The way the electrician in our new construction home did it, the ground faced up only on outlets controlled by a wall switch. Makes it easy to tell which one is controlled by a switch in the room.

@tylerw4593

2 жыл бұрын

Came to make a similar comment

@donhorn548

2 жыл бұрын

That is a very good idea

@greeneagleproductions503

2 жыл бұрын

This is correct. Ground facing up is half hot. On a switch

@Ladco77

2 жыл бұрын

That's a common practice that I've seen. My house is wired like that.

@rv6amark

2 жыл бұрын

That is exactly the way ALL of the new homes are wired that I have looked at here in Southern California in the last 20 years. It is so common that I have assumed there is a local code that specifies ground down UNLESS it is a switched outlet.

Anything that mounts directly on the outlet, such as a nightlight or similar device, is clearly made to prefer ground-down orientation. Same with appliance cords, such as refrigerators. The overwhelming majority of outlets I've seen in my life are installed that way.

@lanedexter6303

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly. While there is some logic to ground upward, nearly all right angle plugs are designed for ground downward (I’ve used a few that could be adjusted, but those plugs are not cheap). So I still install ground downward.

@KevinBenecke

3 жыл бұрын

Plus if you plug one of those right angle plugs into a plug with the ground up, it puts a sharp strain on the wire because of how it bends.

@chrisk926

3 жыл бұрын

Most nightlights manufactured now have rotating plugs that make the ground orientation of an outlet irrelevant.

@redstang5150

3 жыл бұрын

@@chrisk926 Most? Not really. There's a few. Most don't.

@Nonplused

3 жыл бұрын

Timers seem to expect ground down as well.

I’m a portrait artist and I installed outlets into my studio. (I got help from my electrician friend) I had the ground down 😮 because the eyes should be on the top and the mouth on the bottom. 😊

@Osprey850

2 жыл бұрын

This is the correct reason. Why would anyone want the face upside down? That seems demonic, like in those movies when holy crosses get turned upside down.

@rosalindhendricks6337

2 жыл бұрын

That would be my answer also, but I’m not an electrician. 😄

@dspears666

27 күн бұрын

This is the correct answer

Our entire house was wired with the ground up, and I had never seen this done before. At first I didn't think much of it, but in the 5 years of living here and using the plugs I have found it to be a pain in the neck, since most things that need to be plugged in are manufactured for ground down. Case in point, my son got me a small wall outlet air purifier for the kitchen and because of the plug being ground up the purifier had to sit upside down and wouldn't hold into the plug. So I just flipped the power off and turned it around so I could use it. It's been like that for so many things. Now as I renovate different rooms I take that opportunity to flip the plug orientation because it just doesn't work for us.

@jmdavison62

6 ай бұрын

Most commercial equipment with 90-degree plugs arranges them for the ground pin to be on top. This is also the case with commercial equipment for which receptacles are preinstalled: consider, for example, the General Electric GE1LU532SS RV Outlet Box. And, of course, modern medical facilities almost invariably use the standard ground-pin-up orientation: see IEEE Std. 602-1986 (Electric Systems in Health Care Facilities). In other words, when it counts, the ground pin orientation matches that specified in the drawings in ANSI/ NEMA WD 6-2021, _Wiring Devices-Dimensional Specifications_ (2022-02-22) and recommended by the the National Electrical Contractors Association's National Electrical Installation Standards (NECA 130-2010) and IEEE Std. 602-1986 (Electric Systems in Health Care Facilities). In residential installations, it's more of a free-for-all, driven more by aesthetic considerations (laypersons seem to prefer the "unhappy face" look of a NEMA 5-15R receptacle) than anything having to do with sound engineering or safety practices. The domestic appliance marketplace responds as you'd expect, prioritizing customer demand above all else. It's also worth noting that upside-down NEMA 5-20R receptacles look less like "unhappy faces" than upside-down NEMA 5-15R receptacles, but for historical reasons, homes tend to have far more NEMA 5-15R receptacles than NEMA 5-20R receptacles -- even on 20 A circuits, so the inertia of the "unhappy face" style of installation continues to dominate. If a certain plug orientation is incompatible with an appliance's intended application, it doesn't automatically mean that the receptacle's orientation is "wrong." However, if the easiest solution is for the receptacle to be installed upside down, then by all means, install it with the equipment ground pin down, but that doesn't imply that, as a rule of thumb, all receptacles should be installed that way. There's a lot of folk wisdom masquerading as informed opinion when it comes to receptacle orientation. More examples include horizontally installed receptacles having the equipment ground hole on the right (popular in Chicago, Illinois) and installing only switched outlets with the equipment ground pin up. As far as I know, there is nothing in any electrical code that requires either of these practices. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.).

I prefer ground-down for most outlets. I like the practice of reversing to ground-up for switched outlets. That's how my builder did it. Sure beats walking around the room with a lamp to figure out which one is switched.

@EverydayHomeRepairs

3 жыл бұрын

For sure! Also, nice channel I have ran across your content in the past and you are doing a great job 👍. Keep up the good work.

@johnnyz7752

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, but, I have outlets in my living room where the bottom outlet is connected to a wall switch, so I can turn a lamp on or off by the wall switch, and the upper outlet has constant power, like where we plug in a clock or Alexa device. Something that we do not want to be affected by the wall switch.

@robb0995

3 жыл бұрын

I prefer a color change for switched receptacles, but inverting the orientation is a common practice. The problem is that of only one plug in the receptacle is switched, then you still have to guess which half is switched. Colored faces address this problem as you can get receptacles with only one outlet colored.

@jaycweingardt11

3 жыл бұрын

Love it, Never heard of it, Every house I do now will have that.

@stevieg.4816

3 жыл бұрын

@@robb0995 Electrical standard practice. outlets that are split and one half is switched, the switched should be on the top half. I have been doing that since the 70's when I started the trade as I was taught.

54 years ago when I started as an electrician I was told always ground down because most plugs have ground down. This way there's less tension on the chord.

@notsure7874

3 жыл бұрын

Ground down just seems to hold cords in better. Like it's resting on the ground, and not so easy to pull out the top. Ground up all the pull is on the one pin...

@josephmalinowski6817

3 жыл бұрын

The only time I'm a put a ground on top or on the side when hanging a TV just because the plugs on a TV some lay flatter with the outlet upside down or on its side but besides that I always put the outlet with the ground facing down

@redfishonfly58

3 жыл бұрын

When I play chords on my guitar I like tension between the chords. Makes the music more interesting. I just need to make sure there is no tension on my amplifier cord.

@catsplat839

3 жыл бұрын

If ground down and cord comes out then ground wire will be the last thing to come out.

@claywithers523

3 жыл бұрын

48 yrs ago when I started an electrical apprenticeship here in the UK, the square pin plugs were the criteria for new installalations, now not much has changed since I left the trade a few years after qualifying as a JIB(Joint Industrial Board) approved electrician, but according to the latest IEE regulations (Institute of Electrical Engineers) I am not permitted to even wire up a 3 pin plug apparently in 2021, yet in my last years in the trade, I was mostly troubleshooting problems with electrical faults in commercial and private property installations. However when I moved into my current home nearly 20yrs ago, it still had the original 1950's wiring in most of it, with an old wooden fusebox with porcelain rewireable fuses in it, only the kitchen and the cellar rooms had modern post '73 wiring. I rewired the house apart from those 2 areas, which I checked in accordance with regulations, and found them complying with insulation and earth tests with the regulations, apart from the colour of the insulation on the wires, I found no other faults, I installed a new fusebox with RCDs(Residual current devices) on each circuit. I left the old box mounted on the board to remind me of how things used to be, it is not connected to the mains, I think the latest installation guide requires ELCB's(Earth leakage Circuit Breakers), but I won't be fitting those as it is a disproportionate cost in regard to minimal extra safety, and I'm not allowed to do it anyway, so would have to call in an electrician. Yet politicians without medical degrees can tell me to wear a nose/mouth mask which cuts my intake of oxygen, and lowers my body's onboard immunity system to the detriment of said immune system; oh the hypocrisy in this modern world! Such is life.... The earth pin is on top in the UK, it's standard, and most plugs have the cable to the appliance coming out the opposite end to the Earth pin.

Ground-down has a safety argument I was expecting you to present - if the top half of your plug comes out, with ground-up, you have an ungrounded plug, which people will use unsafely. With ground-down, you have a disconnection, which you will fix immediately. This seems like a much more likely scenario than people dropping screwdrivers or butter knives along the wall.

@TitoRigatoni

2 жыл бұрын

3:02 the ground pin is longer than the other two, for this reason. there is no way for the ground pin to come out before the power pins come out.

@huejanus5505

2 жыл бұрын

What about all the sheet metal pieces people store in their houses along the walls? Anyways, just looked around my house quickly and the vast majority of things that are plugged in don’t even have a ground on them, except or two power bars that are designed with ground down plugs on them.

@JyroOne

2 жыл бұрын

This was a rule before plastic covers were used. It was installed this way for appliance dedicated outlets that had a grounded plug. If a metal cover came off and yes they did come off it prevented it from contacting the hot and neutral.

@dicesr

2 жыл бұрын

In many commercial installations such as an office environment, it is very common for a paper clip, or staple to fall off of the edge of a desk. The staple/clip could fall onto the blades of an inuse outlet with a cord-cap partially removed. If the outlet is installed ground down the clip could easily cause a short across the hot & neutral blades. Ground up it would simply roll off the blade and continue safely to the floor with no problem, and go completely unnoticed until someone walks around barefoot. Also, most medical facilities will use the ground up installation method for the same reason.

@ATAVMJPRO

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Dave,.. I didn't know why ground down was better until I read your comment!👌

I've always installed plugs with the ground on the bottom. Most plugs are designed for that configuration, especially the low-profile plugs. They are all oriented so the wire immediately proceeds in a downward manner. I don't buy the safety issue, as it is a rare three-prong plug that DOESN'T fit snuggly. I should mention that I am from Canada and I've heard that in the province of Quebec, they prefer the ground to be in the upward position. Even knowing this, when I renovated my home in the Gatineau Hills of Quebec, I insisted that all the plugs be installed with the ground down. I think Quebec is bucking the norm because, well, basically, that's what they love to do. If English Canada does something one way, they want exactly the opposite . . . just because. I hear they're thinking of changing the driving lanes to the opposite side, like the U.K. - just because. I'm kidding, of course . . . but just imagine the chaos when crossing the border between provinces. Ha-ha!

@flagmichael

2 жыл бұрын

It could be argued that ground up makes stresses in the cord where it leaves the outlet greatest in the ground wire, making an open ground the most likely cord failure mode. I've never known that to happen, though, and I will be 70 next month.

All of the outlets in our house are ground facing down. I noticed that when I plug a polarized night light in, it is right side up. If the ground were at the top the night light would be upside down.

@killhacker5776

3 жыл бұрын

Still works

@UFO4X

3 жыл бұрын

@@killhacker5776 Of course it still works, but it looks like hell! Lol

@killhacker5776

3 жыл бұрын

@@UFO4X I feel ya . really do. But that "ground up" is for safety . it really shouldn't matter which way it's plugged in so just grind off the fat ended .

@petecarroll3949

3 жыл бұрын

Sounds like you got yourself a bunch of Australian nite lites

@SuperClarenceZ

3 жыл бұрын

If I put them all in upside down, my wife can’t put those scentsy burners all over the damn place. Brilliant!

In my opinion, if NEC isn't making a recommendation after this many years, there must be a consensus among the rule makers that it truly doesn't matter and there is no significant safety reason to pick one option over the other.

@returntonature8773

3 жыл бұрын

59 years and never seen anything fall on an outlet and short out.

@donsvideos1985

3 жыл бұрын

@@returntonature8773 you never met my kid when he was 5... long story.

@buffalogatekeeper5554

3 жыл бұрын

@Charles, or it could simply be a scenario where half of the members want up and the other half want down, each with advantages and disadvantages, and no consensus is possible in this scenario.

@1djbecker

3 жыл бұрын

@@returntonature8773 The real risk is with metal cover plates on duplex outlets. Old fashioned attachments used the center screw for the ground or support, resulting it being loose or missing. When the metal plate drops, excitement or disaster. This problem doesn't occur with Decora style receptacles or simply using a plastic cover plate. Once you eliminate that risk, the very slight improvement in safety is overwhelmed by the significant decrease in safety from plugging equipment in upside-down. Every wall brick and GFCI plug expects a happy face orientation.

@thepitpatrol

3 жыл бұрын

Isn't that the truth!

Ground-up makes more sense to me from a safety perspective, but I always install outlets ground-down because so many plugs and transformers--like the quick-90 plug you demonstrated--are designed for gound-down installation.

@wildbikerbill6530

2 жыл бұрын

I have a bunch of 90 degree three prong adapters. In an outlet installed ground-up, that means the adapted cord plugs in from above rather than a more normal below.

@wildbikerbill6530

2 жыл бұрын

@Almost Average ? The point is, in a ground side up wall plug, the 90 degree adapter ends up facing up, were it will be more prone to stuff falling into the holes. Also, ANY cord you plug in is going to have a rather severe bend in it because instead of a 90 degree downward bend, it now has to make a 180 degree downward bend. I don't see where the country of manufacture for any electric cord makes a difference to this fact of geometry. It has everything to do with the universe of adapters that plug into wall sockets assume a bottom position for the ground wire.

I'm so glad that I live in Australia. All our outlets are installed ground down. In the case of a downwards pull on the plug, it's most important that the earth (ground) stays connected. That said, our plugs don't tend to pull out of the outlets, probably because of the angled active (hot) and neutral pins. The active and neutral pins on all modern plugs are also insulated for about half their length. If they do pull out, they disconnect before the bare conductor is exposed.

@davdmoi

Жыл бұрын

Where you live there everything start with down under. Even the land you are is in bottom part of the earth 😂. Just my opinion.

Having ground up just always feels wrong to me... like putting the toilet paper roll on backwards

@sleazybtd

3 жыл бұрын

Since you went there, which way is technically "backwards" on a toilet paper roll?

@n8loux

3 жыл бұрын

@@sleazybtd on the holder so it comes down the back near the wall, instead of over the top and down the front lol just ask Hank Hill

@The-Friendly-Grizzly

3 жыл бұрын

@@sleazybtd If you are a regular household: paper end over the top of the roll. If you have cats, paper end out the bottom. Why: cats slapping at the roll to make it spin will roll paper out on the floor the “regular” way. Rolled out the bottom, they can paw at it and spin the roll, and the paper stays put.

@adamlewellen5081

3 жыл бұрын

Pointless debate of the day. It's like red on right. A unofficial rule that helps if followed but not "required"

@nate-vv1rr

3 жыл бұрын

@@sleazybtd Over the top to the front, so you do not have to do the pickle claw to reach it in the back,lol..

Ground-down for three (more*) reasons: 1. Most plugs with grounds are shaped for your thumb to be flat on top as your index finger wraps around the bottom, making your index finger more likely to touch the bottom prong(s), 2. Electrical outlet extenders (especially the ones with usb ports) now come with a shelf on top to lay your cellphone on and are oriented for ground-down outlets, and 3. In case of flooding, you'd want rising water to contact the ground prong first. * I wanted to mention 90-degree plugs favoring ground-down outlets, but you covered that.

@Howard10Howie

3 жыл бұрын

Nailed it with the flood. Should have stated that first. And if the plug backs out over time you will most like break the L line first.

@motorhead1825

3 жыл бұрын

Reason no. 1 happened to me when I was about 10 yrs old. My index finger touched the bottom prongs and I got a reality check.

@rogertycholiz2218

3 жыл бұрын

Charles - I agree! I like the flooding comment. All plugs that I installed are groundown.

@Cotronixco

3 жыл бұрын

That third one is really stupid. If floodwater ends up reaching an outlet, I'd want the breaker to trip sooner rather than later.

@charlesrichards5389

3 жыл бұрын

@@Cotronixco Good point. There's a chance that the person who installed the outlet upside-down is standing in the water and Darwin wins!

I worked in a soda factory for a while as a maintenance mechanic and the plant electrician taught me to go ground down for most residential situations but ground UP for commercial situations when the outlet faceplate was metal for the reasons mentioned at 3:30 in this video. It seemed like an unlikely scenario even when he explained it to me 30 years ago and it still does. I haven't done any commercial wiring since then but I always go ground down in my home.

@nealkeach4367

2 жыл бұрын

My father was an electrician at Corning Glass Works for 40+ years. His motto regarding this was always: “ Ground down or to the right “.

@jmdavison62

6 ай бұрын

@@nealkeach4367 It's hard to take such a maxim seriously without hearing the reasons behind it. If anything, hospitals have a compelling reason for the ground pin to be on top, and if it's good enough for the hospital, it's good enough for your home.

In my house, they are installed horizontally in the baseboards. I prefer the ground on the bottom when they are installed vertically. It works better with cords that have a profile plugs. If your plugs are falling, the outlet should be replaced.

When I was in school for electronics I was taught the ground goes down because the plug could come loose and with the ground down it will be the last connection to disconnect. With ground up and loosening condition will disconnect the ground first giving you a potentially dangerous false sense of security.

@EverydayHomeRepairs

3 жыл бұрын

Nice, that is a good point I had not heard before. Appreciate you sharing 👍

@godtremble95

3 жыл бұрын

I've also heard something similar, but about how people tend to pull plugs out; generally towards themselves (out and up if the outlet is below, out and down if chest level or higher), though I don't know if it makes much of a difference

@averagejoerc2836

3 жыл бұрын

From another perspective, your three prong plug comes out/loose more easily with the ground on bottom. As it becomes loose, you now have a hot and neutral exposed. 3 prong plugs with ground on top are more stable and do not come loose as quickly, and if/as they do, the hot and neutral get pushed into the receptacle even further exposing the ground only. In my opinion, if there is any potential of and of the prongs being exposed, I would prefer it be a ground.

@danbert8

3 жыл бұрын

I don't buy that argument as it's solved with the longer ground pin. Even at a tilted angle the ground should still lose connection last.

@howtodoitdude1662

3 жыл бұрын

@@danbert8 An exposed ground doesn’t matter if the cord is not in use. But an exposed hot is alway live even if the plug is not being used!

I prefer my toilet paper to be put on the roll coming over the top.

@jimmac1185

3 жыл бұрын

Savages hang TP the other way...

@Scottocaster6668

3 жыл бұрын

The American way. Its gotta go over

@juliaraymond2407

3 жыл бұрын

Scottym3 for the win!

@chrisparker4940

3 жыл бұрын

Ever reel off a massive amount of toilet paper and try spinning it in reverse to roll it back on? I thought you have. It doesn’t work does it.

@mmercier0921

3 жыл бұрын

The original patent drawring for the roll holder shows otherwise. Like the position of the ground... it doesn't really matter one bit.

At least from what I've seen in Arizona, all of our outlets are ground down EXCEPT for outlets controlled by a wall switch. Those outlets are ground up so that it's easier to tell which outlet to plug your lamps into.

I was an MEP Supervisor in a Hospital. We were required to install all receptacles with the ground up. When I did commercial, industrial, and residential work we installed them ground down. Receptacles were also tested monthly with tension gauges during electrical preventative maintenance. They were replaced if they failed tension testing.

57 years on this earth . . . Never had a metal object fall on a plug.

@donzon353

3 жыл бұрын

Just cuz you haven't seen it doesn't mean it's never happened.

@james10739

3 жыл бұрын

Same except 32

@james10739

3 жыл бұрын

@@donzon353 well ya but how can you live your life with that point of view I mean I ha e never been kidnapped and raped for weeks then murdered but it could happen

@dilvishpa5776

3 жыл бұрын

Same here. This is the most ridiculous argument ever. The main problem I have is that so many cord plugs are designed for ground down.

@charlespatt

3 жыл бұрын

Ha ha, after 65 years, I have seen many many outlets with metal wall plates with loose screws- quite dangerous actually when something is plugged in. (Although I still prefer ground-down)

When ground is up, just the weight of the cord will, over time start to pull plug out. With ground down the ground actually provides a base for plug that keeps the cord from pulling out. Particularly with heavier cords.

@darryll13

3 жыл бұрын

As an electrician.. that comment is the dumbest thing i have heard .. ground down keeps the cord in tight.. unless your plug is 5 feet off the ground and the cord is heavy and even then plugs dont pop out like that.. how about you choose a plug and use the heaviest cord you can find and observe and take a picture every day for comparison .. you are going to be doing that for a long time.. no science in your statement

@ranger178

3 жыл бұрын

i believe exactly the opposite is true the best grip is on the ground plug and it makes contact first and i have seen first hand a piece of aluminum foil on a kitchen counter short out across the hot and neutral with ground down so it is much safer

@theredrover3217

3 жыл бұрын

@@darryll13 replying due to the dumbest thing ever heard - that seems unnecessarily rude. ☹️ The outlet he was demonstrating on was very loose, why he was replacing it. It clearly looked very very loose me. I see heavy extension cord plugs sagging and on occasion that is the answer to why doesn't this Outlet work.

@pXnEmerica

3 жыл бұрын

@@darryll13 Any 70-80s wall wart that had a ground usually had a huge heavy transformer, I could totally see this argument through those years.

@jcagy2

3 жыл бұрын

If the recpt. is that loose than replace it!

I definitely prefer ground down. This is mainly because I have found that the little bit of plastic between the ground hole and the edge of the receptacle can easily crack. When a receptacle is mounted low on a wall it's natural to insert, or remove, a plug at a bit of an upward angle. It doesn't take much pressure to crack that little bit of plastic. Also, ground, or earth, is down, so it's just intuitive.

@pitnum

2 жыл бұрын

I have the same problem. All my outlets were installed with ground up and they are all broken at the top and it stresses the cords being bent over backwards. I definitely prefer ground plug down.

I had heard that ground up was the intention because the ground pin gave better mechanical support to the cable. Having said that, every home I've owned in Canada has had all outlets with ground down.

All I know for is whenever I use a Klein outlet tester I can’t see the lights when the outlets have the ground up!

@soaringvulture

3 жыл бұрын

That's the exact reason I got one with lights on the end.

@georgedavall9449

3 жыл бұрын

Lol, great point David 😁😂

@Ron-oe7hg

3 жыл бұрын

Sounds like you need a noncontact tester.

@notsure7874

3 жыл бұрын

@@Ron-oe7hg That doesn't verify polarity, ground, or test GFI's, but yeah, I love a prox tester! Everyone should have one!

@gr8fuldaniel

3 жыл бұрын

Newer ones have wrap around lens. I have a couple of older ones with that problem. Need a mirror to see lights

I've read the comments and it would appear that most viewers prefer GROUND Down. I'm 70 yrs old and am a traditionalist, so I also prefer Ground Down. But I don't believe it's the ground pin that should be the issue but rather - Neutral (White) on the left and Hot (Black) on the right. The issue is polarized plugs on things like wall warts, night lights and right angle molded plugs. All are designed with the wider blade on the left when properly oriented. Don't fight established convention.

@chrisboyd4433

2 жыл бұрын

We have this problem at the hospital. The commercial electricians in Facilities install ground up. Most of our equipment has low profile plugs that are ground down, so we end up with cords that are oriented up the wall instead of hanging down. In my opinion, this causes a dangerous condition because of the extreme curve it forces into the cords.

@shanescatsandcannabisfarm2965

2 жыл бұрын

Im 30(1991), my dad is 55(1967) and my grandpa is dead but would have been 85(1933)... The house I live in has been handed down from grandpa to dad to me... The house was built in 1967 same yr as my dad was born. I just looked and ALL of my plugs are 3rd hole facing up... Idk why but they are...

@shanescatsandcannabisfarm2965

2 жыл бұрын

@@alainchristian oh okay I got ya...

@shanescatsandcannabisfarm2965

2 жыл бұрын

@@alainchristian I actually lived in a HUGE OLD house that was built in the late 1800's. The house was converted into apartments in the 1940's. Also the same time the first electric was installed into the building. Anyways, I remember the outlets where actually IN THE FLOOR! I shit you not! At first I couldn't find them because the carpet had them completely covered up!. I had to cut holes in the carpet to get access to the plugs. I had never seen anything like that. Haven't seen anything like it since either 😆 Pretty interesting tho..

@shanescatsandcannabisfarm2965

2 жыл бұрын

@@alainchristian That makes sense. But Have you seen them like that in a residence?

When I went through school to be an electrician, they taught us to put the ground up, or if the outlet is sideways, face the neutral up. They also said it isn’t a requirement so don’t get bogged down over it if a job wants it the other way.

I prefer gound down for two reasons: 1) You know which way to install a plug even when you can't see the outlet, like when it is behind a couch, bed or desk 2) having the ground down tends to help hold the plug tighter to the wall when the cord is pulling it down. This being said, I follow the "practice" of ground up when the outlet is switched, so you can recognize a switched outlet. Also, when only half of the outlet is switched, I follow the "practice" of having the switched side on the bottom..

@sunstyle52

2 жыл бұрын

Isn't that why there's holes on the connecting prongs? When inserted there's something that holds that in

@robertherzog2087

2 жыл бұрын

@@sunstyle52 That is true, but they can loosen over time.

@mccw1203

2 жыл бұрын

@@sunstyle52 The holes are just for a bar to hold the prongs in a straight line during production. The receptacle normally clasps behind them further on the prongs.

@Nbomber

2 жыл бұрын

Plus it looks like a face

Will have to ask my wife. She always knows. I prefer down.

@tman3399

3 жыл бұрын

Ask a teenager. They know everything 😒

@lucioglez3768

3 жыл бұрын

@@tman3399 .

@eddiemanning3113

3 жыл бұрын

@@lucioglez3768 aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!aaqq!×

@imwrongbutlisten

3 жыл бұрын

said sideways Jimmy!

@jwick4320

3 жыл бұрын

Golden rule, ask the wife!! If mamas not happy, nobody's happy!!

the "upside down" outlets in my home identify any switched outlets to make life easy.

@NitePHX

3 жыл бұрын

Same here. My house in Ohio and my house in Arizona both have ground down unless that outlet is controlled by a wall switch then the switched outlet is identified by being installed ground up.

@joelvarney5091

3 жыл бұрын

I find this very interesting

@redstang5150

3 жыл бұрын

Not a bad idea. Label maker works too.

@usp211816

3 жыл бұрын

This seems to be a thing some installers do, I've seen it in FL too.

@gordondeitz7838

3 жыл бұрын

I went and looked an my place is the same. I had thought it was all of them. Tks for the heads up.

To me this is one of those situations where people have gotten too overzealous with trying to prevent a hazard that isn't very common. Ive heard various things over the years concerning this such as: "it's code for all general purpose outlets"," it's code for all residential outlets" , " code for all outlets under a certain height", "anywhere a child can reach them" etc. Alot of people have said alot of things to me about this but I have never seen an actual code requirement addressing the matter. Personally I prefer ground down and most equipment seems to favor this. There are so many ways in which electrical equipment can become dangerous that you can't reengineer around them all and it's always seemed kinda silly to me to turn an outlet upside down because something might fall on it.

@Jeff_Pendleton

2 жыл бұрын

You may think that, But I've had it happen in my workshop, where something fell on the plug and shorted between the flat blades. I also noticed on my company's campus, which was built new in about 2000, that all outlets were installed ground up. Both of these really made me think about it. It's true though that ground-up can sometimes be inconvenient with certain devices.

@EthanE3

2 жыл бұрын

I see your point. Unfortunately rare accidents can compound with rare curcumstances and be devastating. When installing ground up in an area where debris may fall would prevent catastrophe, that "i should have" feeling is not something you want in hind sight. I say ground down in most situation but i would consider ground up for a bathroom, behind nightstands, and in garages.

@JB-fh1bb

2 жыл бұрын

As a kid I definitely had the metal band of my headphones fall off the side of the bed and hit the exposed prongs causing: a huge spark, possible fire by being next to the bed, and a respect for the outlets that has been there ever since

@jimcab4279

2 жыл бұрын

By that logic, it's kind of silly to have smoke detectors in your house because one day you "might" have a fire

@lauratanner8475

2 жыл бұрын

@@jimcab4279 Not quite. House fires are unfortunately quite common and often catastrophic. Metal objects falling on outlet plugs is not. At some point the safety measures should be proportioned to the risk involved.

Ground facing down adds more support to the plug itself of vertically mounted receptacles. However its a totally mute point for receptacles mounted horizontally.

Ground down is definitely the best bc it makes the outlet look like a surprised face.

@mikem.3296

3 жыл бұрын

Huh?

@dougiefresh9618

3 жыл бұрын

Yep and your kids will play with it.

@x2malandy

3 жыл бұрын

@@dougiefresh9618 Well then they will learn a valuable lesson.

@x2malandy

3 жыл бұрын

That is what I was thinking all along. Down, so I can see all the faces. Especially when sitting on the toilet looking at stuff.

@NotRJPrince

3 жыл бұрын

obviously

When I was a new home sales person for a national builder, the ground up plug indicated it was controlled by a light switch in that particular room. Helped you quickly identify where to plug in your lamps.

@trouble4076

3 жыл бұрын

Yup. That's how we install them for half hots. 👍🏽

@BlueFlyer83

3 жыл бұрын

Same in my house. The only other time I install switches ground up is for facilities that have them all installed ground up.

@ScottGrammer

3 жыл бұрын

Where I grew up, a ground up plug indicated that you needed a new electrician who didn't come to work high.

@jcagy2

3 жыл бұрын

If you live in a house and don't remember what each receptacle is for, your senile!

@acbone710

3 жыл бұрын

@@jcagy2 or you're like me and just moved into a house and nothing is labeled. I have 5 switches that don't do anything as far as I can tell. They also repurposed a switch when they added outdoor lights, so the half hots in the living room are just always dead. So, ya, it would have been nice to have little indicators like this.

At my place I bought 2 years ago, the outlets that are ground-up indicate that they are separate 20-amp circuits each with an independent circuit breaker. That's an easy way to identify those circuits without using the outlets that have the T/sideways blade slot for specific 20-amp plugs.

@leprechaunbutreallyjustamidget

Жыл бұрын

Why would you want 20 amp outlets with out the ability to plug in 20 amp appliances

I always try to be deliberate in details when wiring. I am adopting "Scott's Code" henceforth for outlet orientation. This is why I appreciate your videos; good, clear detailed thought process keeps errors and do-overs at a minimum, and safety at max.

In my house, ground up means the outlet is controlled by the wall switch.

@jimpie231

3 жыл бұрын

Today most electricians mark switched outlets, with a magic marker black dot in between the blades on the outlet. Jim

@tonysid3563

3 жыл бұрын

Every building I've ever been in that has had a ground up in any room was because that receptacle was wired to a switch.

@JohnnyC10071959

3 жыл бұрын

Ground up means switched in my houses

@ManNomad

3 жыл бұрын

Never heard that or seen a mix before. I learned something new today.

@SagePatrynXX

3 жыл бұрын

wish that were the case but in ours the top outlet is the wall switch the bottom is not... so then that would be a ground up ground down combo??

This is what I've taught my guys for the last 30 years... A smiley face saying, "Oh, you've done such a good job!", instead of a guy with a bullet hole in the forehead.

@blackquiver

3 жыл бұрын

Haha😝😛😜

@charletonzimmerman4205

3 жыл бұрын

Plug is MALE ! Recpt is FEMALE.

@docferringer

3 жыл бұрын

...why do I get the feeling that your construction company is a front for the mob?

@boddieconstruction1493

3 жыл бұрын

@@docferringer well, the Hells Angles do live nearby..... lol!

@boddieconstruction1493

3 жыл бұрын

@@docferringer lol! I guess we could be!!!! I know a guy who knows a guy...

For DIY I have always done ground-down. During a recent remodel at a state-run facility, I asked one of the facility maintenance techs why the sockets were all "flipped over" to ground-up. He said he thought it was code in case of flooding. Given our proximity to a major river, it makes sense there would be a code specification for that. However, it seems to me that, if flood waters reached only one part of a socket, you would want it to be the ground and not the hot/neutral sockets. If the flood waters got much higher, it wouldn't really matter either way.

@censusgary

2 жыл бұрын

Wait, somebody thinks if there’s a flood, maybe 1/4 inch of height is going to matter?

@Eleknor

2 жыл бұрын

@@censusgary Given how some state and city bureaucracies work, probably.

@RedSnapper34

2 жыл бұрын

@@censusgary That's what I was thinking. The power should be shut off long before the waters rise to the level of the sockets. Just walking around in it would create waves that would splash over the sockets.

@davidobrien511

2 жыл бұрын

It's a 1/4 inch on the outside but behind the face plate It's about an inch difference. As water rises it would touch ground first then hot. Hopefully tripping the breaker before shocking someone.

The last time I worked as a journeyman electrician (the ‘80s) for pay, it was in Canada. The CEC, which follows the NEC for the most part, had an Appendix then which illustrated the different receptacle configurations for different voltages and amperages. The 120V/15A receptacle was drawn ground up. (No explanation was given for the orientation.) I’m reasonably sure that copies of the NEC from that time period would have something similar. That said, no one on any commercial, industrial or utility job I was on, installed them that way. And no engineer/architect called for them. I don’t know if current issues of the CEC still have that Appendix, although it sounds like the current NEC doesn’t. Personally, I go with the flow. If I’m working on an existing place, I’ll install new/replacement receptacles the way the rest of them are. No biggie. Also, for what it’s worth, in a brand new, fancy, house I helped wire for my daughter a year ago, all receptacles were turned on their sides.

If you are using a grounded plug you will notice that the "ground" pin is always slightly longer. The reason for this is to make sure that the ground pin always makes contact with ground first while inserting the plug and is always the last pin to disconnect to while removing the plug. This ensures that you as the user are always protected from you accidentally being the ground yourself and getting a shock, if there is a faulty cord. That being said however, the receptacles need to be properly connected to a good ground internally. Therefore, it really does not matter which way the receptacle is facing because it is impossible to make contact with Hot or Neutral before the ground when inserting, or losing contact with ground before the hot or neutral when removing. I think that's how NEC gets away from actually making it code to have them installed in a particular configuration. I do understand that this does nothing for the 2 prong plugs, but then that's another discussion of why Arc Fault and GFC's or GFCI's are great things to use.

@BradCooperCCF

2 жыл бұрын

With the ground pin up, I have actually seen the ground pin pull out and lose contact causing an "open ground" connection due to the leverage of the cord. I've seen it quite regularly actually in the work environment in which I inspect.

When I was taught back in the early 70's it was taught to us to have the ground lug down so if the cord sags and hangs down, the ground lug would be the last one to pull out.

@billwesolowski2609

3 жыл бұрын

This is exactly correct, 40 years as an electrician, you want your ground the last to pull out thus ground down always.

@fire5506

3 жыл бұрын

That is because the ground is protect the plugged in equipment, not to protect the plug.

@bentalley7277

3 жыл бұрын

TRUE GROUND SHOULD BE FIRST TO MAKE LAST TO BREAK

@CeeJayThe13th

3 жыл бұрын

Then the standard should have them much longer and not almost the same.

@mikeremote8595

3 жыл бұрын

The ground lug is longer for this reason.

In a newer home I had, some outlets were ground up and most were ground down. I found that the ground up outlets were the outlets that were controlled by a light switch by the door. This allowed a lamp to be plugged into the ground up outlets and turned on or off at the light switch.

Thanks for your channel, very educational . One thing I would like to point out. Homes built in the late 60's and 70's had one receptacle with the ground up. This was because they normally didn't have overhead lighting in tract homes and that outlet was the switched one for a lamp.

I have been working on electrical wiring about 65 years. I usually go ground down with the 3-pronged plugs. I have never dropped a tool or any other metal item across the hot and neutral leads. It is better to go ground down for most plugs to reduce stress on the wiring, since most 3-prong plugs are set up for ground down. We had a number of plugs that are ground up in our home. A few I have changed to ground down. I hope the NEC continues to allow the option of ground up, down or sideways. I have a box of new electrical parts. If I find a loose duplex receptacle, I replace it. That is a matter of safety. Thank you for your video.

@davidzamorano3339

3 жыл бұрын

I believe in 2011 NEC it said in commercial applications ground was up but in the 2015 they took it off

@AnAmericanFan

3 жыл бұрын

This is an ongoing argument. I find that ground up secures the plug better since the ground pin tends to be more snug and less likely to rock like the two spades tend to do which in my experience tend to sag more often when ground is down.

@donswank6920

3 жыл бұрын

plugs are male connectors, receptacles are female

@stevieg.4816

3 жыл бұрын

@@davidzamorano3339 Your wrong it's never been in there. want me to send you my 2011 code book. I have code books all the way to 76, it's never been in the code.

@UpnorthHere

3 жыл бұрын

@@stevieg.4816 There are probably numerous NFPA 70 examples of "public input" regarding this topic that didn't make it into the first draft. It might be interesting to see the reasons for and against such nonsense.

Never paid attention to this before. Just did a walk around and all the outlets I looked at were oriented with the ground down. I always thought the were arranged that way to help hold the plug into the socket by providing support for the weight of the cord pulling down on the plug.

@trenvan5546

3 жыл бұрын

Interesting idea.. I wonder if european or british outlets have the ground up or down. or we could be like the japanese and have them all on a switch

It has never crossed my mind that there may be a safety reason for having the ground pin up. It seems really sensible for it as well. I will definitely keep that in mind when I plan my next build.

@ElectroDFW

2 жыл бұрын

I'm sure it does happen once in a blue moon, but the rarity of metal bits falling directly on a partially exposed plug makes it seems like a bit of an overreaction to call for an install of all grounds up. Especially when there exists thousands of devices with only two prongs where ground up wouldn't help, and hundreds and hundreds more devices designed to be used in ground down outlets.

The other consideration is that many electronic devices have heavy transformers designed for ground down or they tend to pull out of the wall. If a plug pulls out of a wall and you don't want a metal object hitting the two pins, it's high time to replace the socket anyways.

@leecowell8165

2 жыл бұрын

that's a good point, Phil. If the transformer was installed ground up it would have a tendency to fall out with time.

@joelboutier1736

Жыл бұрын

heavy transformers usually have a mounting screw that installs in place of the wall plate screw to hold it in place regardless of the ground orientation.

My dad is a licensed electrician. Unless there is a specific reason to be installed ground up, his standard orientation is ground down. His reason for this is that should that outlet become weakened in the future and a connected cord sags, the ground prong will remain secured due to physics. The odds of something falling in the tiny gap and tripping the breaker are lower (and only an annoyance) than the odds of someone being turned into the ground themselves when unplugging a loose connection.

@superwiseman452

3 жыл бұрын

Agree good argument. Ground up argument of something falling onto prongs makes sense and it’s something I figured out myself..!!

@Cotronixco

3 жыл бұрын

Plus, if something metal fell on it, you should WANT the breaker to trip immediately.

@teamracing6

3 жыл бұрын

My dad told me the same. I always install them ground down. Father knows best!

@Owen_loves_Butters

2 жыл бұрын

The ground prong cannot disconnect while the device is still powered.

Here in Puerto Rico, 90% of wall outlets are oriented horizontally. I this case, we put the ground to the right. The logic behind this is that if weight/gravity acts on the cord, the live side of the prong will be disconnected first. On the other hand, any outlet that is oriented vertically, we put the ground down so that if weight/gravity acts on the cord, ground is the last prong to be disconnected, preserving safety to the user. The odds of something perfectly catching the live/neutral prongs on the cords are very low!

@EverydayHomeRepairs

3 жыл бұрын

Interesting 🤔 Thanks for the insight from Puerto Rico. I am a bit jealous of your weather this time of year while living in the Midwest.

@howtodoitdude1662

3 жыл бұрын

But exposing the hot and neutral is risky for children!

@jbs8659

3 жыл бұрын

Good to know

@manflaco

3 жыл бұрын

@@howtodoitdude1662 if you have children, the only safe thing is to use outlet slot insert cover.

@mtgibbs

2 жыл бұрын

Same in Chicago!

That's good to know because I've always thought ground up installs were just incorrect. I didn't know that there was some actual logic behind doing it. I prefer the down version because it just looks aesthetically better to me (maybe because that's just how I've always seen outlets throughout my life). As some other people have mentioned, it seems like it really doesn't matter since they both work. In particular, I liked the part in the video that talked about using ground up for outlets that went to a switch (I've never noticed if that was the case when I've encountered them in the past). I've seen plenty that went to a switch that were ground down. Thanks for the info

@sgoell75

2 жыл бұрын

same here I agree

@johnmorriss5308

2 жыл бұрын

The human brain is hard-wired (so to speak) to recognize and and be attracted to other faces. Ground down looks like a little (surprised?) face.

If the wire is coming to the receptacle from above, is it easier to make the connections if the ground is up? Or does it make no difference?

I prefer a face looking at me from my outlets.

@jdunk6058

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, a slightly bummed-out looking face.

@TheManion123

3 жыл бұрын

Yes! you have to see the face, all the outlets in my condo are upside down, they all need replaced so Ill fix them all anyway.

@chriscase6341

3 жыл бұрын

Lol

@fitybux4664

3 жыл бұрын

That is the face you make when you see the home's price / mortgage payment price. ":-O"

@sleazybtd

3 жыл бұрын

Since it's electrical, it's a requirement that it should look like a shocked Pikachu face.

Put it the way you wish. I'm almost 40 years in industry, taught by someone who taught Edison. His saying was, if you have to bend down. Ground down. If you can stand up to pull the plug, ground up. Humans have a bad habit of not pulling cords out straight. Usually bending the ground prong and breaking them off when they are ground prong up when the are low pluggins

@jimmac1185

3 жыл бұрын

Where there three prong receptacles when Edison was around?

@UpnorthHere

3 жыл бұрын

@@jimmac1185 Yes, they were around well before his 1931 death.

I'm of the opinion that ground up would be safe just from a wiggle loose perspective than ground down for reasons you stated. But I could also argue that holding a plug when inserting it's better to see hot and neutral (ground down) because if hot and neutral were down there's a chance you could mishandle the plug and accidently touch hot on insertion so ground down may be safer for insertion.

I have a plug that has a ground up and everything else is ground down. That plug is controlled by a switch. Is this done for the purpose of showing it is controlled by a switch?

I like ground down cause it looks like a “woah” smiley face.

@EverydayHomeRepairs

3 жыл бұрын

😮

@kenmore01

3 жыл бұрын

I was gonna say, the eyes should be above the little mouth. 😃

@tallokie67

3 жыл бұрын

I think it's called Pareidolia, seeing faces on inanimate objects. Maybe unconsciously that's why many prefer ground down.

@Eric-xj4qj

3 жыл бұрын

Clearly great minds think alike.

@modularmuse

3 жыл бұрын

I agree: I remember seeing that face on the outlets as a kid and I associated it as 'beware'.

I installed every outlet in my house ground down. Just seems more natural and I think aesthetically looks better.

When I re-wired our last house, I did ground down inside. In garage it was ground up for safety. If something like a metal ruler or piece of metal fell, it would hit the ground prong and not make a short.

A auto tech school I worked at had all ground "UP" throughout the school. We asked the original electricians that wired the school at new and their response was because of the possibility of something metal falling on the plug, as you talked about at first. I'm thinking he said it was a State code for "Schools".

When I wired my new house back in the 80's I failed the electrical final inspection because I installed my plugs with the ground down. The state required them to be installed ground up ( they have since deleted the requirement for ground up). After I passed the inspection, I went and changed them all to ground facing down

@user-xh1kz7rm4j

3 жыл бұрын

I have always seen this in the south. Do you live in a southern state?

@Dukerdr

3 жыл бұрын

@@user-xh1kz7rm4j Might be. When I moved 20 years ago to a house down in rural TN, one of the first things I did was go around and swap all the outlets to "ground down", due to 90 degree male cord ends on so many appliances.

@humphrey28078

3 жыл бұрын

@@user-xh1kz7rm4j I live in a southern state and every house I have been in have been ground facing down; and the houses range in age from brand new to very old.

@henrydycha3738

3 жыл бұрын

Ground up by code.

@humphrey28078

3 жыл бұрын

@@henrydycha3738 Ground up is not "code"

Does the orientation of the outlet in a bathroom effect the roll direction of the toilet paper?

@butchs.4239

3 жыл бұрын

The deciding factor in roll orientation is whether the household has pets.

@Soxruleyanksdrool

3 жыл бұрын

The NTPC (National Toilet Paper Code) clearly states that underhand is proper code in any and all states and scenarios. This is per the NTPC chapter 3 section 6 subsection 2.4b

@trailrider0194

3 жыл бұрын

Of course, especially if you want your toilet to flush right.

@gravelydon7072

3 жыл бұрын

@@Soxruleyanksdrool You must be reading an outdated version. Current one says off of the top. ;-)

@Soxruleyanksdrool

3 жыл бұрын

No, it doesn't say over the top because I wrote it. And I didn't base the code on popular opinion. I based it on which way is clearly better by all logical accounts. That's why underhand is proper code. What you read was apparently some cut rate knockoff written by someone who obviously can't accept the fact that underhand is better. Hope this info reaches you before it's too late. Lol.

As for the hot and neutral cross arc, ground to hot is exactly the same being neutral is grounded at the electrical panel. I am an electrician and at the company I work at we hate grounds up but in saying that if I was to build myself a new house I'd put the plugs sideways because the cords plugged in always look so neat when they flow nicely along side each other rather than passing over on another. The other benefit would be you could then have the neutral and ground above the hot so anything falling is actually less likely to arc out.

I was always taught that in basements, garages, workshops, etc. that the grounds should be put facing up for the reasons outlined in the video. If a piece of metal or tool falls on a slightly-exposed plug it will hit the ground and not short the hot and neutral. I've also seen that the grounds should be put facing up for outlets controlled by a switch in normal living spaces, mostly for clarity haha

I just think the outlets look "normal" with ground down...

@pheresy1367

3 жыл бұрын

I agree..... because they look like a "little face"

@stephenpetersen354

3 жыл бұрын

Resultant of Utility and other marketing.

@doujinflip

3 жыл бұрын

That's just our familiarity. Britain and its former colonies practically always have ground-up sockets, side-by-side, serving 90° plugs 🔌

Would love it if they made receptacles with ground up on top and ground down on the bottom. With so many 90 degree plugs and wall warts out there, it would be incredibly useful.

@777rogerf

3 жыл бұрын

That's a great idea!

@UpnorthHere

3 жыл бұрын

Then you'd have hot and neutral on opposite sides from the top and bottom receptacles, creating other design and installation consequences.

@bwats1991

2 жыл бұрын

@@UpnorthHere I think they mean dual grounds so it can be plugged in either way.

@ksman9087

2 жыл бұрын

That would not work because the neutral prong is wider than the hot prong. This is called a polarized plug. If there were holes for ground prongs both above and below there would always be one way that would be impossible to plug in.

@CJICantLie

2 жыл бұрын

@@ksman9087Was thinking it would be just upside down for the top plug. Like so: G LN NL G

What about sideways outlets? All the outlets in my aparment except for the kitchen and bathrooms are sideways with the ground on the right side? Any Reason for this?

As I recall when I was in the trade back in the sixties these were called "U ground receptacles". Since in the up orientation it looked like a U that's how I always installed them, unless there was a good reason to go down. Also I think that when the makers marked them up they were thinking of the "U ground"

When I was doing my apprenticeship some 40 years ago, the chief electrician told me that if water was to get into a basement and flood up to the electrical plug, installing it ground down will add safety to trip the circuits...

@rickymize8673

3 жыл бұрын

For basements you should put under a gfci receiptical first or a gfci breaker is the best way to go get rid of mights and probably’s power doesn’t care you have to be smarter

@williardbillmore5713

3 жыл бұрын

It is literally less than a half inch. You can't be serious.

@tomnelson6978

3 жыл бұрын

In areas that may flood use common sense. Raise the outlet up above potential water line and don't listen to fools.

@williardbillmore5713

3 жыл бұрын

@@tomnelson6978 If you truly used common sense , and you were not a fool, you wouldn't want the electricity on while your house is flooded. Can you really picture yourself wading around inside your home turning on light switches and with the refrigerator and heating system kicking on? In a flooding situation the substation breakers would trip off well before your home's floor even got wet. Don't be silly.

@caleb234

3 жыл бұрын

The ground is connected to the metal mounting tabs on each end; either way up, the water would contact the ground first. Just take an old one apart and you can see.

Our last home had ground up, very, very annoying. Finally fixed all of them.

@LectronCircuits

3 жыл бұрын

Regarding proper outlet orientation, you are very well grounded. Cheers!

@rubencohen2936

3 жыл бұрын

Has anyone ever seen the box installed sideways ?

@jimkoval8546

3 жыл бұрын

@@rubencohen2936 Yes. Usually in older homes where the outlets are in the baseboard.

@wlkilmer

3 жыл бұрын

@@rubencohen2936 Yes, the first home I owned had plaster walls with wood lath and all the outlets mounted ‘sideways’.

I've lived in over 30 homes in my life and been in many many more homes. I've never seen a single outlet with the ground on top in any of them. I'll go out on a limb and say having the ground plug on top is extremely rare.

The most compelling argument I have seen for the Ground Pin Up approach is in cases were you install a metal cover plate, typically brass or stainless steel. While I like the look of those, I think they introduce an unnecessary hazard in that a loose hot wire could energize them and create a risk of shock. Because cover plates are typically held on by a single screw, having that fastener back out also creates a risk of the conductive plate falling down and hitting one or more pins on a plug. I have all plastic cover plates in my houses. But the bottom line for me is that back in the late 1960s my dad, who was an electronic systems designer in the aerospace industry, referred to three-prong receptacles as "Monkey-face" receptacles. Seeing the monkey's face upside-down just doesn't work for me.

@Whataboutseconddinner

2 жыл бұрын

A hot wire touching the metal plate will go through the safety ground and trip the breaker.

@shaystern2453

2 жыл бұрын

@@Whataboutseconddinner exactly, which negates all these foolish arguments

We bought a house in Arizona that all outlets were ground down, EXCEPT the receptacle attached to a switch to turn on one receptacle. Like you mentioned at the end! haha

@donhurst8459

3 жыл бұрын

Must of been installed by Mexicans

@D13fs

3 жыл бұрын

@@donhurst8459 Must of? Try must have or must've, lol.

@bmwmike3534

3 жыл бұрын

@@donhurst8459 Thats how all new homes are built near me now here in s. Florida. Im talking 600k+ homes and all the switched outlets are upside down. Looks so stupid to me

i like the screw heads straight up and down, LOL

@GWhiz2012

3 жыл бұрын

😂

@jimabiernat4959

3 жыл бұрын

Me too if I can help it.

@jimalcott760

3 жыл бұрын

Left and right....

@erlycuyler

3 жыл бұрын

Especially on a switch.

@PassingTimeInPeachtree

3 жыл бұрын

All the same orientation, usually horizontal

There's an outlet in my garage, on the ceiling. Should the outlet be installed with the ground towards the front of the house, or should it be facing the rear of the house?

why, if ground face up is the 'norm' are there plugs (90 degrees) that are only handy when you have ground facing down? What is the logic in that?

Most anything that you'd plug in (ie night light or the plug in this video) that itself has an up/down orientation, needs to have the ground down, so it can be in its upright orientation. I prefer ground down because 1. I have never seen the situation where something falls on the prongs. 2. That's what breakers are for. 3. You shouldn't be using outlets that are weak and can't hold a plug. 4. Ground up the weight of the plug pivots on the bottom two prongs leaving only one point of contact (the ground) on top to hold it from sagging. Ground down the weight of the plug pivots on the bottom ground, leaving two points of contact (the prongs) on top to hold it from sagging. Thus the ground down is stronger and will last longer.

@davidoickle1778

2 жыл бұрын

I have. In our hospital, with stainless steel face plates, and ground down, an appliance that was not fully plugged in (human error) it happened that the face plate fell on the hot/neutral and caused one hell of a bang, complete with sparks. Why was the SS plate loose? Poor maintenance, but it happened. One in a million chance. Yes, it blew the breaker and no one was hurt BUT all the stainless steel face plates in the building, hundreds of them, were changed out to plastic. It happened. I couldn't believe the perfect storm that caused this . . but it happened.

@chrisholdread174

2 жыл бұрын

@@davidoickle1778 who's the idiot that decided on metal face plates?

@stu_164_minitruckin

2 жыл бұрын

Just for fun. When I was a junior in HS a penny had fallen off my nightstand and just happened to land in the gap between my alarm clock plug and the outlet. No real damage other than a charred faceplate and outlet but the breaker saved any further damage. Another 1-in-a-million. ;)

@adampuccinosr8492

2 жыл бұрын

@@stu_164_minitruckin You're right, 1 in a million. Thats crazy, and the breaker did its job. Also had someone noticed the plug sagging from the outlet, prior to the penny incident, THAT would have been the time to change the outlet and inspect the outlets in the rest of the house as chances are they are all about the same age. I suspect in your case only that outlet got replaced.

Back in the day, when I worked as a Leadman Yacht Electrician, for Atlantic Yachts, I installed outlets with the ground up, because the ground pin is longer than the blades, and the plug held them more securely in the outlet. If the plug sagged, the blades were forced into the outlet. When the outlet ground was down, the plug had a tendency to sag downward, exposing the hot and neutral. Maybe new outlets were looser in the seventies. I don't know. On occasion, the yacht owner would have me turn the grounds down, which I was happy to do because the customer is always right!

@d.e.b.b5788

2 жыл бұрын

My dad told me that if the plugs sagged, it's time to replace the receptacle. I've followed that advice for 50 years now.

@wotysgtb4348

2 жыл бұрын

Definitely more tension with 2 pins than 1 so the theory of the ground up having more tension does not make sense to me just because it's an 1/8" longer.

@manikmakhijani6736

2 жыл бұрын

Ml

@manikmakhijani6736

2 жыл бұрын

Thank

@manikmakhijani6736

2 жыл бұрын

@@wotysgtb4348 u

I was told by an electrician that switched outlets ground facing up. But what if the outlet is split: b0ttom hot all the time and the top one switched?

I have always heard that the receptacles with the ground up are those lined into a switch. Is this just a preference thing or is it an electrician thing?

I was trained by my grandfather who was a master carpenter and a member of the Masonic Lodge in Altus, Oklahoma. He told me that ground should always be down as part of a safety issue - keeping the cord from coming out of the socket. He also explained that if the outlet will not hold the plug of whatever you are plugging in, that either the outlet is old and needs to be replaced, or the plug does not meet up to code for that particular outlet and to replace the plug. He was a very smart man.

Ground down is the proper orientation for my Kill A Watt meter and my outlet tester.

Interesting information! Thank you for making this video. Some time back I purchased some Christmas bubble light night lights. They required the reciprocal to be installed the the ground pointing down for the bubble effect to work.

@stevepepple6683

Жыл бұрын

Yes, lots of things do!

I've always installed ground down. I'm not an electrician but have been doing electrical work around the house since I was 13, I'm now in my late 30s. I also like the idea of using ground up to signal switched outlet.

Ground down is easiest to insert. The ground prong is longer and can be visibly inserted, then your eyes can follow the flats into the plug.

When I'm in Mass. many places have ground up and I was told it was a state or local code to install this way. I like the European Schuko plug where ground always makes contact first and the plongs are always shielded by the recessed face of the actual outlet. It is almost impossible to have shorts across the terminal as when the plug is pulled out far enough to reveal the prongs they are already disconnected from the power. US Codes are somewhat behind on outlet safety.

@PeanutButtr

2 жыл бұрын

In terms of electrical safety, the US has so many countries to be jealous of for so many reasons,

@SurferJoe46

2 жыл бұрын

That Euro standard is for 220v. We use slightly less lethal 110v.

@Michael_L_H

2 жыл бұрын

We also use slightly more lethal 60 herz.

I'd say since the writing on a GFCI outlet is oriented with ground down, that would be the most logical for any outlet.

@xxxmikeyjock

2 жыл бұрын

so the Eaton tr7755 plugs I installed today the writing on the face would have the ground up.

@JeffreyGVny

2 жыл бұрын

A GFCI has that short-circuiting safety built in, so that logic would not apply.

@flagmichael

2 жыл бұрын

@@JeffreyGVny The logic wasn't about fault protection.

By the way, on 2-prong polarized outlets I ALWAYS try to insert the plug the wrong way. Any comments how to get this right the first try?

I just addressed this on a different thread. Let me first comment that what is most common (ground down) all too often is the most influential factor, but not necessarily "the best". Let me explain. I welcome the opportunity to give my own two cents concerning one detail. While it is most common to see recepts oriented ground side down, "A LIFETIME (more than 60 years!!) OF USER EXPERIENCE" has taught me the opposite to be the most functionally advantageous in TWO ways! #1 it is MUCH easier to align a plug for insertion with the ground prong on top, especially in poor light! #2 and most important, heavier cords remain fully inserted MUCH better with the ground prong on top!! This is especially true with recepts that are no longer "brand new". I'll stand by that the rest of my years!!!

Now I’ve got to be very cautious with my ultra thin metal pictures falling and kicking the breaker.

@kenbolia7097

3 жыл бұрын

We're all gonna die, even the people with the upside-down outlets. Short of surge suppressor, most of the stuff that stays plugged in like lamps and small kitchen appliances lack the fool-proofing upside-down ground plug.

@k.m.9801

3 жыл бұрын

The odds of it happening are like getting struck by lightning and a shark biting you on land at the same time.

@karennaturallyartby

3 жыл бұрын

Don’t hang your pictures above an outlet

@American_Made

3 жыл бұрын

It's really for a child with a coin, ground up makes it harder for them to electrocute themselves. little kids do stuff like that.

I'm a carpenter\framer so I see it a lot on some jobs I do but my grandfather (old-school electrician) taught me ground down but after dealing with the electrical chaos from a dropped nail punch onto a loose outlet during a remodel of my newer home (lived there 5-6 yrs remodled 2or 3 years ago) that caused a massive short (due to overall improper wiring and grounding through out the house, so thinking about it now I'm luck it happened when it did and not later mainly for safety reasons) I started to pick up the ground up method seeing it done on other jobs and learning that's the exact thing its meant to help prevent

Gravity tends to make cords want to unplug themselves so I was taught to go ground down so that it would be the last thing to disengage...another valid point inside of a fab shop or the like is ground up to help deter things coming into contact with the hot and neutral and the ground prong can assist in preventing that. See, didn't solve anything with this response :)

40 years ago. I had a professor teaching factors of safety. he gave an interesting method that he deemed correct: "you want a smiley face, not a frowny face"

When I'm doing commercial, like hospitals, we use metal faceplates. I always install those ground up because the faceplate can come loose. If a metal plate drops, it hits the ground. I've actually seen a plate weld because one was done ground facing down but that was close to 30 years ago. I install 20 amp ground up in residential such as garages just because that's how I was taught. Same thing for switched receptacles. 8-)

@petecarroll3949

3 жыл бұрын

Me personally I prefer ground up

@ArcadeMadeLiveToLaughAndLoveJB

3 жыл бұрын

There it is,. Someone did mention it.

@garyvcole

3 жыл бұрын

If the plate loosens and falls down it trips the breaker, so no safety issue. Ground is always on the BOTTOM

@Timothy003L

2 жыл бұрын

@@garyvcole What if the thing plugged into the outlet is keeping you alive?

@garyvcole

2 жыл бұрын

@@Timothy003L If it's that important it should be on a UPS.

Most of the table or floor lamps have only two prong plugs.how do you change that. Thanks

AHJ (electrical inspector) in my county says ground down, the county above mine say up. I like down myself, but adjust to the needs. How about measuring how far out of the receptacle the plug is when the conductors are still hot to give the dropped screwdriver/knife, some validity?

Working in NYC, we always installed receptacles ground up for the reason given in the video. It will prevent an arc flash or fire if something falls onto a plug and the breaker fails to trip. I always thought that was actual code until I escaped the people’s republic of NY and found that everybody where I live now are odded out when they see ground up. I read up and found an article in a psychological mag that pointed out people like ground down because it resembles a face and faces make people happy. Just my experience with this topic.

ground down seems right to me after 50 years of doing it.

@ronaldshank7589

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed! In all my years of working for an Apartment Rental Corporation, I have never seen any electrical sockets facing ground-up. It looks unnatural to see these electric sockets facing ground-up.

It really comes down to preference and circumstance. I've used both ways and even put receptacles sideways with neutral side up

I usually see ground-up on outlets that use a metal cover like you often see in commercial buildings, schools, etc. That way, if the metal plate comes loose, it will fall on the ground pin.

@stevieg.4816

3 жыл бұрын

That is a pathetic excuse to put the ground up. If something is plugged in then it fall on the chord cap which is insulated. If it falls of when nothing is plugged in it fall on the floor. Like I said pathetic.

@chrisdavis3475

3 жыл бұрын

@@stevieg.4816 what if the plug is pulled out just enough for the plate to make contact with the plug prongs? Not saying one is right or wrong but you put no thought process into the scenario what so ever, simply stated you said it was a black or white scenario when the reality of it is, there is multiple colors to the spectrum. Anything is possible, nothing is impossible!

@frankbenda8100

3 жыл бұрын

@@chrisdavis3475 anything is possible but the likelihood of that happening and if it did happen causing substantial injury or property damage is so much smaller than many things we do on a daily basis. Just goes to show how many of us have nothing better to do........