Are your outlets installed upside down? (You may be surprised)

In this video I will go over the pros and cons of installing receptacles in different orientations.
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[BackyardMaine]

⚡Backyard Maine Sticker give away!!⚡ Please comment on which orientation you install receptacles (or) which way they are installed at your home. Three comment winners will be picked at random on January 1st, 2023. I will reach out to the winners for their mailing address so I can send the stickers to you. Thanks for taking part!

[barryinkpen]

As an old electrical dude I have heard the logic of the "ground up" orientation and I do understand it. However; I have never seen a situation where the "ground down" orientation has been a problem, either in residential or industrial applications; and like you say, "ground up" just looks odd. ! Good discussion !

[BanditFoxx]

Ground-LEFT is the most underrated socket installation. It offers superior protection for both 3-pin AND 2-pin plugs, as it puts the neutral pin directly above the live, making it nearly impossible for any dropped item to cause a short. A byproduct of this orientation is that the screw terminals for the live conductor will be facing down, which means a loose wire or other debris inside the socket enclosure will have a lower chance of falling into contact with it. Another great perk of this configuration is that it will allow 90°/45° plugs to come out at an angle that still faces downwards. It allows plugs to fit nicely and out of the way under countertops or cupboards, and also doesn't put as much strain on bulky plugs (like those with built-in adapters or circuit protection) as ground-up installations do. As an electrical controls engineer, I always try to use the ground-left orientation whenever I design a panel with built-in sockets.

[TheSouthIsHot]

This happened to me. After my dad passed away, I unplugged the refrigerator to replace a part so Mom would still have a working water dispenser in the freezer door. Dad had replaced all of the switch plates and outlet plates in the house with brass plates. (I always thought they were gaudy.)

Well, Dad didn't screw down the plate for the refrigerator. When I began to wiggle the plug out of the outlet, the brass plate dropped down immediately and landed on the two prongs. I saw a flash of light and heard a "crack" and the power to the outlets in the kitchen went out. The brass plate was scorched. And I don't remember why I was wearing rubber dish gloves, but the fingers on the right glove had scorch marks.

It startled me a bit but what scared me the most was the thought of what could have happened if the breaker hadn't tripped. Those things work INSTANTLY! Thank you to whoever invented circuit breakers!!!

PS: I remember now why I was wearing dish gloves. Refrigerator plugs are hard to get out of the outlet so I put on the gloves to get a better grip.

[addanametocontinue]

I bought a new house recently and all the receptacles that were linked to a wall switch were upside-down (i.e. had the ground up). The builder told me that's so I can quickly see which switch was activated by the switch on the wall. For more clarification, it was only the top outlet that was controlled, the bottom one was always on. Since you'd normally only be plugging one lamp into that area, it wouldn't make sense to have them both switch activated. Now that I've been here for some time, I like this approach.

[RobMacKendrick]

It was easy to guess what John's preference was going to be, since we had one of his own outlets staring at us through the whole video. Great useful video! Thanks.

[retiredcryptohunter]

Growing up in the 80's my mother is and was a master electrician and I still remember going into the laundry room with her to help get the laundry and there was a metal cloths hanger hanging from an electrical plug and was glowing red. She immediatly pushed me out of the room and I remember she grabbed the broom and knocked the cloths hanger off. I remember she went around the entire house and flipped all the recepticles to being ground up. Everytime I've replaced a recepticle in my house I've always put ground up because of this reason.

[jamesgantt]

I wholeheartedly agree with you on ground down. The esthetics are more presentable on a ground down. Many of my cord applications prove that ground down will accommodate other cords more easily.

[jeremygeorgia]

For most of my life in the 1900's, I've seen the outlets installed ground down. That's my preference. Also, most of the flat 90 degree plugs are designed so that the cord faces down, when plugged into a ground down outlet. This seems less stressful on a cord, than having the cord facing upward, unless the appliance happens to be above the outlet.

[mikefredericks]

As a retired union electrician who for most of my career worked in hospitals, they almost always requested ground up installs. So that's what I tend to lean towards. 🙃

[buckdesystem]

I'm in Canada, where we have pretty similar electrical codes. The electricians I have discussed this with say that ground up was the original idea, for safety, just like the video explained, however, people just didn't like the looks of it. Most people find ground down to be better looking, so electricians started mounting them ground down because that's what the customers wanted.

[larrybud]

I think they should make them so the grounds are opposite in each plug, facing inward toward the screw hole. This would allow two transformers to be plugged into each outlet for electronic devices.

[randyflagg]

Just stumbled on your page. Appreciated the update on neutral in switchboxes. I was taught groung down. As a past maint. manager for a sawmill, I had to have a working knowledge of the code. I appreciate your clear and concise delivery. Thank you.

[grumpy]

I love the installation method of having the receptacle upside down if it’s controlled by a light switch. It makes it so much easier to spot them in a room when setting it up. Hopefully the installer had the best idea of where a switched lamp should go. Sometimes though they don’t get it right and you end up with a switched outlet in a crazy spot. 0:57

[RErnie-gvhv]

Well, you're good for your word. I noticed the receptacles behind you are all ground down. While admittedly the rankest of DIYers, I've always preferred installing receptacles ground down. The electricity seems happier, and if the job doesn't smoke or spark, I'm happy.

[garysscale]

You’re a smart man! I was a Fire Marshal for 25 years with a degree in Fire Safety and Technology and have seen more trouble with ground up than ground down. Could not convince some of our Buildings Inspectors.

[spockmcoyissmart]

The best way to install receptacles --- if you are doing it for a specific appliance -- is to see if the power cord is a 90 degree cord and orient the receptacle to make sure stress is not on the cord. If nothing specific, I usually do ground down because most plug in wall timers, fragrance generators, like the ground down so when plugged in, the liquid oil doesn't spill out. Yes, there are some now that have a rotating plug built into them. The older ones were in a fixed position I've seen. In the end, install them how you like.

[dddsqd]

I've been an electrician for 45 years and I was taught to install receptacles ground down in my apprenticeship. Years later I was working on a breeder reactor at the Savannah River Site which is owned and operated by the U.S. Department of Energy. The DOE specifications at that time were all receptacles be installed ground up for the reason you described in the video.

[bgfdqbo]

The notes about avoiding Face Up on/under counters was great - that's the nuance that we DIYers sometimes aren't aware of (and I've installed plenty of kitchen and undersink boxes, but never face up!). Thanks for the topic.

[steveb]

I’ve been an electrician almost all my life I’m now retired at 71 years old. When I rebuilt my house in 2006 the NEC wanted ground up so that metal receptacle covers would not short out if it comes loose and falls onto a plug. I couple of years later they changed it back to ground down. Sometime prior to 2006 it was ok to mount the ground down. My house receptacles are all ground up because of when I installed them. Any new receptacles I install they are usually mounted down. The NEC has caused the confusion among electricians. Thanks. Steven B.