Any safe way to provide 120V power to middle of living room?

[Peter]

Our furniture layout has a side table next to an armchair, both of which are relatively far removed (6'-9') feet from the nearest walls. The floor surface from the nearest walls to the side table has both bare hardwood floor and an area rug. The room is in an upper floor condo unit with old fashioned tongue in groove hardwood floor boards. The building has concrete and steel construction. We'd like to place a table lamp on the side table but are unwilling to run an extension cord (major tripping hazard!) over the bare floor and area rug distance from the baseboard of the nearest wall to the side table. We're not interested in having to remove flooring and then refinish the entire floor. Also, we don't want to install a recessed ceiling fixture centered over the chair. A wall mounted sconce light would either be directly in the eyes of those seated elsewhere in the room or create a brilliant reflection off the glass doors of nearby wall units. Please don't suggest re-thinking our furniture arrangement - we've spent months doing that and it's not an option. Is there any type of extremely flat extension cord would be safe and within code to provide power to that side table? We would be powering only one 18W LED (100W incandescent equivalent) bulb.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Only thing I can think of is a Wiremold product that is a trough type of channel that has a tapered top so you don't trip. They are used in offices to get to a desk. Saver than a bare cord.

[Thomas]

Go battery powered.

[hubops]

What you need is a nice swag lamp, on a chain ... :-)

or a battery powered LED table lamp.

John T.

[trader_4]

Not recommending it, just pointing out that it's out there and there may be others. It's made in China, with poor English, etc., that's a warning sign. Is it UL listed?

I'd consider a flat extension cord as long as the rug isn't walked over regularly and you keep an eye on it. The typical rug disaster is someone putting a crappy extension cord under it in an area with traffic, then ignoring what happens over months and years. There are thicker cord protectors that are made to walk over, but they are relatively thick and very noticeable.

Any way to run a longer cord from a different direction that would not have to go under the rug?

[Clare Snyder]

Lthium Ion powered LED lamp - move it to charge it when not in use.

[Dove Tail]

Ed's suggestion is the best one so far. A rubber channel raceway is a way to run an extension cord over the floor with minimal trip hazard.

We would not do anything like this in our home due to the aesthetics.

You said you don't want to entertain changing your furniture layout, but, you might want to revisit that restriction.

[Dean Hoffman]

A search for extension cord cover turned up quite a few options. Would it work to drop the power from the ceiling down? I think there were lamps that were literally floor to ceiling design at one time.

[Peter]

Thanks to all who took the time to reply. The lamp needs to be bright enough to read comfortably and fit the living room decor. The side table and arm chair are on the 10' x 12' rug and the area gets regular foot traffic as does the bare floor around the perimeter of the rug, making the use of a channel raceway on the polished hardwood floor impractical. There's no access to the attic (many floors of additional condos above our unit) besides which the horizontal slabs for the ceiling/floor on each level are reinforced concrete. For aesthetic and safety reasons, the best solution seems to be a swag lamp and a flat channel ceiling and wall raceway hide the run of power cord to a ceiling hook. Time to discuss this with my decorator in chief (wife).

[hubops]

Yuk. I'd look long & hard for a cordless lamp before doing that .. An interchangeable battery with an extra battery plus a stand-alone charger means you never have to await a re-charge nor run a temp cord to re-charge nor move the lamp to re-charge. John T.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

My parents had such a lamp (with 3 separate bulb holders, and a 3-way switch) and I have seen others at several peoples' houses.

[dandee]

If this was my project, I'd just get one of them hanging lamps with a chain that goes over to the wall, and the cord is part of the chain. Just screw a few hooks into the ceiling, hang the lamp with the chain, and plug it in to the nearest outlet. Job done!!!!

[Ed Pawlowski]

I have no idea if a nice furniture lamp like that is available, but I do have two emergency LED lights that will last 40 hours on batteries and are as bright as any typical table lamp. They just don't look as pretty as table lamps.

[Peter]

That was my first choice too. However, all the ones I found on the web were (1) too dim, (2) too short, (3) not compatible with the room's decor, or a combination of all of the above. If there was a lamp that looked similar in size and design to a traditional living room table lamp and provided 800+ lumens of light, I'd probably try it. Reviews of most of them said they were good for a night light or reading only if the lamp was extremely close. Thanks for the comment though.

[Peter]

That's what I call a swag lamp, which is probably the solution we'll use.

[Peter]

I think you're referring to what I call a pole lamp. I still have one from the 1960s that we use in our den. I'm not experienced enough to run romex or other inside-the-wall cable from an outlet up the wall and across the ceiling to where I would need to either mount a junction box or a receptacle. In my area, getting an electrician to do the hidden wiring would cost $250 - $400 - seriously! Besides, my wife hates the look of pole lamps and I admit it wouldn't look good with our living room decor. I appreciate your suggestion though.