskets (or whatever is used in its place) doesn't last forever. We didn't want to be searching for a replacement gasket in 10 years. Also, we didn't want an extra bump to clean around on the counter.

As far as the hole already cut, you might as well put an outlet in it. It won't count as a required outlet but someone using a laptop at the overhang might find it useful. You certainly want to make sure that any new location will pass inspection.

BTW, does the island have a sink? Another good location for an outlet on an island is the panel in front of the sink. I find that location very practical to plug in the mini-food processor or immersion blender.

Donna, the wood outlet covers came from arnev.com. They can be bought in a variety of wood species. You can select from one of the finishes they have or you can get them unfinished so someone locally can match them to your cabinet finish. The outlets themselves are Lutron in midnight satin.

gizmonike, I love the solution you came up with. Does the drawer front flip up and push back? Also, what brand outlets and covers did you use? For inspection, did you just keep the thing flipped up?