Here’s a quick poll for today. Which way should electrical outlets be oriented? Should they have the ground prong up?
Electrical outlet ground prong up
Or should they have the ground prong down?
Electrical outlet ground prong down
I don’t think there is anything in the electrical code that requires one orientation or the other. Maybe Allan will be able to clear that one up. :) (I can’t seem to find my copy of the “yellow book” right now or I’d confirm it on my own.)
I know which way I prefer and there definitely appears to be an expected orientation based on some of the products I’ve purchased over the years. For some reason, all of the outlets on the top floor of our house were put in opposite to everything on the main floor. I’m guessing that some electrician decided (s)he wanted to be different when the upstairs was remodeled.
Anyways, leave a comment and let me know what your opinion is – should the ground prong go up or down?
duh… ground prong down for sure.
Unless you are a weird.
Jeff
My vote would be down.
..but mostly becuase that’s what I grew up with.
From an old discussion in http://www.mikeholmesfanforum.com/, Ontario code doesn’t specify but in Quebec there was a tendancy in the past to encourage ground up. Not sure if that’s still the case.
Personally, if you want the best of both worlds:
http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?sitex=10052:22372:US&item=60387
Up, Down and sideways all in one.
Cheerio!
A
Hmmm.. ground up in FL, USA.
…or at least at the hotel here.
Cheerio!
A
ground up. if the plug is falling out and something hits the top, it would hit the ground and not hot!
I agree with Dave Ground UP!
Ground down so that the ground is the last thing to go if the plug is falling out
The ground prong-up argument has some merit from a minor, incremental safety perspective.
But, the big problem is, ALL appliance, wall transformer, and extension cord and power-strip manufacturers design their plugs assuming the ground prong is down (if 3 wire) or the narrower hot prong is to the right (if polarized 2-wire), which also means the ground prong must be down, until someone makes and gets approved a plug with reversed hot/neutral prong holes.
Putting a wall transformer in a ground-up receptacle is especially aggravating. Often it won’t stay in at all, and you hope that you don’t need to plug in a 3-prong right angle low-profile plug (like many power strips use) in the other outlet. One of the upside down plugs will cover up the other outlet receptacle, preventing the use of both.
So the answer is – ground-prong down.
All the outlets in my house in Pittsburgh are ground-up, and I’ve been gradually switching them around.