Electrical outlets

[docellis]

Why aren't new construction homes putting electrical outlets at chair height? Why are we still putting them near the floor?

[Valpo Cardinal Fan]

Why aren't new construction homes putting electrical outlets at chair height? Why are we still putting them near the floor?

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/electr ... t-height#b

It doesn't say why but National Electrical Code says not more than 12" from the floor.

My thought is that the danger of tripping over an electrical cord goes up with the height of an outlet. Or am I missing something here?

[Valpo Cardinal Fan]

The biggest thing that people ignore is vampire electronics.

Do you unplug your phone charger when not charging with it? $100 per year is a lot.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/colu ... s/1649195/

[haltz]

In Clear History Larry David is obsessed with putting them at eye level because you're always bending over and moving furniture to plug something in.

[Popeye_Card]

The biggest thing that people ignore is vampire electronics.

Do you unplug your phone charger when not charging with it? $100 per year is a lot.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/colu ... s/1649195/

That's also a lot of time and energy running around plugging stuff in and out. I'll just keep it plugged in and spend $8 more per month.

#onepercent

[docellis]

Why aren't new construction homes putting electrical outlets at chair height? Why are we still putting them near the floor?

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/electr ... t-height#b

It doesn't say why but National Electrical Code says not more than 12" from the floor.

My thought is that the danger of tripping over an electrical cord goes up with the height of an outlet. Or am I missing something here?

I think that is outdated and should change. Our tv's are not on the ground anymore. My computer tower is on my desk. My laptop is on my coffee table.

[lukethedrifter]

You should petition the NFPA to change it.

[mikechamp]

14 months ago, I was in a very high-end new home in CA that had the electrical outlets about 3 inches off the ground. When I asked why, I was told, "No one wants to see them." So for some, it's an aesthetic thing.

Without knowing all the nuances of the electrical code, I suspect the aforementioned tripping hazard theory is probably a good guess.

And vampire loads are very real. I could talk about that for a while, but I'll simply say the amount of energy wasted in this country due to vampire loads is immense. And those loads range from charging batteries to digital clocks to entertainment centers. Here's one that I learned about recently: garage door openers. They are always on, because like anything else with a remote, they have to be in order to receive the signal.

[Arthur Dent]

I spent some time actually measuring electricity usage in my house, and my conclusion was that vampire loads are largely a non-issue. There are a few things, like cable boxes, that are quite wasteful, but most of the stuff people talk about like the clock on your microwave or the cell phone charger that's plugged into the wall without a phone connected consume only a tiny amount of energy. If you eliminated all that stuff, it would have no measurable impact. I suspect that much of the hoopla surrounding this issue is connected to the need to believe that you can save the world through basically costless personal choices.

If you want to reduce electricity in the home, you have to go after the things that actually use substantial energy. That means mostly heating and cooling, but also lighting, the water heater, and major appliances (your fridge uses quite a bit of power, and if it's old you could probably improve this substantially).

[planet planet]

I spent some time actually measuring electricity usage in my house, and my conclusion was that vampire loads are largely a non-issue. There are a few things, like cable boxes, that are quite wasteful, but most of the stuff people talk about like the clock on your microwave or the cell phone charger that's plugged into the wall without a phone connected consume only a tiny amount of energy. If you eliminated all that stuff, it would have no measurable impact. I suspect that much of the hoopla surrounding this issue is connected to the need to believe that you can save the world through basically costless personal choices.

If you want to reduce electricity in the home, you have to go after the things that actually use substantial energy. That means mostly heating and cooling, but also lighting, the water heater, and major appliances (your fridge uses quite a bit of power, and if it's old you could probably improve this substantially).

Don't even get me started on this topic; our electricity bills are off the hook. I don't think our three fridges and one standup freezer helps matters. We got mostly new windows in '04, but we still have a few old windows which we should have addressed long ago. AD, can you share how you measured your usage? Just knowing where all of this is coming from would be a great place to start in tackling our electricity bills.