This is a good ground up explanation from from Quora: Harold Green: Retired electrician. We mounted all receptacles ground pin down for decades. Then the medical industry who only use metal trim plates decided that it was much safer to have the ground pin up in case the trim plate came loose and slid down on the prongs of a plug shorting out what might have been a critical piece of equipment. There’s really no reason to mount a plug upside down unless you’re using a conductive trim plate.
This is the most practical and best explanation, that l have ever seen, and now, with specifically marked switched receptacles, effectively solves the entire issue,... _for me anyway._
Most grounded cords for devices like lamps (ie devices that are meant to be above the plug) are designed for ground-down outlets. You often have to bend the cord in unpleasant ways when your ground is up.
Well, they should have out let one up, one down. All the chargers lumps get in the one per out let unless you find extension cords. Personally, I don't like extention cords.
So true. There is always some idiot thinks knows better. Then proven technology. They are the same people who wire their house themselves and can't understand why the house burns to the ground.
having worked in a hospital( retired), as an electrician, we were told to install receptacles ground side up, if it is installed in the vertical plane .if the receptacles. is installed in the horizontal plane, then the neutral side is up. this was done to cut down on the possibility of short outs if a plug was not fully seated, this was a good thing due to the fact that when I first started at the hospital, the main building had "FEDERAL PACIFIC" circuit breakers( bolt in-- not stab lock type) that were thermal trip only, also all plugs were straight pull out, so there was no damage done to the receptacles for instance a bed is removed from a room and the service cord is not disconnected before removing it.at home I will install the receptacles depending on the use of a 90 degree molded plug, so the service cord is hanging down. a friend of mine who is also an electrician, got on me about how I was installing receptacles and I told him "SHOW ME IN THE N.E.C " he could not comply . thanks for posting this!!!!!.
I’ve been installing outlets in my own home, and lab, with the ground up. Think about it. If the plug is pulled downwards the two live spades are open. When I was about two years old I got a shock I’ve never forgotten from that. I put the ground up, because if it partly pulls out, the ground is slightly out, and shielding you from the circuit. I’m totally convinced that it’s safer.
I agree. The first house I remember living in (1955) was ungrounded so this wasn't an issue; however, as appliance cords started coming with the ground, my father decided to change the outlets to 3-prong. Back then the orientation was a big deal due to safety concerns. There had already been plenty of problems with children placing a coin across the ungrounded prongs, so there was almost a movement to orient these new 3-prong outlets with the ground hole up. My sister once opened a hair pin and stuck it into ungrounded outlet, so the children thing is a real issue. Having said that, I raised two girls in a house with ground holes facing down and did not have a problem. Maybe kids today have other things to do besides putting coins across the plugs. In some countries they recess the receptical deep into the wall to make it very hard for this to be a problem.
@@dchall8 when we got our daughter, I used these childproof outlet covers that had a spring, and that you had push sideways with the plug before they would go in. I thought that was a good investment. Of course, now she’s almost 31, so I no longer worry about that, and she isn’t with us anyway. But she has an IQ of 157, and was incurably curious. No point in taking chances.
NEMA 5-15 (120vac/15A) corded plugs include "low profile" variations. You'll find these on some wash machines, gas clothes dryers, refrigerators, and other appliances designed to be as flush to the wall as possible. These plugs usually have the cord coming out the side - I suppose you could call it a "right-angle" plug. The intention is the cord hangs down as it enters the appliance. I have 4 of these in my home and workshop; two refrigerators, a gas dryer and a clothes washing machine. In all 4 cases, with the wire hanging down, the ground plug is DOWN. If the receptacle had the ground plug UP, the cord would come out the top of the plug. In one case in the workshop I had a receptacle near my refrigerator which I had to reverse to get the "low profile" plug cord to hang down properly. So, the designers of these 4 appliances at least, have picked GROUND DOWN.
I was going to mention this. Every plug on an appliance or extension cord like what Neal discribed indicates ground should be down. This is actually one of the biggest indicators in my opinion that ground should be down and I was surprised He didn't mention it in the video.. ironicly with a mini fridge right beside him. (that may have this kind of plug)
Exactly right!! As I’ve been painting rooms in our home, or as needed like for the refrigerator as you discussed, I’ve been rotating each receptical to put it right (ground down for me). It’s a real PITA to have to deal with ground-up recepticals because the world makes things for ground-down.
I came to the same conclusion. I wanted to get a 'surge suppressor' outlet for my refrigerator (with right angle cord) and to mount it 'correctly', meaning ground down, the outlet wording and test lights would be upside down. Frankly I think it's a real thin argument that I've heard for years about the 'shorting of the 2 terminals in the ground down orientation'. That's like a 1 in a million accident because it would require the plug not to be fully inserted and would trip the breaker. If it were that dangerous the NEC code would explicitly say which way they should be mounted. I could just as easily say with the ground up orientation a 'paper clip' or knife could have a 50% chance of rotating off the ground onto the hot leg prong.
Same thing with all of my UPSes and I believe everything I own with polarized plugs. I've never had one appliance where the orientation of the plug favored a ground up position.
I don't know about other areas, but in Southern California, the standard practice (not universally used, but pretty common) is to put the ground down except for any outlets that are on a switch. Those are ground up. Then the resident knows which outlet is hooked to the switch. This is almost (but not universally) the case in my area.
My dad showed me that in the '70's. His logic was that the ground prong is longer, it goes in first, so, put it on top to plug in easier. The inspector called him on it- they got out the NEC book then. It didn't say. Apparrently the standard practice is ground down on hot receptacles, ground up on switched outlets. That's a good idea.
Years ago I worked for a hospital and part of my job was to go around and test the receptacles, cords, and plugs. I was instructed to ensure that the receptacles were installed with the ground up. The reasoning was on a receptacle mounted with the ground down that if a paperclip were to fall off the back of a desk, it might get stuck behind the plug and touch both the conductor (black) and the grounded conductor (white) and may start a fire. If you put the ground up, the paperclip would fall off one side or the other. So it was considered safer to mount it ground up. At the time, most documentation instructed that the ground be mounted up. Now, most people put the ground down because it looks more natural. The conductor holes look like eyes, and the ground hole looks like a mouth.
@@RSole9999 I had one of the rabbit ears from a small "6 inch" TV on a countertop, fall on an outlet it was plugged in to and burnt off the antenna and shorted out the circuit. ive installed ground up ever since . circa 1985
Here's the thing, if a "paperclip" fell on the live/neutral contacts, it should short out and the breaker/fuse should trip/snap, if the breaker/fuse do not trip/snap, that means the whole circuit is wrong and very likely not to code. Also, most plugs and power adapters are made to fit the ground-down connection so as not interfere with other outlet openings, specially newer plugs that rotate 45 degrees to the left.
In homes, I have only seen ground down. While in the military in the mid 70's I was handed a polarity checker to test all the outlets in my building and report any that were bad or mounted ground down for repair. Yep, the military at that time and place was mounting them ground up. for workplace safety issues. My shop has them mounted ground up.
As an electrician there has only been one job at a Psychiatric hospital that they specified ground must be up. The theory I heard was if the plug came slightly out from the wall and something small enough and conductive was to be dropped on the plug it would hit the ground and not a live prong. Personally I prefer the look and useability of ground down in most cases.
In the house I install the ground down, because a lot of 90° cords are made for ground down. In the shops, barns, outdoors I install the ground up because an old local electrician told me to install the non house outlets with the ground up, because it helps keep the cord in the outlet when you have the ground up. Hello from north east Montana. 10 miles from the Canadian border.
6:42 You shouldn't worry about that hand grabbing problem, the first time your hand touches both hot-neutral (because the ground is up) will be the one and only time you make that mistake, and afterwards, you'll be grabbing the plug correctly. Electricity is a rough teacher.
@@73dcp Because people like smiley face. Also some appliances are designed for sockets fitted ground-down, so switching that around would cause consumers some pain.
Thanks for the video! Let me get my 2 centa in! Most homes today have outlets horizontally/sideways, so up & down doesn’t matter. I own my own home (purchased new and a trac home, not custom) and after moving in have done all the electrical wiring myself. When my basement was finished all outlets were horizontal except a couple that were for plug-in electronic bug eliminators. My basement bar has 2 outlets together and one is up & one is down, I did this because of the orientation of some of the appliances used at the bar dictate this, more on this later. In my master bedroom I have 2 outlets one on each side of the bed. The left outlet has 3 plugs in adapters to make this work. Some of the plugs are large, like from the CPAP machine and plug orientation has to be with cord down because of the weight of this 2 prong plug. The other outlet has also 3 things plugged in and is a 1/2 switched outlet, more adapters. I will be adding 2 more outlets in these 1900 boxes with new adapters etc. Currently this is a mess. These bulky 2 wire plug-ins dictate which way the plug goes in. Usually the left side of the 2 prong plug is hot (smaller prong) this would make the outlet orientation with ground down, but that’s not always the case. Comments, thanks…Jim
Actually, for sideways receptacles, and following logic of falling object into partially inserted into plug with ground down… For sideways/Horizontal mounting it would then make sense to mount ground left, so is a plug is partially out, the object would hit the Neutral, rather than the Hot side of the plug.
NEC does not specify any particular outlet orientation. However the IEEE White Book “Recommended Practice for Electric Systems in Health Care Facilities” (IEEE Std. 602 - 2007) says in section 4.2.2 “Parallel blade devices should be mounted ground pin or neutral blade up. In this configuration, any metal that drops between the plug and the wall will most likely contact a nonenergized blade.” This is also where the specification for UL listed "hospital grade" receptacles are located. There's a lot of other things, like significant additional requirements for grounding. These outlets are required to have metal cover plates, and should they come loose they don't want them to drop on a plug pulled out a bit and short it, possibly turning off a critical bit of equipment like a ventilator. Better to have it drop on the ground pin. When working on specialized facilities, in particular hospitals and data centers there are often significant additional requirements over and above the NEC from the IEEE, NFPA, or also industry best practices. While these practices may be useful in these specialized environments where there are heightened life-safety implications, it's questionable if they have any cost/benefit for ordinary residential applications. Nylon cover plates won't short, and it's unlikely life critical equipment will be running off a residential outlet.
Since in Ontario is does not matter whether the ground is up or down except in a few circumstances such as RV parks (ground up), I'll replace mine ground down simply because I'm used to them being that way. Also, every flat plug I've ever owned has been oriented ground down. As for anything falling on partially exposed plugs: if my faceplates are loose enough to fall or if my receptacles won't hold a plug, I replace them because it's the right thing to do.
When I learned, we installed ground up in industrial, especially with metal plate covers. If the play cover comes off, it hit the ground etc. In residential, we always did ground down because that is what people are used to
Any appliance cord like washing machine, dishwasher, etc. (at least that I have seen) that has an angled end on it has been manufactured to be ground down. Having ground UP makes these types of cords have to go up the wall before going back down to the appliance. Some plug strips have the male plug capable of rotating to make either work when the ground is up while most single outlet surge protectors are typically ground down. Ground down seems to have fewer issues to deal with. Ask me how I know! Good videos!
I have two different receptacle testers, and to read the key to the lights you must have it plugged in ground-down. The lights are readable both ways, but the explanatory text is only on one side.
I now always install initially ground up. I will reverse if a plug lays better with the ground down. A personal story; We were visiting my parents house when my 4 year old son found a penny and stuck it into the space between the plug and receptacle. The grounds were all installed ground down so consequently there was remarkable spark and short and fortunately the breaker kicked quickly. My son was Ok, thank God, but the receptacle did not fair so well. Grounds up for me!
Here in North and South Carolina, I see residential orients ground down. But, in our newly built office in North Charlotte, they installed all receptacles ground up.
I have always installed a standard outlet with the ground down. When installing a half hot outlet I turn it over and install it ground up making it easy to identify. : )
BTW, with toilet paper roll mounting, front unroll is far more convention. However, if there is indoor cats in the household. back rolling is usually a necessity, as it deters feline unrolling!
I just finished wiring a line gfi receptical, and of course by mistake I did it ground up. After watching this video I'm keeping it ground up....just because...I always do anything wrong the first time, but in this case - I possibly did it right ✅️
A good friend of mine is a master electrician and does mostly commercial work and I asked him this question many years ago. He told me that in most commercial and industrial applications it is specified ground up. For residential there is no correct way any orientation is acceptable. Medical offices and hospitals are always ground up. He has been working as a master electrician in NY state for 38 years now, has wired many hospitals , dentists offices and medical complexes as well as some industrial shops. He always orients his outlets ground up. I asked him about the switched outlets and his reply was "there are many different colors of outlets so use a different color if you want to designate. And as far as appliances such as refrigerators and microwave ovens they are supposed to be on there own separate circuit and a single receptacle unless behind the appliance and inaccessible, then a duplex receptacle is acceptable. these can be oriented in any direction since there is little to no likelihood for it ever coming loose. Just sharing my experience wiring a few jobs and houses with my master electrician friend and looking up the codes.
You are exactly right about the commercial vs residential. ...and if you notice the back of the receptacles in the video, you can pretty easily see that the "commercial" receptacles typically are more robust and have a metal strap around the back. Those are the ones what have the text oriented for ground up. The ones without the strap are typically geared towards "residential" use and have the text oriented ground down.
Well I don't know about typical American plugs but here in New Zealand where we have a similar but different style of outlet the earth/ground is always down. This is very convenient as many plugs have the cable entering the plug itself through the bottom and not through the back as your plug does. Having this orientation means that the cable hangs down below the plug and if the outlet were oriented with the ground up then the cable would be coming out the top of the plug, very unstable. Additionally the active and neutral pins have 2 or 3 millimeters of insulation on them next to the plug molding so that there is reduced chances of accidental connection when the plug is part way out. By the time exposed metal appears out of the outlet the pins will have lost contact with the internal connectors. The ground pin (which is flat) is longer than the live pins so it is the last one to lose contact.
I do like the ground plug being up for the reason of a possible conductor falling on it vs hot prongs. However, with almost all plugs or adapters (wall warts) that have any mass, the ground up configuration will pull down out of the receptical from the top, exposing both the ground and then too the hot prongs, because the ground prong is not held as well as the blades. Also, in the ground down configuration there are two blades holding from the top vs one circular prong in the ground up configuration, meaning that a ground down plug stays in the receptacle when a ground up does not. Given that all receptacles wear with time, the ground down configuration has a better chance of staying in the receptacle where it can’t do any damage. Hence ground down wins in my book because I don’t want my plugs coming out… ever. The way to address this issue permanently is for the code to specify a new design(s) enabling for the entire plug to be shielded and protected from things dropping on it, then we could have our cake and eat it too.
Excellent point, especially with an unobstructed wall outlet. I want to add that when we have to plug anything behind a dresser that needs to hug the wall, the addition of an extension with a low profile plug allows us to do that rather than bending an appliance cord with the basic plug (when the dresser inevitably gets pushed into the wall) and eventually causing an electrical fire from the wire strand breaking inside the cord's insulation. Most such extension cables also have their cord hanging down off-vertical so both duplex sockets can be used with extension cords that use such low profile plugs.
We’re in the Chicago metro area conduit with metal boxes are required even in single family homes, all most receptacles are mounted horizontal, most with the hot side up, I usually install them neutral side up. I’ve been an industrial electrician for 25+ years.
In my home all of the receptacle outlets are mounted horizontally. No issue with ground up or down. Also good for tight vertical spaces above counters, below counter top in center islands. The horizontal mounting is, in my opinion, more aesthetically pleasing.
I was becoming a bit worried prior to reading your post @johnwhitehead8006. For a moment there I thought my house was the only one that had receptacles horizontal, breaking ALL safety codes! 😥
I have a friend who is a lead at UL. He told me ground down! Water will then travel to the ground and short out or trigger a fault, and not allow you to be electrocuted from a water trickle.
Here in the UK, all sockets (aka outlets) are installed ground up. Of course, that might have something to do with our plugs having the flex hanging down, instead of pointing away from the wall. Also have you noticed, how your light switches operate the opposite way, to the ones on this side of the pond?
Most of your electrical gear is built better than the stuff we use in the US for a lot of reasons. Part is from your having fewer code authorities, part is from your having some of the best electrical engineers in the world at that time, part is from the speed of adoption, part is from your having to refit so many buildings after WW2.
Most, if not all accessories like grounded wall warts or air fresheners, nightlights, or whatever are ground down, or if they don't have a ground pin, oriented with the wide blade left, so wall warts with the wide blade made for left will gap with the heavy part up. It is also very nice to have every outlet the same so you can manually put the wide blade left before plugging in and never get it backward. Ground up is a major pain in the rear. I bought a house with all the grounds up - it was several hours to go orient them ground down. Of course at the same time I put identification as to which breaker each outlet and light switch went to - tremendous time saver when you have a breaker trip. Of course I also labelled the breaker box at the same time. And while we are talking about light switches, the combo units with outlets are all ground down.
If you want your plug nice and secure, Ground-Up is the best. You have the 2 prongs as a base rather than a single prong. And about the "NO" on Receptacles Facing-Up, they're called floor mounted receptacles common for conference rooms, convention halls and retail stores.
I'm a commercial electrician and I've always been taught by the old timers is that commercial is always ground up and residential is always ground down. However, no one can ever tell me exactly why it's that way, but in Texas we do ground up for commercial and ground down for residential.
Ground down. Many outlets have metal contacts that are pinched together that hold the blades of a plug, keeping the cord in place in a socket. Having ground down, allows better stability of the cord when gravity hangs on it. As shown in the video, many cords are manufactured with ground down especially dryer cords and 90 degree angle cords. Having these cords in an opposite direction hinders keeping them plugged in. Lastly ground down rhymes, and because it sounds better, should be used all the time. Thanks for listening.
I was once told by an electrician that we should install the ground up. His reasoning was that, If there are small children, they could be curious about the 'little faces' the outlet could portrait. They may be attracted by the 'cartoon like face' and want to play with it. Personally I prefer ground down because of power adaptors , but primarily I just stay consistent with the rest of the house, ground down.
I usually find that when plugging in something like a timer, if it goes in GD, then you can read it without turning your head upside down. Especially if it's analog with physical settings. So I prefer GD. Also, it looks like a face. I also agree with flat-plug comments.
The NEC says you must install to manufacturer specs so in those cases where there is an arrow on the receptacle fur up it needs to point up. That is always ground up.
@@LRN2DIY Yes. So it still is a question if this is for manufacturing or for installation. Is it specified in the sparce paperwork with the receptacle to follow the arrow for installation? Is it labeled "This way up to install" ? I'm very skeptical if it not specifically pointed out some how beyond just an arrow on the device.
The issue that many forget about are the devices that plug into the outlet. Many are designed for ground down. This places the device such that controls are on top, text is upright, angled plugs lay right, and the hot and neutral blades are correctly oriented.
In my house, the outlets with the ground up are all switched outlets. I’ve heard that as a way to easily determine which outlets are operated by a switch 🤷🏻♂️
I tend to do ground up. This is from observing that many tines when installing or removingva plug your finger or thumb tends to ride over the top side of the plug, potentially making contact with the prongs. Ground up ensures if you do slip your finger or thumb only makes contact with the ground pin.
I'm ambivalent about ground up or down, but I'm curious to know more about the "receptical facing up" being prohibited by code. Could you tell me the relevant section? I have a couple of outlets installed in 2008 that face up and at the time it passed inspection. Maybe because NEC2008 allowed it? Or because mine have a cover? Or is just where there's potential for water intrusion like under a sink?
Another real life example of the plug shorting problem. We had an old house with loose receptacles, and there was a plug in my son’s room behind furniture which was hanging out. He dropped a book behind the furniture and it hit the plug. It was a “ Little Golden Book” which is thin enough to contact the prongs and has metal foil on the spine. It burned two spots in the spine and popped the breaker. Luckily no fire or injuries.
Even with ground up it is probably still just as likely of a bridge between the Hot and Ground prongs as it would be Hot and Neutral plugs on ground down scenario's.
@@MrT------5743 Well, technically only half as likely.. depending on which way it fell, there's about a 50-50 chance that it would end up bridging either the hot to ground (problem) or neutral to ground (not a problem), whereas the ground-down scenario is always hot to neutral (problem). Arguably probably a bit less than half, since it has to also fall to the side in addition to falling onto the top pin(s), and if there's anything around to catch on that would prevent that motion (for example, if there's something plugged into a receptacle right next to it as well) it could also prevent shorting any pins. Arguably, the best way to mount it to address this sort of problem would be sideways, with neutral up. That way it would be very difficult for anything to fall onto the hot pin in any way and any bridging condition would almost always be neutral to ground. But to be honest, I really think this whole thing is a pretty minor issue in reality. There are so many many other things that are so much more likely that are much more worth worrying about, and if this was actually an issue that caused significant problems I'm pretty sure the NEC would already have something to say about it. The fact that the code doesn't specify anything pretty much says that "it's really not a big issue in practice", IMHO.
@@foogod4237 yep very minor issue. Im 47 and I have never heard of anything falling and bridging these posts. This is probably why the NEC does not have regulations on how it should be mounted.
My 2 cents on why I install receptacles ground up. I worked in a hospital in building facilities maintenance/engineering. All receptacles were ground up. If the ground is down and the plug is not totally inserted as can happen. And a metal object happens to fall onto those 2 hot prongs. What happens? Shorted out sparks flying! On the other hand. If the ground is up and a metal object falls on it. What happens? Nothing! So, install them however you please. I will stick with ground up.
I used to work for a biomedical company (we made digital EEG machines), and that was where I was first introduced to the ground-up method. I was told at that point that it was a requirement for medical devices. I can imagine that throwing sparks in an environment where pure oxygen ventilation may be used would classify as a Bad Thing™.
Agreed. Often the receptacle is itself loose from wear and doesn't grip tightly. For heavy cords etc which will pull down you often come across slightly exposed live neutral. That is a risk if unnoticed especially for dropped conductive objects, or a person who reaches blindly to unplug. With ground up the weight of the cable will rotate the live / neutral into the receptacle, while exposing the ground. In the UK, which has big receptacles and plugs, but many more built in safety features (including extra long ground prongs that make contact first), I've also seen the receptacles ground up.
1. You should have pulled up some devices from the 90's or early 2000's because those outlets were marked with the ground side as "top" meaning that they were listed to be installed ground up, but people regularly installed them ground down. I don't know of any inspector that called the electricians on the listing, however, but it was technically a code violation to install the outlets ground down. 2. The safest install for outlets is ground up (vertical) or neutral up (horizontal). If your finger is touching any of the prongs on the plug when you pull it, you are incorrectly pulling the plug. 3. As far as the flooding issue, you are supposed to install your outlets above the flood plane where possible. It's rare to have a situation where you have to install outlets below the flood plane.
I have outlets facing up in my floor, as does the business I work at. I assure you both buildings were made to code. Also all of the receptacles I purchased have a stamp that says TOP. (Ground down) But I do agree it should probably be ground up. When I change my outlets out I'm going to do ground up.
I always heard ground up was called office style. Because of the possibility of a paperclip hitting the hot and neutral. The other time I see the ground up is when it is indicating a switched outlet. You cited most of the other reasons for which position to use. I install them in what ever position a customer wants. Normally ground down.
I've never seen a 90-degree angled AC line cord constructed with the ground pin at the top. This allows the cord to hang downwards neatly when plugged into a receptacle mounted to a vertical surface (wall) with it's ground socket down.
When I was building my home shop I lost a hook when measuring and the tape measure fell across a plug that was plugged in. It made a connection across the hot and common and melted the tape. I also remember a time when hospitals routinely installed outlets with the ground up.
Even with ground up it is probably still just as likely (very remote) of a bridge between the Hot and Ground prongs as it would be Hot and Neutral plugs on ground down scenario's.
All my outlets were upside down until I renovated and replaced them all. They were a pain whenever I used angled plugs. It was a good thing I did, because I found several with neutral tied to ground.
I worked at a company where all outlets out on the floor were ground UP. Because many people pull up when they remove the plug and the longer ground contact took a beating. The company had beautiful double insulated made. They had a company said that cords could only be used with the ends the came with. They threw out all cords with the ground lug broken off. I have many beautiful cords with replacement male end.
We have always had a difference of opinion at work over this. The building maintenance guys always put ground up. They say it is better to stop the hot plug from pulling out. The technicians would do ground down because they did not want to lose the ground if it got pulled out. I always just tried to be consistent. Make them all the same in a building.
Speaking as a newbie, is there an ease-of-installation preference based on the usual direction from which the wiring is coming towards the receptacle? (i.e., if the wiring is coming down from above, is it easier to make connections if the ground is on top?)
Considering how a receptacle will be used is helpful, for sure. The trick is that you never really know how it might be used, especially over decades of use, unless it's a pretty specific use-case. Great point though - definitely worth considering.
@@LRN2DIY I think they may have been asking if the direction that the building wiring (i.e. Romex, etc) feeds into the box has any effect on which way would be easier to install the receptacle. From my experience, the answer is no. Most receptacles attach to the internal wiring with terminals on their sides or from the back, so it's about the same either way, and if people are doing things properly there is plenty of wire to reach wherever you need it to go when installing the receptacle anyway (you will typically feed more than enough through initially, and then trim it to whatever length you need when you actually install the receptacle/switch/fixture/etc based on where you need to run the wires for it), so it really doesn't matter which way around you want to mount it.
History, look at the development history of the outlet. The ground pin was ADDED after the standard outlet was developed. First to come along was the polarized outlet. When the 2 prong outlet was developed they didn't see the need for protections. Put the plug in either way the device still worked.
I wired my own house (from meter to breaker panel to terminations) and wired all receptacles ground up. However, I'm going through and flipping them one by one as most appliance cords favor ground down. Also, I think people in general like to see the shocked little faces of the receptacles, but that may be my perception.
The appliance cords are the frustrating part of this. Angled cord that's wired for ground down, but your receptacle is ground up, now you have a cord going up and looping out.
I n the old days plugs were often in baseboard sideways. I much perfer that. My mom's house is done that way . Plugs sideways about 4" off the floor. I know current cod doesn't allow that but it is actually better, wires not going up the walls is a good thing.. and outlets disappear into the dark wood.
Up or down depends on the device plugged in. If the device wire is comes out parallel to the wall, and the device itself is on a desk or shelf above the receptacle, ground should be up. If it's parallel and the device itself is lower than the receptacle, I would put the ground down. If I have a double receptacle situation and I've put ground up on one and down on the other.
According to John Williamson, Chief Electrical Inspector for the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (retired), if someone submitted a proposal to change the NEC to require that ALL receptacle outlets be installed with the ground-prong up (or down), they would have to convince industry experts on various code-making panels that the ground-prong up installation was far superior and safer than with the ground-prong down. It’s likely the NEC code-making panels would reject the proposal for lack of substantiation. The main reason there is so much debate is because electricians rely on the type of equipment that will be plugged in to determine the orientation of the electrical outlet. For instance, clothes washers, refrigerators and window air conditioners most commonly have cords with immediate-turn plugs, and so the logical way to install the outlet would be to orient it so that the plug inserts without having to loop over itself.
I as a electrician (28 years) now retired I do not think I have ever installed a receptacle ground down My reason is (as you pointed out in the video) Gravity as a plug tries to pull out of a receptacle gravity forces the current carrying blades INTO the receptacle A minor thing with the ground up, plugging in something in a hard reach place (furniture in the way, poor installation dark is easier (ground is big and round easier to find the hole )
I have always put the ground down. I'm currently fixing up and painting a neighbors house. There is a mixture of receptacles mounted up and down. I assume someone in the past must have changed a number of them. In each of the 3 bedrooms i discovered at least one receptacle that the plastic around the ground was broken on the top plug. In each case the ground was up. My theory is that a 3 prong wire was plugged in, and when being removed the person pulled the plug upward while pulling it out, thus cracking the plastic. That can't happen if the ground was mounted facing down. Generally you will notice on a receptacle, there is less less plastic from the ground to the outside wall, and much more plastic between the hot and neutral to the outside wall.
Personally I think the manufacturers should make them with the ground plug on the top and bottom (outside). That way there is always at least one smiley face in the configuration. Also wall warts would fit better.
@@SuperVstech You doubt the ability of engineers to form internal mechanical connections in other than parallel lines? The hydraulic brake lines in your vehicle cross diagonally between the front and rear wheels.
I've always installed ground down. There used to be Public Service ads on TV back in the 60's that used a cartoon character called "Sparky" - with a hard hat and gloves, and the hot & neutral for eyes, and the ground for his mouth. He'd have looked pretty funny with his mouth over his eyes!
The ground should always be down except when the cover plate is metal. Flat cord caps are generally designed for the ground to be at the bottom of the plug so the cord stays flat against the wall.
@@jeffwoehrle Worked as a commercial electrician for forty years and never saw anything else beyond an improper outlet installation that caused an outlet cord to cause an issue. Not sure even installing a plug the wrong way actually provides much protection. And on the upside down to let home owners know they have a switch plug only half the plug is generally on the switch. I see no reason for and installation that looks odd instead of all matching. If I bought a home with an upside down plug in the den I'd want it reversed to match the others so it didn't look out of place.
@@71160000 Same here. Industrial and hospitals. The only reason for ground up is gravity...and gravity is the same no matter where you are. Beyond that, personal preference. Ground down looks upside down to me...and I have changed a few to ground up just because I liked it better...lol. Peace.
Some cities have their own requirements. City of Odessa Texas required the ground be up. On purchased portable buildings, we had to go through and change all of them before they would permit them.
Imo ground down allows for grabbing the plug in a more natural, comfortable, and safe position. Either way, the thumb ends up on top and index finger on bottom. It's easier to imagine the index slipping into the widening gap as you pull the plug, so with conductors down, you could get a nice jolt.
As a former web developer, I can confidently say you can disregard the web sites' pics entirely. I guarantee whoever built those pages had zero electrical qualifications or instructions to follow on this level of detail. I suspect the consistency you noticed on Home Depot's site was purely due to their person being a little OCD, or just caring that much about how the site looks.
In an AvE video he explained this. Cant find it but he said it was to prevent shorts, if something metal slipped behind the the plug it would hit ground instead of hot. ?
Definitely ground down! I accidentally installed an outlet ground up in our living room when we renovated. It was in a spot that will probably never get used. At first I said to myself, "no big deal it's only one". Well that only lasted about a week as it bothered me so much. I re-installed it ground down. Lol! So yeah, it bothered me that much. My wife said it bothered her as well. She said ,"the face was upside down" lol! She wasn't wrong. It does look like a face with the ground down. Lol!
I'm with you. I can't handle ground up - it just bugs me. I actually switched a couple for this video and that lasted about 10 seconds. I couldn't take it. :)
The national guidelines are not clear either way, but local codes may specify one orientation or the other. I’ve also noticed, that even in the same place the orientation for residential outlets is sometimes different than for industrial outlets.
Ground on top is the old tradition. An old electrician told me Back in the old days Pictures above receptacles that had Metal Frames could fall onto a partially plugged in lamp cord causing a short. With the ground on top the metal frame hits the ground first then falls to the floor causing no Short Circuit.
I'm a fan of ground down for the lower risk of touching something energized, but if North American receptacle and plug design weren't so bad, a lot of the issues you mentioned wouldn't be issues at all
I'm a ground down guy but I have noticed that Hospitals and medical related offices are always ground up. I have no clue why but that seems to hold true nearly 100% of the time!
This is a nearly exhaustive, but omits hospital circuits. My observation is that the special hospital-grade receptacles are installed ground up in hospitals, but commercial buildings with medical offices have ordinary receptacles installed ground down like almost everywhere else. My electrician installed them ground dowm, my inspector didn’t care, and I prefer them ground down in my home. I do think plugs with a ground pin might be retained more securely with ground up, though. The guy who wrote that “ground up” correlates with “tp unrolling down the back” is wrong. My tp unrolls down the back because the geometry of my facilities makes it work better that way. I prefer it that way anyway. In my opinion, tp unrolling down the front (away from the wall) is correct only in outhouses. I’ll add that Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters make the safety issue moot.
Ground down! Finally the correct answer! It was always ground down and everything was made for that orientation. It wasn’t until one person had one incident that half the industry decided it would be a good idea to install them upside down, which causes way more problems than it solves.
Let's look at this from purely physics point of view. The ground prong is longer than the hot and neutral legs. In this respect the ground at the top would work best to keep the plug in the socket. Just the weight of the cord puts a strain on the plug. Most homes are ground at the bottom. In industry the ground is always on top.
I put ground up. Why? The ground plug on the majority of receptacles is usually the snugger of the 3, especially as the receptacle gets older. A cord not supported, but one that drops to the floor, tends to want to pull out. The often tighter ground port “tends” to prevent this. BTW, I have both orientations in my home. All older ones ground down, all never ones ground up. No real argument from me, but that is what I prefer.
When i first did electrical work in the 1980s the original standard was ground down. Sometime in the 1990s the move to ground up for residential became popular dur to the reasons of kids and shorting out like you showed. perfer ground down for looks.
We got some fancy night lights made for LEDs with small and large blades, all our plugs were oriented with ground UP and all the night lights were upside down so I had to turn some plugs ground Down.
Every HOSPITAL (7+) in my South Florida area that I’ve visited in the past 30 years has ground up and 99.999% of the houses with ground down. Maybe the hospitals know something that house receptacles installers are missing on. To me ground up makes more safety sense but my house receptacles were mounted ground down. Last new outlet box I mounted in the garage (yes it was GFCI), I mounted with ground up and I ‘felt safer’. Since ground down for homes is so common in my area (almost expected), wiring houses with ground up will make people feel that receptacle has been mounted incorrectly
I used to work as an electronics tech in a hospital. The biggest cause of outlet failures was when crash carts parked in hallways were pushed violently off to some remote destination without the defib charger plug being removed first. Possibly?? the outlets suffer less in American hospitals if they are ground up. Just a guess.
the reasoning for ground down is that the grounding prong on the plug is slightly longer such that if the plug becomes partially pulled out, gravity will work to pull the plug down and the ground pin will be the last connection to be broken.
In commercial settings like hospitals, the ground-up orientation indicates a switched outlet. In nurseries you may also see a ground-up outlet as it less resembles a face and may be less prone to tampering by curious children.
2 receptacles in one box . On ground up and one down makes your line wire on next to each other on the receptables. Also giving more options for what you are using.
The receptacles I have installed usually have an arrow pointing ground up. As far as toilet paper goes, under is used if you have kids or cats that like to play with the toilet paper. If it's over, they roll it all on the floor, if it's under, that isn't as likely to happen.
Ground down as it is how it is normally found and I like the cute face the deadly receptacle makes but never touch the small eye unless you want to be a wake!
This is a good ground up explanation from from Quora:
Harold Green: Retired electrician. We mounted all receptacles ground pin down for decades. Then the medical industry who only use metal trim plates decided that it was much safer to have the ground pin up in case the trim plate came loose and slid down on the prongs of a plug shorting out what might have been a critical piece of equipment. There’s really no reason to mount a plug upside down unless you’re using a conductive trim plate.
This is the most practical and best explanation, that l have ever seen, and now, with specifically marked switched receptacles, effectively solves the entire issue,... _for me anyway._
Most grounded cords for devices like lamps (ie devices that are meant to be above the plug) are designed for ground-down outlets. You often have to bend the cord in unpleasant ways when your ground is up.
Agreed. Seems like most things are designed for ground down.
@@LRN2DIY really?! Yet you have a bunch of idiotic safety nannies putting the ground facing up..
Well, they should have out let one up, one down. All the chargers lumps get in the one per out let unless you find extension cords. Personally, I don't like extention cords.
Then those manufactures are wrong.
So true. There is always some idiot thinks knows better. Then proven technology.
They are the same people who wire their house themselves and can't understand why the house burns to the ground.
having worked in a hospital( retired), as an electrician, we were told to install receptacles ground side up, if it is installed in the vertical plane .if the receptacles. is installed in the horizontal plane, then the neutral side is up. this was done to cut down on the possibility of short outs if a plug was not fully seated, this was a good thing due to the fact that when I first started at the hospital, the main building had "FEDERAL PACIFIC" circuit breakers( bolt in-- not stab lock type) that were thermal trip only, also all plugs were straight pull out, so there was no damage done to the receptacles for instance a bed is removed from a room and the service cord is not disconnected before removing it.at home I will install the receptacles depending on the use of a 90 degree molded plug, so the service cord is hanging down. a friend of mine who is also an electrician, got on me about how I was installing receptacles and I told him "SHOW ME IN THE N.E.C " he could not comply . thanks for posting this!!!!!.
Every hospital I've ever been in has the ground up.
@@cgirl111 ,I have too
I’ve not seen a tamper resistant yet! Lol
I’ve been installing outlets in my own home, and lab, with the ground up. Think about it. If the plug is pulled downwards the two live spades are open. When I was about two years old I got a shock I’ve never forgotten from that. I put the ground up, because if it partly pulls out, the ground is slightly out, and shielding you from the circuit. I’m totally convinced that it’s safer.
I agree. The first house I remember living in (1955) was ungrounded so this wasn't an issue; however, as appliance cords started coming with the ground, my father decided to change the outlets to 3-prong. Back then the orientation was a big deal due to safety concerns. There had already been plenty of problems with children placing a coin across the ungrounded prongs, so there was almost a movement to orient these new 3-prong outlets with the ground hole up. My sister once opened a hair pin and stuck it into ungrounded outlet, so the children thing is a real issue. Having said that, I raised two girls in a house with ground holes facing down and did not have a problem. Maybe kids today have other things to do besides putting coins across the plugs. In some countries they recess the receptical deep into the wall to make it very hard for this to be a problem.
@@dchall8 when we got our daughter, I used these childproof outlet covers that had a spring, and that you had push sideways with the plug before they would go in. I thought that was a good investment. Of course, now she’s almost 31, so I no longer worry about that, and she isn’t with us anyway. But she has an IQ of 157, and was incurably curious. No point in taking chances.
What about items that do not have a 3 wire plug, such as a lamp?
I'm totally convinced it's not.
@@skipb525 yeah, you are entitled to your opinion.
NEMA 5-15 (120vac/15A) corded plugs include "low profile" variations. You'll find these on some wash machines, gas clothes dryers, refrigerators, and other appliances designed to be as flush to the wall as possible. These plugs usually have the cord coming out the side - I suppose you could call it a "right-angle" plug. The intention is the cord hangs down as it enters the appliance. I have 4 of these in my home and workshop; two refrigerators, a gas dryer and a clothes washing machine. In all 4 cases, with the wire hanging down, the ground plug is DOWN. If the receptacle had the ground plug UP, the cord would come out the top of the plug. In one case in the workshop I had a receptacle near my refrigerator which I had to reverse to get the "low profile" plug cord to hang down properly. So, the designers of these 4 appliances at least, have picked GROUND DOWN.
I was going to mention this. Every plug on an appliance or extension cord like what Neal discribed indicates ground should be down. This is actually one of the biggest indicators in my opinion that ground should be down and I was surprised He didn't mention it in the video.. ironicly with a mini fridge right beside him. (that may have this kind of plug)
Exactly right!! As I’ve been painting rooms in our home, or as needed like for the refrigerator as you discussed, I’ve been rotating each receptical to put it right (ground down for me). It’s a real PITA to have to deal with ground-up recepticals because the world makes things for ground-down.
I came to the same conclusion. I wanted to get a 'surge suppressor' outlet for my refrigerator (with right angle cord) and to mount it 'correctly', meaning ground down, the outlet wording and test lights would be upside down. Frankly I think it's a real thin argument that I've heard for years about the 'shorting of the 2 terminals in the ground down orientation'. That's like a 1 in a million accident because it would require the plug not to be fully inserted and would trip the breaker. If it were that dangerous the NEC code would explicitly say which way they should be mounted. I could just as easily say with the ground up orientation a 'paper clip' or knife could have a 50% chance of rotating off the ground onto the hot leg prong.
Same thing with all of my UPSes and I believe everything I own with polarized plugs. I've never had one appliance where the orientation of the plug favored a ground up position.
We install receptacles ground down, with the exception of one receptacle in each room that's on a switch leg; so our new buyers know.
I don't know about other areas, but in Southern California, the standard practice (not universally used, but pretty common) is to put the ground down except for any outlets that are on a switch. Those are ground up. Then the resident knows which outlet is hooked to the switch. This is almost (but not universally) the case in my area.
That's how I was taught also.
Simple & subtle but effective
I was annoyed at first to discover some ground up receptacles in my new home, until I realized they were all switched. I love this method. Thank you.
My dad showed me that in the '70's. His logic was that the ground prong is longer, it goes in first, so, put it on top to plug in easier. The inspector called him on it- they got out the NEC book then. It didn't say. Apparrently the standard practice is ground down on hot receptacles, ground up on switched outlets. That's a good idea.
Years ago I worked for a hospital and part of my job was to go around and test the receptacles, cords, and plugs. I was instructed to ensure that the receptacles were installed with the ground up. The reasoning was on a receptacle mounted with the ground down that if a paperclip were to fall off the back of a desk, it might get stuck behind the plug and touch both the conductor (black) and the grounded conductor (white) and may start a fire. If you put the ground up, the paperclip would fall off one side or the other. So it was considered safer to mount it ground up. At the time, most documentation instructed that the ground be mounted up. Now, most people put the ground down because it looks more natural. The conductor holes look like eyes, and the ground hole looks like a mouth.
A paperclip falling on the plug blades! I'll bet that that has NEVER happened and was conjured up as a reason by people who prefer ground up.
EVERY hospital and doctors office I have ever been in has been ground down. And they use the orange hospital grade receptacles.
@@RSole9999 I had one of the rabbit ears from a small "6 inch" TV on a countertop, fall on an outlet it was plugged in to and burnt off the antenna and shorted out the circuit. ive installed ground up ever since . circa 1985
Here's the thing, if a "paperclip" fell on the live/neutral contacts, it should short out and the breaker/fuse should trip/snap, if the breaker/fuse do not trip/snap, that means the whole circuit is wrong and very likely not to code.
Also, most plugs and power adapters are made to fit the ground-down connection so as not interfere with other outlet openings, specially newer plugs that rotate 45 degrees to the left.
@@LoneTiger in my instance it took the tip of antenna off and blew a 15 amp fuse .
so it can happen
Builders in Colorado and Florida (only two states I have lived in) put the ground down by default. If it's ground up, it indicates a switched outlet.
One caveat… In my area - South Florida - every hospital I’ve visited - 7+ - are wired ground up.
In homes, I have only seen ground down. While in the military in the mid 70's I was handed a polarity checker to test all the outlets in my building and report any that were bad or mounted ground down for repair. Yep, the military at that time and place was mounting them ground up. for workplace safety issues. My shop has them mounted ground up.
As an electrician there has only been one job at a Psychiatric hospital that they specified ground must be up. The theory I heard was if the plug came slightly out from the wall and something small enough and conductive was to be dropped on the plug it would hit the ground and not a live prong. Personally I prefer the look and useability of ground down in most cases.
In the house I install the ground down, because a lot of 90° cords are made for ground down.
In the shops, barns, outdoors I install the ground up because an old local electrician told me to install the non house outlets with the ground up, because it helps keep the cord in the outlet when you have the ground up.
Hello from north east Montana.
10 miles from the Canadian border.
6:42 You shouldn't worry about that hand grabbing problem, the first time your hand touches both hot-neutral (because the ground is up) will be the one and only time you make that mistake, and afterwards, you'll be grabbing the plug correctly.
Electricity is a rough teacher.
Better than to touch just the hot though
I read something that said ground up for industrial and ground down for residential. Don't know how true this is but kinda makes sense.
That's definitely a pattern I'm noticing.
That makes no sense at all. Why is the same level of safety not a concern in homes as in hospitals?
@@73dcp Because people like smiley face. Also some appliances are designed for sockets fitted ground-down, so switching that around would cause consumers some pain.
Thanks for the video! Let me get my 2 centa in! Most homes today have outlets horizontally/sideways, so up & down doesn’t matter. I own my own home (purchased new and a trac home, not custom) and after moving in have done all the electrical wiring myself. When my basement was finished all outlets were horizontal except a couple that were for plug-in electronic bug eliminators. My basement bar has 2 outlets together and one is up & one is down, I did this because of the orientation of some of the appliances used at the bar dictate this, more on this later. In my master bedroom I have 2 outlets one on each side of the bed. The left outlet has 3 plugs in adapters to make this work. Some of the plugs are large, like from the CPAP machine and plug orientation has to be with cord down because of the weight of this 2 prong plug. The other outlet has also 3 things plugged in and is a 1/2 switched outlet, more adapters. I will be adding 2 more outlets in these 1900 boxes with new adapters etc. Currently this is a mess. These bulky 2 wire plug-ins dictate which way the plug goes in. Usually the left side of the 2 prong plug is hot (smaller prong) this would make the outlet orientation with ground down, but that’s not always the case. Comments, thanks…Jim
Actually, for sideways receptacles, and following logic of falling object into partially inserted into plug with ground down… For sideways/Horizontal mounting it would then make sense to mount ground left, so is a plug is partially out, the object would hit the Neutral, rather than the Hot side of the plug.
NEC does not specify any particular outlet orientation. However the IEEE White Book “Recommended Practice for Electric Systems in Health Care Facilities” (IEEE Std. 602 - 2007) says in section 4.2.2 “Parallel blade devices should be mounted ground pin or neutral blade up. In this configuration, any metal that drops between the plug and the wall will most likely contact a nonenergized blade.” This is also where the specification for UL listed "hospital grade" receptacles are located. There's a lot of other things, like significant additional requirements for grounding. These outlets are required to have metal cover plates, and should they come loose they don't want them to drop on a plug pulled out a bit and short it, possibly turning off a critical bit of equipment like a ventilator. Better to have it drop on the ground pin.
When working on specialized facilities, in particular hospitals and data centers there are often significant additional requirements over and above the NEC from the IEEE, NFPA, or also industry best practices. While these practices may be useful in these specialized environments where there are heightened life-safety implications, it's questionable if they have any cost/benefit for ordinary residential applications. Nylon cover plates won't short, and it's unlikely life critical equipment will be running off a residential outlet.
Since in Ontario is does not matter whether the ground is up or down except in a few circumstances such as RV parks (ground up), I'll replace mine ground down simply because I'm used to them being that way. Also, every flat plug I've ever owned has been oriented ground down.
As for anything falling on partially exposed plugs: if my faceplates are loose enough to fall or if my receptacles won't hold a plug, I replace them because it's the right thing to do.
I do ground up in all commercial installations and ground down is residential but at the end of the day it’s up to the customers liking
When I learned, we installed ground up in industrial, especially with metal plate covers. If the play cover comes off, it hit the ground etc. In residential, we always did ground down because that is what people are used to
Any appliance cord like washing machine, dishwasher, etc. (at least that I have seen) that has an angled end on it has been manufactured to be ground down. Having ground UP makes these types of cords have to go up the wall before going back down to the appliance. Some plug strips have the male plug capable of rotating to make either work when the ground is up while most single outlet surge protectors are typically ground down. Ground down seems to have fewer issues to deal with. Ask me how I know! Good videos!
I have two different receptacle testers, and to read the key to the lights you must have it plugged in ground-down. The lights are readable both ways, but the explanatory text is only on one side.
You are a great teacher! I needed you
Low profile plugs usually (in my opinion) lead out toward the ground pin. To make the cord hang down, the outlet has to have the ground down.
I now always install initially ground up. I will reverse if a plug lays better with the ground down. A personal story; We were visiting my parents house when my 4 year old son found a penny and stuck it into the space between the plug and receptacle. The grounds were all installed ground down so consequently there was remarkable spark and short and fortunately the breaker kicked quickly. My son was Ok, thank God, but the receptacle did not fair so well. Grounds up for me!
Here in North and South Carolina, I see residential orients ground down. But, in our newly built office in North Charlotte, they installed all receptacles ground up.
I have always installed a standard outlet with the ground down. When installing a half hot outlet I turn it over and install it ground up making it easy to identify. : )
BTW, with toilet paper roll mounting, front unroll is far more convention. However, if there is indoor cats in the household. back rolling is usually a necessity, as it deters feline unrolling!
wisdom🐈⬛
I just finished wiring a line gfi receptical, and of course by mistake I did it ground up. After watching this video I'm keeping it ground up....just because...I always do anything wrong the first time, but in this case - I possibly did it right ✅️
A good friend of mine is a master electrician and does mostly commercial work and I asked him this question many years ago. He told me that in most commercial and industrial applications it is specified ground up. For residential there is no correct way any orientation is acceptable. Medical offices and hospitals are always ground up. He has been working as a master electrician in NY state for 38 years now, has wired many hospitals , dentists offices and medical complexes as well as some industrial shops. He always orients his outlets ground up. I asked him about the switched outlets and his reply was "there are many different colors of outlets so use a different color if you want to designate. And as far as appliances such as refrigerators and microwave ovens they are supposed to be on there own separate circuit and a single receptacle unless behind the appliance and inaccessible, then a duplex receptacle is acceptable. these can be oriented in any direction since there is little to no likelihood for it ever coming loose. Just sharing my experience wiring a few jobs and houses with my master electrician friend and looking up the codes.
You are exactly right about the commercial vs residential. ...and if you notice the back of the receptacles in the video, you can pretty easily see that the "commercial" receptacles typically are more robust and have a metal strap around the back. Those are the ones what have the text oriented for ground up. The ones without the strap are typically geared towards "residential" use and have the text oriented ground down.
Well I don't know about typical American plugs but here in New Zealand where we have a similar but different style of outlet the earth/ground is always down. This is very convenient as many plugs have the cable entering the plug itself through the bottom and not through the back as your plug does. Having this orientation means that the cable hangs down below the plug and if the outlet were oriented with the ground up then the cable would be coming out the top of the plug, very unstable.
Additionally the active and neutral pins have 2 or 3 millimeters of insulation on them next to the plug molding so that there is reduced chances of accidental connection when the plug is part way out. By the time exposed metal appears out of the outlet the pins will have lost contact with the internal connectors. The ground pin (which is flat) is longer than the live pins so it is the last one to lose contact.
I do like the ground plug being up for the reason of a possible conductor falling on it vs hot prongs. However, with almost all plugs or adapters (wall warts) that have any mass, the ground up configuration will pull down out of the receptical from the top, exposing both the ground and then too the hot prongs, because the ground prong is not held as well as the blades. Also, in the ground down configuration there are two blades holding from the top vs one circular prong in the ground up configuration, meaning that a ground down plug stays in the receptacle when a ground up does not. Given that all receptacles wear with time, the ground down configuration has a better chance of staying in the receptacle where it can’t do any damage. Hence ground down wins in my book because I don’t want my plugs coming out… ever. The way to address this issue permanently is for the code to specify a new design(s) enabling for the entire plug to be shielded and protected from things dropping on it, then we could have our cake and eat it too.
Excellent point, especially with an unobstructed wall outlet. I want to add that when we have to plug anything behind a dresser that needs to hug the wall, the addition of an extension with a low profile plug allows us to do that rather than bending an appliance cord with the basic plug (when the dresser inevitably gets pushed into the wall) and eventually causing an electrical fire from the wire strand breaking inside the cord's insulation. Most such extension cables also have their cord hanging down off-vertical so both duplex sockets can be used with extension cords that use such low profile plugs.
We’re in the Chicago metro area conduit with metal boxes are required even in single family homes, all most receptacles are mounted horizontal, most with the hot side up, I usually install them neutral side up.
I’ve been an industrial electrician for 25+ years.
In my home all of the receptacle outlets are mounted horizontally. No issue with ground up or down. Also good for tight vertical spaces above counters, below counter top in center islands. The horizontal mounting is, in my opinion, more aesthetically pleasing.
It then becomes ground left or ground right, and since ground right is all right, I believe this is alright. 😁
You must live in Illinois. Then the Hots are up too.
@@Salty_Knuckles
Wow, hot up defeats the entire presumed point of ground up arguments.
I was becoming a bit worried prior to reading your post @johnwhitehead8006. For a moment there I thought my house was the only one that had receptacles horizontal, breaking ALL safety codes! 😥
I have a friend who is a lead at UL. He told me ground down! Water will then travel to the ground and short out or trigger a fault, and not allow you to be electrocuted from a water trickle.
Here in the UK, all sockets (aka outlets) are installed ground up.
Of course, that might have something to do with our plugs having the flex hanging down, instead of pointing away from the wall.
Also have you noticed, how your light switches operate the opposite way, to the ones on this side of the pond?
Most of your electrical gear is built better than the stuff we use in the US for a lot of reasons. Part is from your having fewer code authorities, part is from your having some of the best electrical engineers in the world at that time, part is from the speed of adoption, part is from your having to refit so many buildings after WW2.
Most, if not all accessories like grounded wall warts or air fresheners, nightlights, or whatever are ground down, or if they don't have a ground pin, oriented with the wide blade left, so wall warts with the wide blade made for left will gap with the heavy part up. It is also very nice to have every outlet the same so you can manually put the wide blade left before plugging in and never get it backward. Ground up is a major pain in the rear. I bought a house with all the grounds up - it was several hours to go orient them ground down. Of course at the same time I put identification as to which breaker each outlet and light switch went to - tremendous time saver when you have a breaker trip. Of course I also labelled the breaker box at the same time. And while we are talking about light switches, the combo units with outlets are all ground down.
If you want your plug nice and secure, Ground-Up is the best. You have the 2 prongs as a base rather than a single prong.
And about the "NO" on Receptacles Facing-Up, they're called floor mounted receptacles common for conference rooms, convention halls and retail stores.
I'm a commercial electrician and I've always been taught by the old timers is that commercial is always ground up and residential is always ground down. However, no one can ever tell me exactly why it's that way, but in Texas we do ground up for commercial and ground down for residential.
No way to tell what's up OR down in a place like Texas......
Ground down. Many outlets have metal contacts that are pinched together that hold the blades of a plug, keeping the cord in place in a socket. Having ground down, allows better stability of the cord when gravity hangs on it. As shown in the video, many cords are manufactured with ground down especially dryer cords and 90 degree angle cords. Having these cords in an opposite direction hinders keeping them plugged in.
Lastly ground down rhymes, and because it sounds better, should be used all the time. Thanks for listening.
I was once told by an electrician that we should install the ground up. His reasoning was that, If there are small children, they could be curious about the 'little faces' the outlet could portrait. They may be attracted by the 'cartoon like face' and want to play with it. Personally I prefer ground down because of power adaptors , but primarily I just stay consistent with the rest of the house, ground down.
I usually find that when plugging in something like a timer, if it goes in GD, then you can read it without turning your head upside down. Especially if it's analog with physical settings. So I prefer GD. Also, it looks like a face. I also agree with flat-plug comments.
The NEC says you must install to manufacturer specs so in those cases where there is an arrow on the receptacle fur up it needs to point up. That is always ground up.
Not seen an arrow for orientation on receptacles. Which manufacture does this and is this arrow an actual specification on/of that receptacle?
@@Merescat eaton and some leviton. It is really hit and miss which just and to the confusion.
Good to know - I've never seen an arrow. I wonder what conditions that would apply to?
@@LRN2DIY Yes. So it still is a question if this is for manufacturing or for installation. Is it specified in the sparce paperwork with the receptacle to follow the arrow for installation? Is it labeled "This way up to install" ? I'm very skeptical if it not specifically pointed out some how beyond just an arrow on the device.
Ahhh, so NEC let receptacle manufacturers decide code!
Fantastic information ❤❤
The issue that many forget about are the devices that plug into the outlet. Many are designed for ground down. This places the device such that controls are on top, text is upright, angled plugs lay right, and the hot and neutral blades are correctly oriented.
In the flooding case; it wouldn't matter as the water would always touch the ground first as the receptacle's mounting ears are grounded.
In my house, the outlets with the ground up are all switched outlets. I’ve heard that as a way to easily determine which outlets are operated by a switch 🤷🏻♂️
I never heard of that, but it is a good idea.
This is fairly common.
I tend to do ground up. This is from observing that many tines when installing or removingva plug your finger or thumb tends to ride over the top side of the plug, potentially making contact with the prongs. Ground up ensures if you do slip your finger or thumb only makes contact with the ground pin.
I'm ambivalent about ground up or down, but I'm curious to know more about the "receptical facing up" being prohibited by code. Could you tell me the relevant section? I have a couple of outlets installed in 2008 that face up and at the time it passed inspection. Maybe because NEC2008 allowed it? Or because mine have a cover? Or is just where there's potential for water intrusion like under a sink?
Another real life example of the plug shorting problem. We had an old house with loose receptacles, and there was a plug in my son’s room behind furniture which was hanging out. He dropped a book behind the furniture and it hit the plug. It was a “ Little Golden Book” which is thin enough to contact the prongs and has metal foil on the spine. It burned two spots in the spine and popped the breaker. Luckily no fire or injuries.
Even with ground up it is probably still just as likely of a bridge between the Hot and Ground prongs as it would be Hot and Neutral plugs on ground down scenario's.
@@MrT------5743 Well, technically only half as likely.. depending on which way it fell, there's about a 50-50 chance that it would end up bridging either the hot to ground (problem) or neutral to ground (not a problem), whereas the ground-down scenario is always hot to neutral (problem).
Arguably probably a bit less than half, since it has to also fall to the side in addition to falling onto the top pin(s), and if there's anything around to catch on that would prevent that motion (for example, if there's something plugged into a receptacle right next to it as well) it could also prevent shorting any pins.
Arguably, the best way to mount it to address this sort of problem would be sideways, with neutral up. That way it would be very difficult for anything to fall onto the hot pin in any way and any bridging condition would almost always be neutral to ground.
But to be honest, I really think this whole thing is a pretty minor issue in reality. There are so many many other things that are so much more likely that are much more worth worrying about, and if this was actually an issue that caused significant problems I'm pretty sure the NEC would already have something to say about it. The fact that the code doesn't specify anything pretty much says that "it's really not a big issue in practice", IMHO.
@@foogod4237 yep very minor issue. Im 47 and I have never heard of anything falling and bridging these posts. This is probably why the NEC does not have regulations on how it should be mounted.
My 2 cents on why I install receptacles ground up. I worked in a hospital in building facilities maintenance/engineering. All receptacles were ground up. If the ground is down and the plug is not totally inserted as can happen. And a metal object happens to fall onto those 2 hot prongs. What happens? Shorted out sparks flying! On the other hand. If the ground is up and a metal object falls on it. What happens? Nothing! So, install them however you please. I will stick with ground up.
I used to work for a biomedical company (we made digital EEG machines), and that was where I was first introduced to the ground-up method. I was told at that point that it was a requirement for medical devices. I can imagine that throwing sparks in an environment where pure oxygen ventilation may be used would classify as a Bad Thing™.
Agreed. Often the receptacle is itself loose from wear and doesn't grip tightly. For heavy cords etc which will pull down you often come across slightly exposed live neutral. That is a risk if unnoticed especially for dropped conductive objects, or a person who reaches blindly to unplug. With ground up the weight of the cable will rotate the live / neutral into the receptacle, while exposing the ground. In the UK, which has big receptacles and plugs, but many more built in safety features (including extra long ground prongs that make contact first), I've also seen the receptacles ground up.
And just a video on the lengths that could go to in order to design a safe system, have a look at this.
th-cam.com/video/UEfP1OKKz_Q/w-d-xo.html
1. You should have pulled up some devices from the 90's or early 2000's because those outlets were marked with the ground side as "top" meaning that they were listed to be installed ground up, but people regularly installed them ground down. I don't know of any inspector that called the electricians on the listing, however, but it was technically a code violation to install the outlets ground down.
2. The safest install for outlets is ground up (vertical) or neutral up (horizontal). If your finger is touching any of the prongs on the plug when you pull it, you are incorrectly pulling the plug.
3. As far as the flooding issue, you are supposed to install your outlets above the flood plane where possible. It's rare to have a situation where you have to install outlets below the flood plane.
I have outlets facing up in my floor, as does the business I work at. I assure you both buildings were made to code. Also all of the receptacles I purchased have a stamp that says TOP. (Ground down) But I do agree it should probably be ground up. When I change my outlets out I'm going to do ground up.
I always heard ground up was called office style. Because of the possibility of a paperclip hitting the hot and neutral. The other time I see the ground up is when it is indicating a switched outlet. You cited most of the other reasons for which position to use. I install them in what ever position a customer wants. Normally ground down.
I've never seen a 90-degree angled AC line cord constructed with the ground pin at the top. This allows the cord to hang downwards neatly when plugged into a receptacle mounted to a vertical surface (wall) with it's ground socket down.
Agree
When I was building my home shop I lost a hook when measuring and the tape measure fell across a plug that was plugged in. It made a connection across the hot and common and melted the tape. I also remember a time when hospitals routinely installed outlets with the ground up.
I’ve been a licensed master electrician from nh for over 30 plus years and I’ve never seen a problem with accidental shorts with ground down
Yeah but what you know... 😂
Even with ground up it is probably still just as likely (very remote) of a bridge between the Hot and Ground prongs as it would be Hot and Neutral plugs on ground down scenario's.
Master electricians seldom get called to investigate electrical fires.
All my outlets were upside down until I renovated and replaced them all.
They were a pain whenever I used angled plugs.
It was a good thing I did, because I found several with neutral tied to ground.
I worked at a company where all outlets out on the floor were ground UP. Because many people pull up when they remove the plug and the longer ground contact took a beating. The company had beautiful double insulated made. They had a company said that cords could only be used with the ends the came with. They threw out all cords with the ground lug broken off. I have many beautiful cords with replacement male end.
We have always had a difference of opinion at work over this. The building maintenance guys always put ground up. They say it is better to stop the hot plug from pulling out. The technicians would do ground down because they did not want to lose the ground if it got pulled out. I always just tried to be consistent. Make them all the same in a building.
Speaking as a newbie, is there an ease-of-installation preference based on the usual direction from which the wiring is coming towards the receptacle? (i.e., if the wiring is coming down from above, is it easier to make connections if the ground is on top?)
Considering how a receptacle will be used is helpful, for sure. The trick is that you never really know how it might be used, especially over decades of use, unless it's a pretty specific use-case. Great point though - definitely worth considering.
@@LRN2DIY I think they may have been asking if the direction that the building wiring (i.e. Romex, etc) feeds into the box has any effect on which way would be easier to install the receptacle.
From my experience, the answer is no. Most receptacles attach to the internal wiring with terminals on their sides or from the back, so it's about the same either way, and if people are doing things properly there is plenty of wire to reach wherever you need it to go when installing the receptacle anyway (you will typically feed more than enough through initially, and then trim it to whatever length you need when you actually install the receptacle/switch/fixture/etc based on where you need to run the wires for it), so it really doesn't matter which way around you want to mount it.
History, look at the development history of the outlet. The ground pin was ADDED after the standard outlet was developed. First to come along was the polarized outlet. When the 2 prong outlet was developed they didn't see the need for protections. Put the plug in either way the device still worked.
Fuses also came afterward.
I wired my own house (from meter to breaker panel to terminations) and wired all receptacles ground up. However, I'm going through and flipping them one by one as most appliance cords favor ground down. Also, I think people in general like to see the shocked little faces of the receptacles, but that may be my perception.
The appliance cords are the frustrating part of this. Angled cord that's wired for ground down, but your receptacle is ground up, now you have a cord going up and looping out.
I n the old days plugs were often in baseboard sideways. I much perfer that. My mom's house is done that way . Plugs sideways about 4" off the floor. I know current cod doesn't allow that but it is actually better, wires not going up the walls is a good thing.. and outlets disappear into the dark wood.
Up or down depends on the device plugged in.
If the device wire is comes out parallel to the wall, and the device itself is on a desk or shelf above the receptacle, ground should be up. If it's parallel and the device itself is lower than the receptacle, I would put the ground down. If I have a double receptacle situation and I've put ground up on one and down on the other.
where im from most receptacles are installed sideways with the hot/small slot at the top and if not its however you chose.
According to John Williamson, Chief Electrical Inspector for the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (retired), if someone submitted a proposal to change the NEC to require that ALL receptacle outlets be installed with the ground-prong up (or down), they would have to convince industry experts on various code-making panels that the ground-prong up installation was far superior and safer than with the ground-prong down. It’s likely the NEC code-making panels would reject the proposal for lack of substantiation.
The main reason there is so much debate is because electricians rely on the type of equipment that will be plugged in to determine the orientation of the electrical outlet. For instance, clothes washers, refrigerators and window air conditioners most commonly have cords with immediate-turn plugs, and so the logical way to install the outlet would be to orient it so that the plug inserts without having to loop over itself.
I do commercial electric in NC we install all our receptacles ground up. In residential however it seems like the convention is ground down
I as a electrician (28 years) now retired I do not think I have ever installed a receptacle ground down My reason is (as you pointed out in the video) Gravity as a plug tries to pull out of a receptacle gravity forces the current carrying blades INTO the receptacle A minor thing with the ground up, plugging in something in a hard reach place (furniture in the way, poor installation dark is easier (ground is big and round easier to find the hole )
I have always put the ground down. I'm currently fixing up and painting a neighbors house. There is a mixture of receptacles mounted up and down. I assume someone in the past must have changed a number of them. In each of the 3 bedrooms i discovered at least one receptacle that the plastic around the ground was broken on the top plug. In each case the ground was up. My theory is that a 3 prong wire was plugged in, and when being removed the person pulled the plug upward while pulling it out, thus cracking the plastic. That can't happen if the ground was mounted facing down. Generally you will notice on a receptacle, there is less less plastic from the ground to the outside wall, and much more plastic between the hot and neutral to the outside wall.
I go either way. I suspect the ground down is more pleasing to the eye.
Personally I think the manufacturers should make them with the ground plug on the top and bottom (outside). That way there is always at least one smiley face in the configuration. Also wall warts would fit better.
That would place the neutral and hot in the wrong position in one orientation… causing a dangerous condition with grounded appliances.
@@SuperVstech You doubt the ability of engineers to form internal mechanical connections in other than parallel lines? The hydraulic brake lines in your vehicle cross diagonally between the front and rear wheels.
@@psdaengr911 …
I've always installed ground down. There used to be Public Service ads on TV back in the 60's that used a cartoon character called "Sparky" - with a hard hat and gloves, and the hot & neutral for eyes, and the ground for his mouth. He'd have looked pretty funny with his mouth over his eyes!
What about a poll for TP? Unroll from top or from bottom?
The ground should always be down except when the cover plate is metal. Flat cord caps are generally designed for the ground to be at the bottom of the plug so the cord stays flat against the wall.
You just stated why the ground should be up. A cover plate isn't the only thing that can touch exposed prongs.
@@jeffwoehrle Worked as a commercial electrician for forty years and never saw anything else beyond an improper outlet installation that caused an outlet cord to cause an issue. Not sure even installing a plug the wrong way actually provides much protection. And on the upside down to let home owners know they have a switch plug only half the plug is generally on the switch. I see no reason for and installation that looks odd instead of all matching. If I bought a home with an upside down plug in the den I'd want it reversed to match the others so it didn't look out of place.
@@71160000 Same here. Industrial and hospitals. The only reason for ground up is gravity...and gravity is the same no matter where you are.
Beyond that, personal preference. Ground down looks upside down to me...and I have changed a few to ground up just because I liked it better...lol.
Peace.
Some cities have their own requirements. City of Odessa Texas required the ground be up. On purchased portable buildings, we had to go through and change all of them before they would permit them.
Imo ground down allows for grabbing the plug in a more natural, comfortable, and safe position. Either way, the thumb ends up on top and index finger on bottom. It's easier to imagine the index slipping into the widening gap as you pull the plug, so with conductors down, you could get a nice jolt.
As a former web developer, I can confidently say you can disregard the web sites' pics entirely. I guarantee whoever built those pages had zero electrical qualifications or instructions to follow on this level of detail. I suspect the consistency you noticed on Home Depot's site was purely due to their person being a little OCD, or just caring that much about how the site looks.
In an AvE video he explained this. Cant find it but he said it was to prevent shorts, if something metal slipped behind the the plug it would hit ground instead of hot. ?
Definitely ground down! I accidentally installed an outlet ground up in our living room when we renovated. It was in a spot that will probably never get used. At first I said to myself, "no big deal it's only one". Well that only lasted about a week as it bothered me so much. I re-installed it ground down. Lol! So yeah, it bothered me that much. My wife said it bothered her as well. She said ,"the face was upside down" lol! She wasn't wrong. It does look like a face with the ground down. Lol!
I'm with you. I can't handle ground up - it just bugs me. I actually switched a couple for this video and that lasted about 10 seconds. I couldn't take it. :)
You obviously have issues.
The national guidelines are not clear either way, but local codes may specify one orientation or the other.
I’ve also noticed, that even in the same place the orientation for residential outlets is sometimes different than for industrial outlets.
Ground on top is the old tradition. An old electrician told me Back in the old days Pictures above receptacles that had Metal Frames could fall onto a partially plugged in lamp cord causing a short. With the ground on top the metal frame hits the ground first then falls to the floor causing no Short Circuit.
If ONE finger touches both the earth ground prong and only ONE either the hot or neutral will this shock you also?
Some newer extension cords the wiring is off to the side so the outlets should be ground up due to the large prong being on the right.
I'm a fan of ground down for the lower risk of touching something energized, but if North American receptacle and plug design weren't so bad, a lot of the issues you mentioned wouldn't be issues at all
I'm a ground down guy but I have noticed that Hospitals and medical related offices are always ground up. I have no clue why but that seems to hold true nearly 100% of the time!
This is a nearly exhaustive, but omits hospital circuits. My observation is that the special hospital-grade receptacles are installed ground up in hospitals, but commercial buildings with medical offices have ordinary receptacles installed ground down like almost everywhere else. My electrician installed them ground dowm, my inspector didn’t care, and I prefer them ground down in my home. I do think plugs with a ground pin might be retained more securely with ground up, though.
The guy who wrote that “ground up” correlates with “tp unrolling down the back” is wrong. My tp unrolls down the back because the geometry of my facilities makes it work better that way. I prefer it that way anyway. In my opinion, tp unrolling down the front (away from the wall) is correct only in outhouses.
I’ll add that Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters make the safety issue moot.
Ground down! Finally the correct answer! It was always ground down and everything was made for that orientation. It wasn’t until one person had one incident that half the industry decided it would be a good idea to install them upside down, which causes way more problems than it solves.
As an electrician, safety matters more to me than convention.
@@ethelryan257
Then you don’t install them upside down, right?
Let's look at this from purely physics point of view. The ground prong is longer than the hot and neutral legs. In this respect the ground at the top would work best to keep the plug in the socket.
Just the weight of the cord puts a strain on the plug.
Most homes are ground at the bottom. In industry the ground is always on top.
I put ground up. Why? The ground plug on the majority of receptacles is usually the snugger of the 3, especially as the receptacle gets older. A cord not supported, but one that drops to the floor, tends to want to pull out. The often tighter ground port “tends” to prevent this. BTW, I have both orientations in my home. All older ones ground down, all never ones ground up. No real argument from me, but that is what I prefer.
When i first did electrical work in the 1980s the original standard was ground down. Sometime in the 1990s the move to ground up for residential became popular dur to the reasons of kids and shorting out like you showed. perfer ground down for looks.
I had an old time electrician back when most receptacle covers were metal, say that if a cover became loose it was better to have ground up
We got some fancy night lights made for LEDs with small and large blades, all our plugs were oriented with ground UP and all the night lights were upside down so I had to turn some plugs ground Down.
Every HOSPITAL (7+) in my South Florida area that I’ve visited in the past 30 years has ground up and 99.999% of the houses with ground down. Maybe the hospitals know something that house receptacles installers are missing on. To me ground up makes more safety sense but my house receptacles were mounted ground down.
Last new outlet box I mounted in the garage (yes it was GFCI), I mounted with ground up and I ‘felt safer’.
Since ground down for homes is so common in my area (almost expected), wiring houses with ground up will make people feel that receptacle has been mounted incorrectly
I used to work as an electronics tech in a hospital. The biggest cause of outlet failures was when crash carts parked in hallways were pushed violently off to some remote destination without the defib charger plug being removed first. Possibly?? the outlets suffer less in American hospitals if they are ground up. Just a guess.
the reasoning for ground down is that the grounding prong on the plug is slightly longer such that if the plug becomes partially pulled out, gravity will work to pull the plug down and the ground pin will be the last connection to be broken.
In commercial settings like hospitals, the ground-up orientation indicates a switched outlet.
In nurseries you may also see a ground-up outlet as it less resembles a face and may be less prone to tampering by curious children.
Ground left or right for sideways receptacle?
2 receptacles in one box . On ground up and one down makes your line wire on next to each other on the receptables. Also giving more options for what you are using.
as was making my comment he finally got to mention the reasons for ground up
I am in the camp of Ground UP! Because when I see a outlet with the Ground Down I am APPALLED! 8-0 (that's what the "Face" of outlet looks like.) ;-)
I heard, in some countries (Canada maybe), ground is up, so the plug mfr may stamp them one way for all locations. Just a thought
Ground Left or Ground Right?
The receptacles I have installed usually have an arrow pointing ground up. As far as toilet paper goes, under is used if you have kids or cats that like to play with the toilet paper. If it's over, they roll it all on the floor, if it's under, that isn't as likely to happen.
Ground down as it is how it is normally found and I like the cute face the deadly receptacle makes but never touch the small eye unless you want to be a wake!