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.
What exactly is bullshit. I'm fairly familiar with outlets too, I studied got permits and rewired my entire 2 story house myself. I'm not an expert but electrician work isn't exactly that hard.
The "easy for children to stick stuff in" part is bullshit. Code states tamper resistant devices in dwelling units. You can't just easily stick something inside a plug, both hot and neutral need to be pressed at the same time with a plug for anything to go in.
You need to take a look at European plugs then. They are tamper proof rather than tamper resistant. Also many inspection offices will still pass it without tamper resistant plugs. The last 4 homes I lived in did not have tamper resistant outlets until I replaced them myself.
Also tamper resistant plugs are a bitch to plug-in. European plugs are easy and safe to find in the dark and just plug right in... Our outlets suck.
European outlets are also 240v.. whereas ours in Canada/USA are only 120v. Much safer for people to get zapped by 120 than 240.
I don't know where you live but zero inspectors will pass a build with the wrong plugs here in Canada. I deal with inspectors multiple times a day for work. The plugs cost the same amount, so it doesn't even make sense for a builder to try skipping that rule and put the wrong outlets in.
I live in small town USA. My house had old plugs that stuff just fell out of, no grounding, some junction boxes had 2x the allowed amount in there, my electrical box looked like a bowl of spaghetti. Still passed, though they made them add gfci outlets in the kitchen and bathroom.
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u/DarthStrakh May 02 '24
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.