I have an illustrated guide to the NEC that states dining room outlets must be part of the small appliance circuits from the kitchen.

I have three outlet circuits in the kitchen. Two of the circuits power different outlets above the counter tops. The third circuit powers only the wall outlets in the kitchen, and the refrigerator is also plugged into this circuit.

Can the dining room outlets be part of the wall outlets of the kitchen, or do I have to use the small appliance circuits that power the counter tops?

I ask because it is very easy to wire the new dining room from the kitchen wall outlets, but would be very difficult to get power from the counter tops. I'd probably have to remove tile.

 

Why would this be? The point of separating the counter small appliance circuits in the kitchen from everything else is because of the high draw of things like toasters, coffee makers, etc., right? Why would the code require the dining room outlets to be part of these circuits, increasing the loads? I don't understand this. Can anyone clarify?

 

Yes. As long as the circuit is 20A and supplies only receptacles in the kitchen, dining or pantry it is considered a small appliance branch circuit. The code does not require or prohibit a split between wall and countertop receptacles in those rooms.

 

We don't really know for sure the code panel's reasoning, but my assumption is that they're accounting for the use of other cooking appliances in the dining room like roaster pans and crock pots on Thanksgiving.

 

Ok, the way I read it, you can tie the dining room receptacles into the small appliance circuits in the kitchen, but you don't have to. But, the dining room, pantry, breakfast room, or other such rooms must conform to the small appliance circuit requirements, and, therefore, could not be fed from circuits that do not conform to these requirements. For example, you could run your dining room receptacles off the small appliance circuits in the kitchen, but not from a circuit, say, in the bedroom or bathroom or living room. Anyone have a different interpretation? Because there seems to be some confusion in my mind about how things are worded.

 

I get that, but it seems to me that the code should allow separate circuits to be run in these other rooms, so long as they conform to the small appliance circuit requirements, as I just mentioned in my other post.

 

I agree with that interpretation. While two SABC is the minimum, in practice three or four is more likely in a typical house.