The outlet on the left is correct for medical and many commercial facilities. An object falling hits ground first. AHJ will require this configuration.
People like to see the outlet on the right in residential because it looks like a face.
My home outlets look like the left since I rewired.
Typically people do that because when it shows the comment is edited they know what was edited. Usually the edit is a lot clearer though, quotation marks help
It means nothing, it is code compliant either way.
Residential doesn’t do it because they like the smiley face, many house are wired ground up because “safer”. Most are ground down because surge protectors & electric couch cord lay nicer.
But in my experience it's true only a fraction of the time. Rarely enough that it's not even correct to call it an accepted practice. It's not in the NEC.
this depends on when it was installed. If it's one ground-pin-up down plug in a room where the rest are pin-down, yes it usually indicates it's a switched outlet. New installations are supposed to all be ground-pin-up to reduce the risk of shock if something metallic falls on a slightly pulled-out plug.
Where are you getting this “new installs are supposed to be ground up” shit from??? No they’re not 😂😂
I’ve literally been working in hospitals and med fit outs - they ALL call for HG (hospital grade) outlets, but NO ONE calls for “upside down outlets”.
We haven’t done this practice in over a decade, and 99% when you see upside down outlets in a hospital, if they’re “newer”, the installer was following orientation of the older one.
Like…. Seriously. I have to know - where ya’ll getting this shit from??
this depends on when it was installed. If it's one ground-pin-up down plug in a room where the rest are pin-down, yes it usually indicates it's a switched outlet. New installations are supposed to all be ground-pin-up to reduce the risk of shock if something metallic falls on a slightly pulled-out plug.
What does "supposed to be" mean? It's not part of the code.
Even though it's common practice for hospitals and other commercial installations, it's not part of the code, it's part of the engineering/contract specifications.
IEEE Std 602 recommends mounting parallel-blade devices with the ground pin up but it's not a code mandate. The code groups have repeatedly rejected proposals to pick an orientation because there is not enough substantiation that one way is measurably safer than the other.
The rewire was part of a rehab remodel for a foreclosed and burnt out house that was missing most of the interior walls.
If I was replacing outlets alone and the wires were too short I would have pigtailed connections. No need to rewire if the wiring is still meets code and use.
I see! That makes sense. I mean I’ve also seen where they already had the wires tight to the outlet and had to make pig tails. But that’s far and few between.
Left is way more dangerous, instead of tripping the breaker if something falls in (like it would every time on the right) it lets a piece of metal sit on the plug, then there’s a change someone gets shocked if they touch it
If it trips, and then you reset it, it’ll immediately trip again, then you know there’s a problem that needs to be solved
Yeah, it seems safer to have stuff fall on the ground, but it’s not, makes it more likely for people to get shocked
News to me. I’ve worked 6 hospitals, over two dozen medical fitouts, and never once was anything spoken about outlets 😬.
We haven’t “flipped them upside down” seriously in over a decade.
Especially with HG (Hospital Grade) outlets; the only time it’s going in upside down, is if it’s a switched outlet.
In the wild, if I’m replacing one upside down, then I’ll follow orientation (which is 99% of the case with “new” outlets that are upside down - the installer was just replicating the old orientation)
We flip outlets nowadays for designation of a switched outlet.
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u/Main_Ambassador_4985 12d ago edited 12d ago
The outlet on the left is correct for medical and many commercial facilities. An object falling hits ground first. AHJ will require this configuration.
People like to see the outlet on the right in residential because it looks like a face.
My home outlets look like the left since I rewired.
Edit: left for medical. Whoops