electrical outlets

Standard, as far as I know, is with the ground on the bottom.

It's personal preference, there is no code that addresses the orientation. The vast majority that I have seen have the ground receptacle on the bottom.

And recently, following this same discussion here on several occasions, the general conclusion of which, if I recall correctly, was that ground pin at top was probably the safest against anything metallic falling across the live and neutral pins etc.; it appears to me that many (most?) of the el cheapo plug-in wall warts/adapters/ timers etc. seem to be made for ground pin on the bottom! Almost all outlets in my house are the other way up. Most of the time it doesn't matter anyway, but ............ occasionally it's nuisance to set a timer and then plug it in upside down! those previous discussion also, again IIRC, identified that since the ground pin is longer and stouter having it at the top 'might' decrease the likelihood of sagging and dragging out the 'working' pins; more so than if those pins are at top. In other words sagging would push the working pins 'in' rather than pull them out.

your friend is correct ground up on outlets. thats how we have been doing it since 1998 someday the whole country will be this way.

some inspectors care too much about this and others don't care enough.

As you observed, nearly all are ground down. Some say that is wrong because things falling down will hit the hot/neutral rather than just the neutral. There is some sense to that, but ground up looks wrong to most people since it is not common. Neither is "proper". Probably best to do whatever the rest of your outlets are.

I like to make smiley faces of them.

I've seen many commercial places do this. The reasoning seems that if a metal face plate comes loose and falls on a partically inserted plug will not result in a short. Lot of 'if' here.

I personally, like ground port(round hole) on the bottom, since my index finger does migrate over to it when inserting a plug at times. I don't use metal face plates.

One note, it seems to be a matter or preference, but I would check with local code enforcement to see what they 'want'.

tom @

Inspectors are not allowed to "care" about this. It is not addressed in the code in any way. Typically the electricians will identify "switched" receptacles by installing them opposite of the rest.

There is no widely applicable standard, although apparently some cities have instituted one. It's not important enough to worry about.

Mount them sideways, and you won't have to worry about wall-warts being upside down.

I've experienced counter-example, Greg. Fire Marshall of town where our facility was located mandated that all outlets be ground- lug-up. And it was made so. Arguing would be a pi$$ing contest.

Also, he refused to allow any plug-in electrical heaters, likely saving a few incidents. He'd catch 'em, we'd smash 'em.

Reasonable guy, but not wishy-washy

But then do you mount them with the neutral up or down?

Chris

But then, does the ground pin go to the left or the right?

Did your Google research there? NOT

Some appliances, like air conditioners, have plugs on the ends that will hand better if the pin is up. They are designed that way as that is now considered the proper way to orient the receptacles, at least in commercial applications. . There is no code covering orientation.

Seems like most NEMA publications show the pin up on the 5-15 configuration. I just looked at my GFCI in the bathroom and the test and reset buttons are engraved in both orientations.

Is that code in Chicago, or just a custom there?

East or West of the Mississippi?

And I believe the things they felt most likely to fall down that way would be metal outlet cover plates, if the screw vibrated out, or maybe got lost by a painter who'd removed the plate and then just placed it back over the outlet.

Jeff

Nobody told Whirlpool that. My new fridge is set up ground down if the cord is going to hang right.

Depends on if you are north or south of the equator. ;-)