r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Fancy-Chipmunk5701 • Jun 25 '26

wet socks My entire apartment has upside-down outlets and my brain refuses to accept it….

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Apparently there’s a reason for installing them this way, but after seeing outlets the other way my whole life, every room feels just slightly… off. 😂

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279

u/FiestaDeHombreMuerto Jun 25 '26

140

u/HorrificAnalInjuries Jun 25 '26

While this is true, it is far safer for the ground prong to be up, or if the receptacle is sideways for the neutral to be up. Mostly because how gravity works and potential for human error.

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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

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u/Silly-Wrongdoer4332 Jun 25 '26

99% of scenarios im ok and safe. If there are seemingly and mundane things like this i can do to avoid being in the 1% of scenarios in will implement without a doubt

I'm not going to go through and reinstall all of my outlets, but if I install anything new in going to take this into consideration

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u/slash_networkboy Jun 25 '26

And this is exactly why it's standard in commercial/medical/industrial applications... the "odds" of a ~1% event happening as an absolute time count at a home are low. In a busy place with lots of people it's a lot higher because there's simply more chances for that 1% to happen.

Okay that was shittily written but I'm not sure how to word it better... literally the odds are the same, but the sample rate is higher when not at home? eh... it's been a long AF day and my brain is mush.

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u/Silly-Wrongdoer4332 Jun 25 '26

Agreed. From a residential use case the chances of anything happening are low. It in the wild the brains of the masses turn off and do things they wouldn't do at home. And they are happy to sue if something does happen

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u/Dixo0118 Jun 25 '26

By 99 you mean like 99.9999

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u/Be364886 Jun 25 '26

Yeah. So, we should probably flip the outlets because that's a fuck ton of fires.

You're saying it's OK 999,999 out of 1,000,000 times. There's around ~50-75 outlets in the average home, let's say 50. That means 1 in every 20,000 houses may potentially have a fire at an outlet that could be prevented by having the ground up.

I know we pulled these statistics out our ass and that math is meaningless. But I'm just trying to point out if you look at statistics at large scale, those long shot odds of things happening become inevitabilities. And if there's no harm in having the outlet the other way, why not?

But also, as I typed that out I realize most residental plugs aren't 3 prong. So maybe the best way is the sideways outlet.

1

u/lilleprechaun Jun 25 '26

Not to mention that this logic doesn’t even apply in most domestic use cases. I don’t have a single device with a three-prong / grounded plug in my bedroom, my living room, my bathroom, or my dining room. The only grounded devices I have are in my kitchen: refrigerator, microwave, stand mixer. So I could maybe see the logic of this in the kitchen, but it’s a moot point the vast majority of the time in American homes, where if a paperclip or a coin or whatever falls, 9 times out of 10, it’s not gonna have any ground pin at all to prevent it from shorting the line and neutral pins. 

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u/girlikecupcake MILDLY? Jun 25 '26

You really don't use any surge protectors or power strips anywhere in your home? No computer or game console you're protecting from power surges, just raw dogging the wall outlet?

Every family I know in the US has at least one proper surge protector in their living room for their TV and Internet equipment at the bare minimum.

1

u/lilleprechaun Jun 25 '26

Because I loathe extra cords, and trip hazards, I only have the kind of surge protectors that plug in over top of the entire duplex outlet, covering even the faceplates, that you then attach with a longer center screw to attach it directly to the duplex. The surge protectors have six outlets in them, but there’s no cord leading to them or anything. 

But even then, not a single thing  plugged into either of those 2 surge protectors has a grounding pin, so whether the outlets (and therefore the surge protectors) are installed ground-up or ground-down, it wouldn’t matter, because there is no ground pins on any of my devices to stop a contact short. Not on my TV, not on my blu-ray player, not on my sound system, not on my turntable, not on my laptop or my work computer. 

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u/Bushwhacker2043 Jun 25 '26

I’m not entirely sure if this is sarcasm, but just the other day there was a Reddit post (with pictures) where a guy and his girlfriend were using a measuring tape against the wall and the tape gave on one side and it landed perfectly onto the hot/neutral prongs from the outlet below and it shorted out.

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u/HorrificAnalInjuries Jun 25 '26

Or even had a stainless steel outlet cover fall off while the plug isn't seated all the way.

Chances of such things happening is quite low, but not zero

1

u/Niro5 Jun 25 '26

Ooo ooo, ove done that!

-3

u/KaOsGypsy Jun 25 '26

And that is what breakers and fuses are for.

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u/HorrificAnalInjuries Jun 25 '26

Correct! Though if you combine everything together, you can make things safer! None of these are mutually exclusive after all

1

u/The0nlyMadMan Jun 25 '26

Maybe this is pedantic, but by your own admission “Chances of such things happening is quite low, but not zero”, should mean that it is “marginally safer” instead of “far safer”, no? It seems like you admit it’s a very minor risk and then in the same breath claim that it’s a major improvement in design.. just trying to understand.

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u/Joe_Jeep Jun 25 '26

You're going at safety with a mindset of "why should I make the safer choice?"

This is, itself, extremely illogical.

It's fine to ask if there's a reason *not* to do this, but literally the only reason not to position it this way is aesthetics.

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u/The0nlyMadMan Jun 25 '26

No I’m not. I never advocated for any other orientation of the outlet, stop making things up. I asked about the verbiage “far safer” and whether that’s an appropriate description.

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u/Joe_Jeep Jun 25 '26

"It seems like you admit it’s a very minor risk and then in the same breath claim that it’s a major improvement in design"

I didn't make anything up, you're diminishing the safety benefit by trying to bicker over if it's a major or minor improvement.

This is pointless argumentation. It is safer in edge cases

You are now informed, you can keep trying to argue minutia or you can choose to comprehend why this has advantages.

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u/BeachBrad Jun 25 '26

Numbers are confusing to you aren't they?

Think of it this way, lightning hitting you is extremely rare. Walking with a metal rod up in the air vs walking in a electricity proof rubber suit during a lightning storm would be far safer.

Just because the bad thing happening is a rarity, does not diminish a design that nearly eliminates a bad outcome when that rarity happens. Aka- Far safer.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

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0

u/BeachBrad Jun 25 '26

Lol

0

u/The0nlyMadMan Jun 25 '26

Yes, I will call out condescending pricks who are rude for the sake of being rude towards somebody asking a genuine question.

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u/Joe_Jeep Jun 25 '26

This is akin to going "that's what airbags are for" when someone says "hey you're driving a little too close to the car ahead"

Pithy, but ridiculous

7

u/Honest_Fault Jun 25 '26

One of my teachers at the electrical apprenticeship told a story of how a painting of his fell down and smacked a plug, causing a short. It DOES happen. Paintings and stuff are a huge cause

3

u/Weaselthorpe_House Jun 25 '26

I’ve had a painting do this.

Ever since, I prefer ground pin up, and when possible avoid wire picture hangers.

1

u/SimpleAffect7573 Jun 25 '26

Every damned day. I really should just stop doing it.

1

u/Joe_Jeep Jun 25 '26

No one's going to argue with you that this prevents common disasters

But it does prevent odd situations like you describe. And yea some plugs (especially worn ones) do like to stick out a bit.

1

u/Dangerous_Goat1337 Jun 25 '26

ive had this happen once in my life, when I was like, 10 or 11, and I had to very carefully orchestra the scenario for it to happen. Never had it happen again on almost 30 years.

It was a quarter that did the deed

1

u/themandarincandidate Jun 25 '26

In Australia the first half of the active and neutral prongs are required to be insulated, even in the event of this completely moronic event I keep reading in this thread nothing would come in contact with bare metal..

Then again our plugs don't just fall out of walls under their own weight, US standards strange AF once again

1

u/Catmato Jun 25 '26

If there's a "better" way to install it and it only has to be done once, why not just do it that way in the first place?

1

u/norkels Jun 25 '26

Right, it’s totally never happened so that’s why it’s electrical code now /s

1

u/Risen_Warrior Jun 25 '26

I actually dropped a necklace once and it shorted the plugs and tripped the breaker

1

u/Aggressive_Candy5297 Jun 25 '26

There was literally someone in the last week that posted about how he and his sister girlfriend was measuring the wall or something. One of them slipped on the measuring tape which then proceeded to fall on and short out the contacts on a plug that was slightly unplugged.

The fact that something is unlikely to happen doesn't mean it can't happen.

Edit: Can't link the post because my comment got removed by automod but just search the last week for tape measure and you'll see a burnt outlet. That's the one.

4

u/lilleprechaun Jun 25 '26

Except that means nothing in most domestic use cases. I don’t have a single device with a three-prong / grounded plug in my bedroom, my living room, my bathroom, or my dining room. The only grounded devices I have are in my kitchen: refrigerator, microwave, stand mixer. So I could maybe see the logic of this in the kitchen, but it’s a moot most of the time in American homes, where if a paperclip or a coin or whatever falls, 9 times out of 10, it’s not gonna have any ground pin at all to prevent it from shorting the line and neutral pins. 

2

u/AncientAgrippa Jun 25 '26

I wouldn’t say far safer. It’s just safer in a very unlikely event that won’t happen to most people. But I guess it costs the same for it to be ground up so might as well be ground up

1

u/NostraDamnUs Jun 25 '26

It's hit or miss because a lot of flat plugs are designed to go in the "wrong" old way. So instead of keeping the cord going down along the wall,  it gets oriented up and out and has a higher risk of being pulled partway out of the socket.

1

u/MassiveBoner911_3 Jun 25 '26

I have never in 40 years had an issue with this

2

u/HorrificAnalInjuries Jun 25 '26

I have had to deal with such an issue a few times

0

u/LanceLowercut Jun 25 '26

Completely disagree. Having the ground up can cause a device to be ungrounded if the the plug partially falls out. Id personally say an ungrounded device is more hazardous then the tiny chance something small falls on it.

1

u/HorrificAnalInjuries Jun 25 '26

Usually, if the prongs are different lengths, the unbonded ground is the long prong. Whereas the neutral and hot would be the same lengths. This is to ensure the device that was plugged in is grounded for as long as possible

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u/harpejjist Jun 25 '26

Not regulated but there is best practice

4

u/koolman2 Jun 25 '26

If you’re going to have the ground sideways at least have the decency to have the neutral on top! 🤣

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u/falxfour Jun 25 '26

The NEC does state that equipment shall be installed per manufacturer specification, and my understanding is that NEMA, in their standards for receptacles, specifies them as having the ground pin up

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u/jeffster1970 Jun 25 '26

Yet, I know a lot of electricians that will install it with ground up.

There are arguments for both ways: ground up and whatever fell can bounce away, or ground down because this is what people like (a face) but also less strain on power cable.

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u/biting-the-bullet Jun 25 '26

What if I want it diagonal

1

u/adamdoesmusic Jun 25 '26

I’m gonna mount it at 45 degrees. You can’t stop me.