Electrical Outdoor Rooms

Electrical Outdoor Rooms

Careful planning of your outdoor electrical needs helps ensure your satisfaction. If you plan to use your new deck as a supplemental outdoor kitchen, you might need individual circuits to run small appliances, such as cooktops and rotisseries. A few electrical outlets accommodate stereo equipment or a laptop computer. Outdoor landscape lighting also requires electrical planning, unless you select solar-power lights.

Calculate your home's power requirements to determine whether you need additional circuits to handle the increased load. A licensed electrical contractor can make these calculations and guarantee that your project conforms to specifications by the National Electrical Code (NEC). A modest deck usually can be serviced by splicing into an existing circuit. More extensive remodeling could require adding a circuit. Your design professional or general contractor should be able to estimate the cost for electrical work. If you are acting as your own general contractor, take bids from several electrical contractors to establish a price well before you power up your outdoor living room or new landscape lighting.

When splicing into an existing circuit for new outdoor lighting or an outdoor kitchen, an electrician adds wiring to an existing junction box or adds a junction box along existing wiring. Junction boxes often are located in open attic or basement spaces, where they're readily accessible. Occasionally an electrician must open up walls and ceilings to access wiring and add new junction boxes. The expense of repairing walls and ceilings is part of the cost of the project.

Outdoor electrical receptacles should be placed in weatherproof boxes with spring-loaded outlet covers that seal against moisture. Also, most building codes require outdoor receptacles be protected by a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). If there's a short circuit, a GFCI detects the deviation in current and instantly shuts off power to the receptacle.

Small lights built into these deck stairs enable guests to see where they're stepping. Incorporating outdoor lighting into your design requires careful planning.