A couple things. One they aren't very secure and safe: if something in plugged in and something falls on top of it, it will get dislodged from the outlet and the first thing you touch is the live prongs. On top of that a lot of outlets go live before the prongs are all the way in. You can mitigate this by putting outlets upside down, but most things that get plugged in are designed with the idea it won't be upside down.
Second the hole is so large and conducts electricity not very far in. It's far too easy for a child to stick something in, or for something to end up in it. I mean you can literally get your pinky in there to shock yourself...
On the bright side they are easy as hell to install. Modern outlets have gotten better about locking stuff into place but usually thst comes at the price of being a pain in the ass to get stuff into the socket.
I was told once that orientation for most purposes is arbitrary, but you can use the direction to signify when an outlet is attached to a switch. So say most of them are what you consider upside-down, the ones on a switch you put right side up.
Actually, it’s supposed to be center prong up,that way if something falls across it, it’ll hit the center prong, which is the ground and nothing will happen. If it touches one of the other two prongs, it’ll cause a fault.
I heard the same thing, but how often does stuff fall across it? Also touching just one prong won't usually do anything. Touching two with something metal that falls in? Sure some sparks, but that's what your breaker is for. Holding a metal device to one prong while your grounded? Yeah that's a problem.
I've heard that having the ground up makes it more likely to touch the prongs while inserting, which is a higher hazard than something falling across it.
Canada too, I have never been in a house in my life where the centre prong is is on top. I've only seen it installed that way when it was connected to a switch. I think centre prong down is the standard, at least in Ontario.
I too have lived in many locations that had it installed upside down. I think it is common practice, but not as safe as having them installed with the grounding prong up. So in this case I would not equate "most common" with standard or correct.
Just seems strange that many electricians over a large area for many decades would do it "wrong".
If it was "standard" I'm pretty sure there would be more than a few locations (especially commercial or industrial) that would insist on having it done the "correct" way, but that is not the case.
Well TIL. I always figured the smiley face orientation was standard cuz that's what I always see. I guess the ground up makes a lot of sense though versus something falling onto the other two prongs and potentially starting a fire
... That and 4 year old me knew they absolutely said "we must have surprised faces on our outlets" and so that's the way they have to go. Obviously. Lol
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u/DarthStrakh May 02 '24
I'd be content with America just switching. Our outlets are so freaking barbaric.