RESTAURANT ELECTRICAL
Restaurant tenant improvement electrician
KITCHEN LOAD
Why restaurant electrical is its own discipline
A commercial kitchen is a dense cluster of heavy loads. Ovens, fryers, dish machines, refrigeration, walk-in coolers, exhaust fans and water heaters all want dedicated circuits, many at different voltages, and most of them run at the same time during service.
The equipment schedule drives everything. Until we know each item’s voltage, phase and amperage, the panel cannot be sized, the service cannot be checked and the circuits cannot be laid out. That is why we push for the final equipment list early, and why substitutions late in the job are so expensive.
Restaurants also carry interlocks other tenants do not. The kitchen hood’s fire-suppression system must shut down the cooking equipment under it when it discharges, and the exhaust and makeup-air fans are controlled together. That wiring is inspected, and it is one of the most common reasons a restaurant fails its final.
What we need from the kitchen designer
- A final equipment schedule with electrical data
- Gas versus electric cooking for each item
- Walk-in cooler and freezer specifications
- Hood, fan and suppression system details
- Dining and bar lighting concept
- Any signage and exterior lighting
SCOPE OF WORK
What a restaurant electrical scope covers
Service sizing
A load calculation built from the actual equipment schedule, and a service upgrade planned with the utility when the existing service falls short.
Cooking equipment circuits
Dedicated circuits and connections for ranges, ovens, fryers, griddles and specialty equipment at the voltage and phase each one requires.
Hood and suppression interlocks
Exhaust and makeup-air fan controls, and the shunt trip or contactor that cuts power to cooking equipment when the suppression system discharges.
Refrigeration and walk-ins
Power for walk-in condensers and evaporators, reach-ins and ice machines, with disconnects located where the refrigeration contractor needs them.
Dining and bar lighting
Dimmable lighting scenes for the dining room and bar, with the energy code controls built in rather than added after inspection.
Front of house
Point-of-sale and kitchen display power, sound and TV circuits, and exterior and sign lighting on time clocks.
HOW THE JOB RUNS
The restaurant electrical sequence
01
Lock the equipment schedule
02
Size the service and release gear
03
Rough-in to the equipment plan
04
Test the interlocks and energize
COMMON QUESTIONS
Restaurant electrical questions
Some of it, often. The service and panel may be adequate, but the circuits were laid out for a different equipment list. We check each item against your schedule and tell you what can be reused.
It is a device that trips a breaker remotely. In a kitchen it is commonly used so that when the hood suppression system discharges, power to the cooking equipment under the hood is cut automatically. Inspectors check that it works.
Full-service kitchens frequently do, especially with electric cooking. The load calculation from your equipment schedule tells us for certain, and we give you the answer before you commit to the space if you can get us the schedule early.
It can, but a different voltage or amperage can mean a new circuit, a different breaker or even a different panel. Send substitutions to us before they are ordered so we can confirm the electrical still works.
We provide the circuit and the sign disconnect, usually on a time clock or photocell. The sign itself is typically furnished and installed by the sign company under its own permit.