As time goes on, our houses will be filled to the brim with more and more electronics vital to our everyday lives. When electrical outlets become crowded and different devices are vying for space, you open yourself and your home up to dangers. Floor outlets provide an attractive alternative to traditional wall outlets, allowing you to choose precisely where additional outlets are placed. If you need help organizing the wires in your home and reducing clutter, floor outlets might be the solution.
Key Difference Between Wall and Floor Outlets: As the names suggest, floor outlets and wall outlets differ in location. Floor outlets are installed on the floor anywhere they are needed, and wall outlets are installed on the outer walls of a room. Because an uncovered outlet on the floor can be annoying and dangerous, floor outlets require a separate housing that lets them retreat and lay flush with the floor.
Benefits of Floor Outlets
Floor outlets are not for everyone, but they provide some noticeable advantages to wall outlets in certain situations.
Easier Access to Power: A floor outlet can be a lifesaver, especially for larger rooms. While many homeowners place power-hungry devices like TVs closer to walls, floor outlets give you even more opportunities when it comes to things like lamps, phone chargers, and entertainment systems. Floor chargers often require new wiring, but they are not limited in location by wall studs or similar obstructions behind your walls. Naturally, installing a floor outlet will also increase the total number of outlets available, lessening the need to swap out chargers and other devices from limited outlet real estate.
Safety Improvements: Going along with the previous point, having more accessible access to power and closer outlets improves the safety of your home. Exposed wires running along the ground can endanger the lives of curious pets who want a taste, small children left unsupervised, and any household member who routinely travels through this area. Injuries from trips and falls due to loose wires and cables are estimated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSO) to be in the thousands.
Furthermore, loose cables and wires can degrade faster than their counterparts that are out of the way of foot traffic and other abrasions. The National Fire Protection Association found that roughly 25% of the 350 thousand house fires in America per year are due to lighting, heating, and electrical distribution equipment that often relies on cables. Keeping cables and wires tucked away and close to their floor outlet keeps them in the best condition and away from any potential dangers that stem from strewing them across the floor can bring.
Design Improvements: This type of outlet gives you more options when designing a new room or home office. Instead of being limited to corner desks, an office with floor outlets can incorporate uniquely shaped furniture into its design, spread out in front of a window with a view, or maximize storage potential along walls.
While not everyone’s choice, the look of floor outlet coverings can be quite attractive to some. Coverings are often metal housings that can contrast the room if not covered by furniture.
Floor coverings are just one way to improve your family’s quality of life and electrical safety. The experienced electricians at Promise Electric can do it all, conducting a home energy audit on your home to identify electrical system weak points or installing a generator to get you through stormy days.
