We are people of habit. When I plug in a grounded plug in the dark, I expect the ground on the bottom. I also expect light switches to go on when the switch is UP, hot water on the left faucet, and so on. I once moved into a house that had 2 side by side light switches mounted upside down. That drove me crazy, so I re-mounted them quickly.
I have also seen a duplex with them going up and down (ground on both ends) There is a quad out there with them in all 4 orientations too.
We have a staircase and hallway with switches which would keep you busy for a long long time.
And every *consumer* right-angle or wall-hugging plug I've ever seen was designed for the ground pin on the bottom.
Lots of them are the other way. It seems to depend on whether they think the appliance will mound above the plug.
I agree. I see them both ways.
I have never seen one, but I would like to find one so I could check it out and see how they are constructed etc.
I have several of those adapters (converts duplex grounded outlet to 6), with the outlets on the sides. There seems to be nothing about them that would be better with one orientation (ground down or ground up) than the other.
TomR posted for all of us...
Let us NOT go through this again, especially as this was brought up just last week. DAGS
Yah, so much drama. After the inspection, switch them to any position you like.
I guarantee it's faster to reorient the receptacles than to fight a bunch of brainless bureaucrats at city hall.
Expect Fakey along any hour now to embarrass himself by proving his fathomless ignorance of all things electrical engineering. Again.
I've seen a short-circuit twice from metal getting behind the plug. One *wa s* caused by it being "prong up", a hospital bed was *raised* and came betw een the wall and 2 prongs. The other was a pull chain that was too long and hitting the hot wire. In the 2nd case up or down would have made no differ ence. I can see why there is no code.
One person's metallic receptacle escutcheon is another's metal outlet cover. They're both screwed if it is a shock hazard when becoming unscrewed.
Bottom line, there is no NEC code and no proof yet of any local code mandating either orientation, and evidence of both can be found in the wild for plugs and receptacles. I suspect it is an inspector's prerogative to mess with installation people by saying "It's code".
Mr. Safety says use a recessed receptacle:
Good choice Mr. Safety, but often there isn't enough room in the box to use it!
When it comes to electrical safety, there are no 'short' cuts.
Demo the wall and put in a bigger box. While you're at it, put in a new entrance panel with AFCIs. It's for the kids!
Mr. Safety explained :
Prevents 'wall warts' too.
What about the mens rooms, do they have to have prongs sticking out of the walls so that they feel comfortable?
Another option, albeit not real attractive, is to use a weatherproof outlet cover:
Plug the cord in, close the cover, and nothing it going to fall between the plug and the outlet, not even rain.
I suppose you could paint the cover to match the wall. Perfect for those situations where you're constantly dropping pieces of metal on your electrical outlets. :)
Anthony Watson
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