Deciding on which kitchen countertops material to go with can be both an exciting and daunting experience for many homeowners as it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the huge range of materials and brands to choose from.

Luckily for us, when it comes to adding invisible Qi wireless charging to the underside of a kitchen countertop, the technology works through all non-metallic surfaces so buyers can be assured that most choices of countertop can be turned into an invisible kitchen charging station.

However, there are some points to consider that can make adding a wireless charging countertop cheaper, easier to install and perform better in the long run.

In summary – all common kitchen materials like quartz and granite work very similarly but there are easier materials and thicknesses to look at for adding wireless charging to your countertops. Below is our technical drawings you can share with your designers and fabricators.

Here’s our material summary and some installation examples:

Quartz Countertops

Probably the most popular material in the market today due to the range of colours, hardness and easy care, adding wireless charging to a quartz countertop is a one of the easiest.

Quartz is easy to route out to accommodate a Kew Labs UTS-1 invisible wireless chargers without compromising any strength. Slabs typically comes in 2cm and 3cm thicknesses but we recommend choosing a 2cm slab and having your fabricator follow the our routing / milling instructions for the best charging results to ensure it works great with every phone.

Kew Labs wireless chargers are the only chargers to have been tested and approved for use by Cosentino on Silestone countertops – one of the world’s most popular quartz brands. Cosentino recommends fabricators to reduce the surface area for the charger to 1/2″ or 12mm to achieve universal compatibility.

Recommended quartz choices – Silestone, Cambria, Caesarstone

Here’s a beautiful quartz countertop with Kew Labs Daisy chain Invisible UTS-1 chargers installed in the island starting with the original design plans:

The result: a neat and tidy hidden kitchen charging station

Sintered stones / high-compact stones / porcelain countertops

These stones are a man-made mixture of quartz, resins, pigments and minerals to produce an incredibly dense, versatile and hardwearing material. Popular brands in the market today include – Dekton, Neolith, Inalco, Caesarstone Porcelain.

The strength and durability of the material has allowed brands to offer a much larger range of thicknesses than traditional materials like quartz. Common thicknesses offered are 4mm, 8mm, 12mm and 20mm. 

Dekton – by Cosentino for example includes the following properties:

The range of thicknesses allows sintered stones to be used on facades, flooring, countertops and furniture to open up new design options to continue finish patterns around your designs. 

The best kitchen countertop material for the environment –

Dekton is one of the first carbon neutral product for countertops and is made with significant amounts of recycled materials making it an even better option for your countertops to reduce your carbon footprint – read more at https://www.cosentino.com/dekton/

Adding wireless charging to Dekton, Inalco, Neolith countertops –

Kew Labs invisible wireless chargers have been tested and approved by Dekton to be installed directly on 1.2cm Dekton surfaces with universal compatibility with all phones.

1.2cm kitchen countertops are growing in popularity to provide a modern minimalist look to any surface and are popular on bedside tables, kitchen countertops. Dekton and similar brands like Neolith and Inalco also produce 2cm thick countertop surfaces but given the density of these stones routing them can prove difficult, so we recommend to choose 1.2cm thick slabs for creating your wireless charging countertop.

Recommended brands: Dekton, Inalco, Neolith, Infinity, Laminam, – 1.2cm

Granite Countertops

Famed for it’s durability, granite is a traditional and much loved choice for it’s scratch resistance, hardness and heat-resistant properties. Unless man-made materials like quartz, granite is a natural material cut directly from the rock which means that the appearance of every slab is unique.

For invisible wireless charging, routing into granite is possible but can’t be done too thin due to the natural properties of the material which could make it prone to cracking. Luckily, Kew Labs UTS-1 can be installed at ½” thick material which fabricators are comfortable to do even on natural materials like granite. Here are some great granite countertops using Kew Labs UTS-1 wireless charging.

Notice the routing that been done in this image.

Marble Countertops

Using marble as a kitchen countertop does produce beautiful, luxurious results, but does come with some less practical drawbacks. Rated as a ‘softer’ stone compared to quartz and granite, marble scratches more easily meaning more care when it comes to knives and using coasters. It is also more porous so can stain more easily. From a wireless charging perspective, there’s no issues adding a UTS-1 invisible wireless charger to your marble kitchen countertops.

Wood Countertops 

Wood is a timeless design that give a warm feeling to any kitchen. It’s is easy to clean and reseal for long term usage but will of course show more signs of wear and tear than a stone top. This can look great in providing a rustic feature to otherwise more clinical stone and tiled finishes.

For Kew Labs’ kitchen wireless chargers, routing into wood is perhaps the easiest task and will mean choosing any thickness shouldn’t be a problem for a fabricator to router out.

For beautiful American-made wood countertops, Kew Labs has teamed up with Armani Fine Woodworking who deliver their hand-crafted countertops with wireless charging from Colorado nationwide in US.

Recommended brands – www.armanifinewoodworking.com – request wireless charging in your specification.