Dishwasher and garbage disposal install

[Tiffany]

Our condo currently doesn't have a diswasher or a garbage disposal. We are about to try and upgrade our kitchen to having these things. Anyway, there is a handyman guy that has done some of this type of work in neighboring units and we were going to hire him to help us. He said his friend (who is actually one of our neighbors) knows more about electrical than he does and was going to help make sure we had everything to code. So far so good. Anyway, the "electrical guy" came over and said that we need to run each of these on a separate circuit, which I believed. The thing where I started to question him was that he said in order to be to code, both the disposal and the dishwasher need to be on a switch on the wall. Of course the disposal needs to be on a switch to use it, but the dishwasher? I don't think I've ever seen a dishwasher that had to have a switch on the wall in order to turn it on. Should I trust this guy?

 

[Glennbear]

I checked the writings of my chosen expert (Rex Cauldwell who has a sterling reputation) and on dishwashers he says the following:

1) A seperate 20 amp/12ga circuit is recommended as opposed to 15 amp/14ga in case a heavy duty dishwasher is installed in the future.

2) Allow enough feeder cable slack that the machine can be moved from the alcove for service.

3) Dishwasher circuit must be seperate from kitchen receptacle circuit.

He makes no mention of switching the feed to the dishwasher. :wsmile:

 

[JackLeg]

Our kitchen, which was wired in '99, is wired that way. Might be a county code thing. :wsmile:

 

[Mt. Gomer]

Yeah, I've got a dishwasher switch as well. I think the idea is that you need to have a way, short of going to the breaker panel, to cut power to the dishwasher in case it needs to be serviced quickly or there is an electrical problem with the unit. It's a safety issue.

Invariably, every other month or so, I'll bump the dishwasher switch without realizing it when I'm reaching for the light. Next time I try to do dishes I spend 10 minutes trying to figure out why it won't start before I remember to check the switch....

Travis

 

[SevenPin]

Our house was built in 2007 here in SC and we also have a "switched" dishwasher.

SevenPin

 

[Tiffany]

Sounds like the dishwasher switch thing isn't as unusual as I had thought. Maybe it is a more recent thing people are doing as an extra "saftey" so that you can switch it off in a hurry if something goes wrong? Thanks for the input everyone!

 

[Skymaster]

bought here in zebulon in 09 switched dw :wsmile:

 

[Glennbear]

The original post piqued my curiosity since my dishwasher is not switched but has a cordset plugged into a wall outlet. My research led me to the following conclusion... The NEC requires a means of "positive disconnect" at the dishwasher and there are two ways to accomplish this. One could have a cord and receptacle (such as I have) or a wall switch when the dishwasher is hard wired. My guess is that in the event of repairs or an emergency one needs to be able to kill the juice without shlepping to the circuit breaker box and having someone trip the breaker back on while you are elbow deep in repairs. Another consideration that came up in my readings was since the pretty little attractive electronic buttons on a dishwasher are reachable by children a wall mounted switch keeps kids from starting the machine. :wsmile:

 

[Tiffany]

The original post piqued my curiosity since my dishwasher is not switched but has a cordset plugged into a wall outlet. My research led me to the following conclusion... The NEC requires a means of "positive disconnect" at the dishwasher and there are two ways to accomplish this. One could have a cord and receptacle (such as I have) or a wall switch when the dishwasher is hard wired. My guess is that in the event of repairs or an emergency one needs to be able to kill the juice without shlepping to the circuit breaker box and having someone trip the breaker back on while you are elbow deep in repairs. Another consideration that came up in my readings was since the pretty little attractive electronic buttons on a dishwasher are reachable by children a wall mounted switch keeps kids from starting the machine. :wsmile:

OK, this is starting to make more and more sense to me. Thanks!

 

[BrianInChatham]

Another consideration that came up in my readings was since the pretty little attractive electronic buttons on a dishwasher are reachable by children a wall mounted switch keeps kids from starting the machine. :wsmile:

My mother is looking at a new home in Brier Chapel and this is the explanation the builder gave her.

 

[Gofor]

The wall switch must be change since 2005 (latest NEC I have and also the year my hose was built), and wasn't mentioned in the code class I went to in 2006. I think there were updates in 2007 and 2009.

Not to say it isn't a good idea. Thanks for the info.

Go

 

[Glennbear]

The wall switch must be change since 2005 (latest NEC I have and also the year my hose was built), and wasn't mentioned in the code class I went to in 2006. I think there were updates in 2007 and 2009.

Not to say it isn't a good idea. Thanks for the info.

Go

My reference books predate 2007 as does my house so what you are saying makes perfect sense Mark.:wsmile: