Just curious but why did they stop fixing electric plugs about 3ft up from the floor and start fixing them to the skirting, in general.
- posted
7 years ago
Just curious but why did they stop fixing electric plugs about 3ft up from the floor and start fixing them to the skirting, in general.
Ours are in the wall, not the skirting board. About 1 foot from the floor. That means less cord hanging down from the socket, which looks nicer, but more bending to reach it. Done 20 years ago.
Did they? That is a bit annoying then, as I have most of mine up high and its great also for those with problems bending over to move the switches. Brian
Other way round surely? Modern regs are supposed to make sockets more accessible to disabled folk or those in wheelchairs.
Tim
fred pretended :
We have a few at 4', but most at around 15". The high level ones are handy for the likes of vacuums, plus most of the kitchen ones above the worktops, those at low level for things like TV's etc. which remain plugged in. In a home where someone might be disabled, likely they would all be at high level.
Mounted high, the flex might be more of a hazard in some circumstances.
So that people in wheelchairs and the elderly could reach them to pl;ug in their SDS drills and vacuum cleaners.
Why shouldn't someone in a wheelchair use an SDS drill?
Always assuming they remember to put the brake on first. :)
Did I imply that they wouldn't?
;-)
I have this image of a wheelchair with a belt drive around the drill chuck and the wheel...
In the uni where I work we have many places where sockets are put, the ones low down near the floor are ment to be used as cleaners sockets thye are considered dirty mains. Most in teh lab are at waiste hieght or bench height. I passed two double socket outlets just recently installed in teh corridor they are about 12-14ft from the floor. Probbley for the exclusive use of very tall people ;-)
Maybe it depends on the age of your installation but in every house I have ever bought once out of the kitchen all sockets were in or on the skirting.
It actually changed the other way round.
However, you can site them where you want in your own house.
My wife is both elderly and in a wheelchair but she uses a vacuum cleaner, a pressure washer, and many other appliances.
Bill
??
very Russian
NT
WEll that's what I said.
How is she at changing lightbulbs?
This is news to me. When I was a lad the sockets were always in the skirting, but later wiring regs demanded they be mounted higher up. I thought it was to avoid damage from vacuum cleaners.
Then in 2000(?) Approved Document M demanded they were mounted even higher [in new builds] for the benefit of the disabled.
I think Fred has caused some confusion by getting things the wrong way round (unless he really does mean what he says).
It's the complete opposite of the current regulations as I understand them.
Tim
The BCO will of course have a fit if your house is a new build.
Another reason for fitting them higher up is to reduce the likelihood of flood damage. Whether or not a particular location is liable to flooding, from weather or plumbing, is another matter. Maybe it is easier simply to make it standard rather than having arguments about whether one location can have a lower socket because it won't flood...
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