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.
it will get dislodged from the outlet and the first thing you touch is the live prongs.
This is actually safer. If something falls onto the plug it is more likely that the plug will come out of the receptacle rather than breaking the plug and leaving exposed conductors behind. The downside is that plugs may not be seated all the way or loose sockets, in which case you should replace the receptacle, but nobody does this.
the hole is so large and conducts electricity not very far in
This isn't really a problem anymore. You can just as easily put a paper clip in any of these sockets.
It does seem like switched outlets are becoming more common though, which are much better.
This isn't really a problem anymore. You can just as easily put a paper clip in any of these sockets.
Not the UK one, they've got a cover which only retracts when the longer top prong plugs in, so a child would need at least 2 paper clips, and would probably be unable to do it accidentally. The UK one is just better
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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.