Opening a restaurant or renovating an existing food service space in Aiken, SC involves some of the most demanding electrical work in commercial construction. A typical restaurant kitchen draws more power than most people realize. Between commercial ovens, fryers, refrigeration units, ventilation hoods, dishwashers, and prep equipment, a full-service restaurant kitchen can require 200 to 400 amps of electrical service just for the kitchen alone, before accounting for dining room lighting, HVAC, signage, and point-of-sale systems.
Getting the electrical right from the start saves you from costly shutdowns, failed inspections, and safety hazards. Here is what every Aiken food service owner needs to understand about restaurant electrical code requirements.
Kitchen Equipment Circuits: Dedicated Power for Every Major Appliance
The National Electrical Code (NEC) requires that commercial kitchen equipment be served by dedicated circuits, meaning each major appliance gets its own circuit breaker and wiring run from the electrical panel. You cannot daisy-chain a commercial fryer and a convection oven on the same circuit. Each piece of equipment has specific voltage, amperage, and wiring requirements that must be matched precisely.
A typical restaurant kitchen circuit list looks something like this. A commercial electric range requires a 208/240-volt, 50-amp dedicated circuit. A deep fryer needs its own 208-volt, 30 to 50-amp circuit depending on the model. A commercial dishwasher typically requires a 208-volt, 30-amp dedicated circuit plus a separate circuit for the booster heater. A walk-in cooler needs a 208/240-volt, 20 to 30-amp dedicated circuit. A walk-in freezer has similar requirements but may need a larger circuit for the defrost heater. Each reach-in refrigerator or freezer should have its own 120-volt, 20-amp circuit.
The key word is dedicated. Sharing circuits between commercial kitchen appliances creates several problems. Overloaded circuits trip breakers during peak service, which can shut down a fryer or oven at the worst possible time. Shared circuits also make it impossible to isolate equipment for maintenance or troubleshooting. And from a code perspective, the NEC requires dedicated circuits for most fixed commercial kitchen equipment. An inspector will flag shared circuits as a violation.
GFCI Protection in Commercial Kitchens
Ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) protection in commercial kitchens is a safety requirement that has become more stringent with recent NEC updates. The 2023 NEC, which South Carolina has adopted, expanded GFCI requirements significantly for commercial food service areas.
All 125-volt, 15 and 20-amp receptacles in commercial kitchen areas must have GFCI protection. This covers countertop outlets used for mixers, food processors, blenders, heat lamps, and other plug-in equipment. All receptacles within 6 feet of a sink require GFCI protection regardless of voltage. Dishwasher circuits serving cord-and-plug connected dishwashers require GFCI protection as well.
The challenge for restaurant owners is that GFCI devices can be sensitive to the electrically noisy environment of a commercial kitchen. Motors starting, compressors cycling, and inductive loads from commercial equipment can cause nuisance tripping. This does not mean you should avoid GFCI protection. It means your electrician needs to select commercial-grade GFCI breakers or receptacles rated for the environment, install them on circuits that are properly isolated from high-inrush equipment, and ensure grounding throughout the kitchen is solid.
A nuisance trip during dinner service that shuts off your food processor is annoying. A ground fault that electrocutes an employee standing on a wet kitchen floor is catastrophic. GFCI protection exists because commercial kitchens are wet environments with metal equipment, standing water, and people working with their hands. The protection is not optional.
Hood Ventilation: More Than Just Ductwork
The commercial kitchen exhaust hood is one of the most critical systems in your restaurant, and it has significant electrical requirements that go beyond simply connecting a fan motor. A properly designed hood system includes the exhaust fan, make-up air unit, fire suppression interlock, and potentially demand-controlled ventilation, all of which require electrical connections and in most cases dedicated circuits.
The exhaust fan motor for a commercial hood typically requires a 208/240-volt circuit sized for the specific motor horsepower. A medium-sized restaurant hood might have a 1 to 3 HP exhaust fan requiring a 20 to 30-amp circuit. Larger kitchens with multiple hoods or high-volume cooking may need 5 HP or larger motors with proportionally larger circuits.
The make-up air unit replaces the air being exhausted from the kitchen. Without it, your kitchen develops negative pressure that makes doors hard to open, pulls conditioned air from the dining room, and can cause back-drafting of gas appliances. The make-up air unit has its own fan motor, and in many installations includes heating and cooling elements that require additional electrical capacity.
The NEC and local fire codes require an electrical interlock between the hood exhaust system and the fire suppression system. When the fire suppression system activates, it must automatically shut off the exhaust fan to prevent spreading grease-laden air through the ductwork. It must also shut off the gas supply to cooking equipment. This interlock requires proper wiring between the suppression system panel, the exhaust fan motor control, and the gas solenoid valve. Your electrician and fire suppression contractor need to coordinate this installation.
Walk-In Cooler and Freezer Electrical Requirements
Walk-in coolers and freezers are among the most critical pieces of equipment in a restaurant because they operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and a failure can mean thousands of dollars in spoiled food. The electrical installation needs to be done right the first time.
A typical walk-in cooler has a compressor and condenser unit that requires a 208/240-volt, 20 to 30-amp dedicated circuit. The circuit must be sized for the compressor's locked rotor amperage (LRA), not just the running amperage, because the compressor draws a high inrush current every time it starts. Your electrician will reference the equipment's nameplate data and NEC Article 440 for motor-compressor circuit sizing.
A walk-in freezer has similar compressor requirements plus an electric defrost heater that cycles on periodically to prevent ice buildup on the evaporator coils. The defrost heater can draw significant current, typically 2,000 to 6,000 watts, and may require its own circuit or a larger shared circuit with the compressor. Interior lighting in walk-ins should be on a separate circuit from the refrigeration equipment so that a tripped lighting breaker does not affect the cooling system.
Both walk-in coolers and freezers should have a dedicated disconnect switch mounted within sight of the condensing unit, as required by NEC Article 440. This allows a service technician to safely disconnect power while working on the unit. The disconnect must be lockable to prevent accidental re-energization during service.
Health Inspections and Electrical Compliance
When DHEC (the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control) inspects your restaurant, they are primarily looking at food safety, sanitation, and equipment. But electrical issues can trigger health inspection findings when they affect food safety systems. Specifically, inspectors will note if refrigeration equipment is not maintaining proper temperatures due to electrical issues, if handwashing sinks lack hot water because the electric water heater circuit is inadequate, if ventilation hoods are not operating during cooking, or if lighting levels are insufficient in food preparation and dishwashing areas.
The South Carolina Food Code requires a minimum of 50 foot-candles of light at surfaces where employees are working with food, reading labels, or working with utensils. Food preparation areas, cooking stations, and dishwashing areas must meet this standard. Dining areas and other non-preparation areas require 20 foot-candles. Inadequate lighting is a common health inspection finding that often traces back to an electrical issue, either insufficient circuits to power adequate lighting or fixtures that have failed and not been replaced.
Your electrical inspection and your health inspection are conducted by different agencies, but they both care about the same outcome: a kitchen that operates safely and reliably. Getting the electrical right satisfies both inspectors and prevents the kind of operational failures that lead to citations, shutdowns, or worse.
Planning Your Restaurant Electrical System
The most expensive electrical mistakes in restaurant construction happen when the electrical work is planned last. By the time the equipment is selected, the hood is designed, the plumbing is roughed in, and the interior is taking shape, the electrician is working around everything else. This leads to longer wire runs, more conduit, and creative problem-solving that could have been avoided with earlier coordination.
The best approach is to involve your electrician at the same time you finalize your equipment list. Every piece of commercial kitchen equipment has a specification sheet listing its electrical requirements: voltage, phase, amperage, plug type, and circuit requirements. Your electrician uses this information to design the panel schedule, plan circuit runs, and ensure the building's electrical service has adequate capacity for the total load.
For a full-service restaurant in the Aiken area, expect the total electrical service to be 400 to 800 amps depending on the size of the kitchen, whether you use gas or electric cooking equipment, and the HVAC requirements. A smaller cafe or fast-casual restaurant may work with 200 to 400 amps. Your electrician will perform a detailed load calculation per NEC Article 220 to determine the exact service size needed.
Getting your restaurant's electrical system right from the beginning means smooth inspections, reliable equipment operation during service, and a safe environment for your staff and customers. It is one of those behind-the-scenes investments that pays for itself every day your kitchen runs without interruption.