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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This happened to me. After my dad passed away, I unplugged the refrigerator to replace a part so Mom would still have a working water dispenser in the freezer door. Dad had replaced all of the switch plates and outlet plates in the house with brass plates. (I always thought they were gaudy.) Well, Dad didn't screw down the plate for the refrigerator. When I began to wiggle the plug out of the outlet, the brass plate dropped down immediately and landed on the two prongs. I saw a flash of light and heard a "crack" and the power to the outlets in the kitchen went out. The brass plate was scorched. And I don't remember why I was wearing rubber dish gloves, but the fingers on the right glove had scorch marks. It startled me a bit but what scared me the most was the thought of what could have happened if the breaker hadn't tripped. Those things work INSTANTLY! Thank you to whoever invented circuit breakers!!! PS: I remember now why I was wearing dish gloves. Refrigerator plugs are hard to get out of the outlet so I put on the gloves to get a better grip.

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

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

I have been an electrician since 1966 and install outlets in both directions depending one many factors. I primarily installed them ground up it is how I was taught. Back when I first started, metal plates were widely used and ground up was safer. I have also seen many times with ground down outlets , particularly with cheeper outlets, the bottom of the ground hole is broken when the flat prongs work loss and it has tilted down. I alway contend there is no right or wrong way.

I've always installed receptacles ground down, unless installing in an area where all receptacles were previously installed ground up. It has always seemed more intuitive to do so for the reasons you mentioned, as well as consistency in orientation when compared to light switches (ground and neutral left, hot right).

My Dad, a master electrician in Miami and St. Augustine Florida, taught me that it's ground down. For two reasons. The ground is the longest prong and therefore, the last one to disconnect in a partial pull out. That way the appliance remains grounded continuously until the plug is completely removed. I think he was correct.

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

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

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

There's something I heard back in the 70's about ground-up plugs being better around young children, simply because it makes them look less like a face, and so decreases toddlers' temptation to mess with them or even to stick something in them.

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

Ground has gone down for my 35 years of construction

I've also heard that when mounting receptacles on their side that you should mount them neutral up for the same reason that you would ground up in a vertical installation. But I agree, vertical outlets look odd ground up.

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

*On my new home, I am specifying sideways,* with the neutral on the top. This places the hot on the bottom, protected by the neutral and ground pins. This also separates the power cords going to the floor to be side by side instead of stacked over each other.

Recently I visited a newer government facility, for my surprise all the receptacles were installed “ground up”. Of course I have never seen that before and as showed in demonstration is hard for appliance cords that are @ 45 degrees to not fail due stress. Nice explanation! Thank you!

Thanks for covering this topic. I was asked this question 25 years ago, checked the code but didn't find any definitive answer. It's great to see your thorough review. Regarding safety of electrical convenience outlets, I worked with a group of German engineers 10 years ago and they were concerned that our US receptacle should be recessed like the ones in Europe instead of flush. Seems like a good question.

36 yr licensed electrician here and I always install ground down, I’ve never seen or heard of a fire from this method (Only a short circuit on occasion) and most customers are finally getting used to the polarized plug on the left side so to switch now would only make their lives more complicated and life is already too complicated. 🙂

Having dealt with inspectors that wanted the ground to be up in commercial projects due to OSHA rules, and having dealt with several service calls that involved metal parts contacting the conductors on plugs that were slightly loose in receptacles, I am firmly in the ground up installation camp. One was a set of keys, one was an aluminum clipboard, one was a set of tweezers, and one was a pair of metallic rimmed glasses. The main issue with the ground being down is that a metallic object could make contact with just the hot but not the neutral just by being slightly tilted, and so become and remain energized. When a person tries to remove the energized object while connected to ground through touching some other grounded surface, and if the circuit is without ground fault protection, the person will have no protection other than the breaker that will allow a lethal dose of current to flow through a person well before tripping. If the ground is up, there is a much higher likelihood of the metallic object connecting to the ground pin first before either connecting to the grounded neutral or the ungrounded hot conductor. It is far less likely for a metallic object to connect only to the hot conductor if the ground is up, and more likely to create a short between the grounding conductor and the ungrounded conductor that will allow the breaker to clear the fault without endangering personnel. I have also found that in my own shop that ground up receptacles also prevent damage to electrical cords, since the cord plug does not pull out and bend and damage the ground connector.

The patent for the grounded outlet calls it a U ground. (remember there was no ground in the bad old days). This means the ground hole looks like a U when it is installed properly. The patent drawing also shows the outlet with the ground up. As an electrician myself for 40 years, I was always told the reason was because all the wall plates were brass and obviously it would reduce the chance of short circuit should the plate come loose and fall. As stated in the video, it really has become a personal preference. My preference is up.

I'm glad you said it doesn't matter, because I just finished installing an entire houseful of decora switches and outlets ground-down in a different home. The building I worked in as an employee had them ground-up. Since my own home is ground-down, that's what I went with.

I’ve always used ground down installation. However, I think the ground up idea would be in pretty good about preventing a short if somethings fell on the outlet. I also think a ground up is stronger for holding weight up. It gives the positive and negative blade, more leverage strength, whereas if the ground down was used, the ground peg would be a leverage point giving more leverage strength, to pop the two blades out of the outlet. Just a thought.

I took an electricity for non electricians course as an industrial maintenance mechanic, they suggested ground up because most of our factory cover plates are metal and as mentioned in this video, a short is possible if a loose cover fell on the hot and neutral.

Our local building inspector is awesome. I wired my entire addition. Only thing he made me change was to add hardwire smoke detectors in as an upgrade since i had access to exposed walls. In the final he tested all the outlets even the ones i never touched. Well worth the 125 dollars for permit.

39 years in the trade before retiring. I always preferred and installed them DOWN !! Whenever asked, my reply always was "it's a "U" ground receptacle not a "horseshoe" ground receptacle. Which way looks like a "U" ?? At a code class years ago they mentioned the same reason you did for mounting the ground up. So, only in those instances. Never heard the "switched outlet" logic. Learn something new every day ---------------- no matter how old you get !!! ;o) Thanks !!

I built my house with all ground up. Over the years a number of them have been reversed to accommodate night lights, lay-flat extension cords and other orientation specific devices.

As an electrician I always mount them ground down for 90 degree cords. It also works better for most wall warts for computers etc.

I worked for an industrial manufacturing plant for over twenty-five years as their maintenance supervisor with one to eight tech. working with me. I have replaced hundreds of receptacles in the work place and in residential homes. I always put grounds down unless installing them in offices. There I like grounds up. I do like your idea on an up ground for lights which I have never done. Great idea thanks.

In North Carolina the code was changed in about 1996 to specify that the ground should be up when using a metal cover plate. The local inspectors would overlook ground down with plastic or wooden plates. I have done both in my years as an electrician except for state owned facilities which required ground up.

When I worked at a hospital, we were required to have ground-down at 18 inches or less from the floor and ground-up above that height. The reason for ground-up above 18" was that the ground lug added stability to the plug, helping it stay in the receptacle. Makes sense to me.

In Australia our sockets have ground down and are always switched . The switch has a red mark on it which shows when the switch is on. Our active and neutral pins on our plugs have 8mm of insulation on them to prevent shorts like you show at the end of your presentation. (which i found very well done!)

This reminds me of the hotly contested debate on which way the TP should be placed on the holder in the bathroom. It all comes down to user/owner preference. Really impressed you resourced the NFPA's NEC, NEMA and manufactures for guidance as I too used them my entire career.

I did ground up in my shop where there is an increased risk of metallic objects falling on the plugs. And most of my shop tools are three prong. Elsewhere, I use ground down because that's what most people expect and, like you said, many low profile plugs are built with this orientation in mind.

In Biomedical locations about 30 years ago we switched from Ground Down to Ground up. I remember when hospitals and clinics went through the entire facility and reversed ALL receptacles to ground up. This was in response to a nurse being electrocuted when her neckless (or ID badge chain) came into contact with a partly inserted plug.

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

I always install ground down. People have a tendency to unplug a cord by pulling up as well as straight out which will many times break off the ground .

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

I’m an electrical/electronic DIY person and I just go by what seems normal. I wire residential houses “ground down”, and commercial buildings “ground up”. But I like the idea of manufacturers making 120V outlets so the ground prongs point towards each other. Then there’s room to plug in two of the larger transformer chords. That’s my 2 cents. Thanks for looking. 😊

I built my house and wired it 45 years ago, i'm ground up. It just made sense to me to have the ground prong up to protect against a short.

I have been an electrical engineer for more than 25 years and live in Costa Rica, where the electrical code is based on the US NEC. (And I’ve done designs and supervised installations in the Americas -USA, Costa Rica, Mexico and other countries in South America; ranging from residential and commercial to industrial. Low, mid and high voltage as well). It is customary to install receptacles here horizontally (so in my case, seeing a vertical receptacle looks weird). This provides several advantages: - when both outlets are used, one cable does not “pile up” on top of the other. - the conduits coming from the floor go in and out side by side using the two adjacent knockout perforations, simplifying conduit installation. (Houses here are mostly made of concrete. Meaning a concrete slab and walls made with concrete blocks. Receptacles are normally wired through conduits embedded in the concrete floor or slabs, while lighting uses conduits in the ceiling). - I recommend installing the neutral slot UP, for the same reasons of preventing accidents in case of falling metallic objects on a partially plugged device. - Someone else commented that the grounding prong helps plugging in when there is low visibility. This is also true in this case. Some disadvantages are for cases when a device (like a night light) is designed for vertical receptacles and when plugged will not have the orientation intended by the manufacturer, but this is not critical.

Ideally ground up is actually the best for safety. Hospitals, other institutional and industrial jobs liked to specify ground UP. Some trendy goofy architects like to have the outlets all mounted sideways, and in that case ALWAYS put the longer slot neutral side UP. Otherwise you have the hot tab up. Generally over 90% of the time the ground goes down. New consumer grade 90 degree plugs are made for ground down but older cords on consumer, commercial & some new and all old industrial equipment 90 degree plugs were made for ground up.

I am not an electrician but agree that ground down is the best in most cases. When you push the plug in, your hand naturally wraps around the end of the plug to grip it. This causes your #1 finger to curve around the bottom of the plug. If the ground is facing down, your finger would only touch the ground. If the ground is facing up, you may touch the live blade of the plug. Great video!

Ground down, unless it's in an area where something conductive may slip in to short out hot/neutral. Examples; A bench where sheet metal work or stringing guitars is done or in a cabinet full of steel pots and pans stored...all ground UP. We had a big BANG and almost a fire in our pot and pan cabinet. A stainless steel pan lid shorted the ground down microwave receptacle. Lesson learned.

I agree that ground up is a preventative of a conductor shorts if plug is partially pulled from the receptacle. However, almost all installations I’ve made are ground down, some for cord orientation, and all others because it looks better to me. While NEC may not codify position, I believe some local codes do specify position as ground up. Thanks for posing the question and discussing the various answers. I subscribed to your channel based upon seeing this video.

For the case of side exit cord plugs, the ground UP works for a power board or appliance on a desk where the socket-outlet is under the desk or in a laundry where the dryer is above the washing machine.

Love the hat - 24 year Air Force veteran here. Thanks for all the info. - I'm trying to get things straightened out at our house. Your videos are a huge help.

Hi John. I am In Houston TX, and I have never seen an actual stated preference in the NEC. But your explanation of when a receptacle is controlled by a switch is a good method to assist in identification of a single or two receptacles. Either way is compliant. and an inspector may ask. We have a few tough ones, but their concern is primarily life safety. The ground up method for safety is interesting, but most applications are designed for ground down. I think as long as the receptacle is secure, its likely ok. It is good to review the basic principles occasionally, and your previous video of the NEC 2023 changes to Neutral or Grounded conductors was a good reminder, especially if it is a new installation. These are great videos.

I was in residential construction for 15 years and remember that most electricians used ground up in commercial applications only, like Hospitals, Doctors offices and any medical facilities as those were required by code. Residential properties here in Michigan don't require any certain way to mount the recepticle as long as there are GFI breakers in areas required by code like Kitchens, Bathrooms, Laundry rooms etc.

I learned it the same way as you and I agree with ground down. I was taught that if the plug was to fall out of the receptacle the ground would disconnect last. I also was told that either way was ok as long as it was consistent throughout the job.

Every house (that's six houses) we have owned has had the receptacles installed with the ground plug down. If you have any flat plug extension cords, the ground plug is usually on the bottom. If the receptacle has the ground plug on top, the cord will curve over the top instead of lying against the wall.

I usually ask the customer if he (or she) has a preference. However, I prefer the ground pin up because if a metal cover plate is being removed and falls onto a plug, the power and neutral can contact the metal cover plate and short out causing a loud pop and lots of sparks. Not a desireable outcome. I often inform the customer of this possibility and many decide they want the ground pin up.

Thanks! Our house has a combination of ground up and ground down, I always thought that it was bizarre. Now I know that the builder may have had a reason for installing the receptacles this way.

I saw the ground down receptacle behind you as soon as the video started :-) This answered questions about which is the right way I had floating around in my head. Well done, easy to understand, informative and no extra crap or fill, just the facts.

In addition to the 90° plugs, although not as common as they used to be, every three prong "wall wart" power supply I have ever seen is designed for ground down.

In my opinion, based on a lifetime of experience, the greater concern is the quality of the duplex outlet. I submit the "residential grade" outlets should NEVER be used - anywhere. The lower quality materials mean they all too quickly wear out; thus resulting in loose connections with increased resistance, heat buildup, and fire danger. Additionally, the housings seem to crack far easier than any spec or commercial grade unit.

I've been in the business 45+ years (now retired, but still doing "side-jobs"!). Back in the "old days", receptacles were referred to as "U-ground receptacles", because that ground terminal was (is) "U" shaped (when installed in the "proper" orientation with the ground on top). However, in my years of work, 99% were always installed with ground on the bottom... with rhe exception of some commercial/industrial and medical installs, where the ground was usually on top. Typically, for most residential work, the only recep's that were installed "ground up" were when the receptacle (or ½ the recep) was switched... as for lighting in a room. Also, if you looked closely at the receptacle itself, the name (i.e. "Leviton") & other info was right-side up when the ground was on top, and upside down with the ground on bottom. Nowadays, I only install ground-up on switched 125v recep's (as previously mentioned), and also when installing 15A & 20A, 250v (NEMA 6-15 & 6-20) recep's. Also, ever notice that 30 & 50 amp, 125-250v recep's have the ground on top? Hmmm...🤔

Been doing ground up for years after a friend pointed out the exact scenario you did with the screwdriver. I work for a home goods manufacturer and some of our units are coming with low profile cords with the ground up. I also have some (but not all) GFI outlets that the "test" and "reset" lettering is oriented for ground up install.

I prefer ground down because many(most) plugs and especially wall warts don't work right in the ground up plugs! Don't forget that even if it doesn't have a ground it most likely does have polarized plugs and so they get forced to be upside down. I have even had one wall wart that would fall out when forced upside down.

My 60-year-old house was originally ungrounded. At some point, grounding wire was added to several of the circuits, and the electrician changed all the receptacles, wiring the grounded receptacles ground down and the ungrounded receptacles ground up. I've added grounding wire to several other circuits, replaced all the receptacles with GFCI, but I've kept the same convention (although I've also added "Not Grounded" labels to the ungrounded receptacles.

I haven't looked through all the comments, but some appliances have plugs angled from the cord into the plug body. I'm just a handyman, but an elderly electrician schooled me to install the outlet so the cord is in a relaxed position when it's plugged into the outlet.

I've seen both wiring methods used; it seems to be simply a matter of preference (although ground down seems to be most common). I've even seen receptacles mounted sideways, particularly in older homes.

I'm not an electrician but I learned alot from this video. All great points, probably why there is no code requiring ground up or down.

Thank you! Excellent Presentation. I do work all over the country and it is surprising how may electricians have been taught that up or down ground orientation is a code issue. Thank you for covering not only code, but also manufacturer instructions, AND national standards & Applications. Strictly for looks I like ground down. If there is a reason to not use ground down, it is that it looks more like a face which could attract some children to play with it. Some children will play with receptacles anyway, so I make mine safe with the rotating covers, but this is a thought.

when I started to install my 1st outlet I came to this problem which was quickly solved by thinking the 'ground' is down because that is where the 'ground' is and that is where the ground wire is connected outside. literally to the ground. and I also think it looks better that way.

I worked as an electrician for a public water utility. We put the ground up for the reason with using extension cords. We found when dragging the cords around working from high ladders or across the floor the plug would have less chance of pulling out from vertical up or down pulling.

Late to the party. I normally install vertical receptacles ground down. Personally I think it looks better, also when using right angle plugs the cord is orientated toward the floor. I install horizontal 120V receptacles with neutral on top for a tiny bit of extra safety. But as you said it is up to the installer.

I’m a electrician. I always install receptacles with lower ones ground up…if something falls and a electrical device is 1/2 plugged it could short, with ground up it will prevent shock/spark.

I’m not an electrician, just a dumb old engineer. I like the concept of putting all outlets in a residence the same way except for switched outlets which should be different. When I designed my house I had all outlets installed ground up and switched outlets installed sideways. But, as you said, the choice is up to you.

I always thought ground up was for hospital installations to reduce the chance of spark in an oxygen environments. But, I like the ideal for switch outlets going ground up also.

If all teachers explain like you do Sir, we'll be living a much better place. I'm dead serious.

My first thought at the start of video, was 90° plug issues with ground up version. However...I used to work for communications companies, and among many other job duties, I performed quite a bit of work in several different hospital ERs. There are 90° male three prong plugs that are actually designed backwards from most three prong 90° plugs. The ground prong is on the opposite end from where the electrical cord enters the connector, so on a ground down outlet it would be plugged in "upside down", with cord on top. I actually have a couple of this style male connector in use for some of my own extension cords with multiple female outlets on the other end. I've been a musician for well over 40 years, and some of the smaller venues unfortunately do not have much available for electrical outlets. And often one of the other guys is plugged into an outlet that I need to use and they are already using a 90° in the bottom port on the outlet, so this way I can plug into the top with my 90° and it will actually work. I have extremely heavy duty cords that I use for these extension cords, I make all of that type of stuff up for myself. You might think, well why not just use a straight plug end to avoid that, the reason is because often in a stage setting you don't want cords sticking out away from the wall like that because bad things can happen, lol.

At 4:44, this makes sense - except that the manufacturers of 90 degree plugs aren't consistent. I have a freezer from a major manufacturer with the plug oriented the other way - with a ground down receptable, the cord is making a 180 as it hangs down to the floor. I've also got a window AC, and two heavy-duty extension cords oriented this way as well. It makes me want to mount all my receptacles sideways!

As a master electrician and a teacher in the electrical industry, I'll admit I came here expecting to get into a fight 😂 but your explination was spot on and very watertight. I too was always raised to do ground down, with the "first make/last break" arguement. If someone were to step on the cord, the ground is still fully in tact, while ground up could potentially be an interrupted grounding connection while the ungrounded connection could still be established. Basically, at this point I just tell guys "pick a method, and stick to it." If it's grounds up for you, make sure they all go in that way. Uniformity is neat & workmanlike. 110.12

I’m no electrician and I learned a lot from your video which is the point! Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I agree, with the ground up, it does look upside down! 🙃

I almost always prefer ground down, mainly agreeing with your reasons (even before I heard them). As a 70+ year-old, ground down is the correct way, regardless of the minuscule chance of something metallic falling on the prongs. And, for consistency, I'll make sure ALL outlets are oriented the same way (ground down). With one exception -- I do have a couple of old extension cords that need the ground up for the cord to hang down -- in these cases I'll defer to what makes sense based on the plug. What I always found much more interesting, and likely, and exciting is, again, based on my age. In my young days we always set up our Christmas tree in the middle of an electric train board with the tracks going around the tree. Remember when tinsel was aluminum? The rest of this story is left as an exercise to the reader! I also like your idea of having switched outlets uniquely mounted ground up. They don't make outlets that would work for my shop, though. All the lower outlets on the receptacle are constant on, and the upper ones are switched. I've never seen a duplex with differing orientations between the 2 outlets that would satisfy this constraint.

Ground Down is my vote. I have been an electrician for 50 years. That’s what I was taught and that’s the way they are laid out in the CEC book.

John, there is another mitigating factor I personally ran into. The local fire department. I used to be the maintenance Forman in a Culver City, California manufacturing company, the local fire inspector had me turn every blasted receptacle upside down, close to 3000 or so. His reasoning was not only the falling object short, but he said all the hospitals have to do it that way. This was about 40 years ago, so this whole issue was probably new and open discussion for everyone, I would guess. Ground down looks right side up to me. But also, if you have an object fastened against the wall firmer at the top than bottom, it would seem to me the holding power would be greater than vice versa. It seems to me the two blades would have more of a holding power than the single ground. In other words, it seems to me with a good plug (not an old lose one that needs to be replaced) would have a harder time to roll out of the receptacle. Well, that's this reporters' opinion. LOL I'm with you no matter how I slice it.

When we bought our current house, all the outlets were installed ground up. It drove me crazy so I changed them all to ground down. Pretty much all 3 prong flush mount plugs are designed for ground down.

Thanks for bringing this subject up. Needs discussion, but IMO I believe that ground up certainly dictates a need for plugs to either be rotational, or manufacturers need to offer 3 prong extension cords made with corresponding plugs for ground up…as your video clearly shows.

While I understand the 'safety' logic of employing "ground up" when installing receptacles, I still favor the "ground down" method, for all of the reasons he mentioned in his video, plus one more. Currently, most manufacturers of things like timers, smart home devices, and "flat plugs" like the one shown in the video, all continue to orient their dials, printing, and instructions based on the ground down placement. I will continue to place my receptacles ground down. Excellent video!

As a Home Inspector I see it both ways and really appreciate the research of all viable codes/sources for an answer. This video was very professional done and informative which gives me the knowledge to pass to my home buyer.

There is no right way, unless local code specifies. In finished rooms I use ground down to match how most "wall warts" mount (those with polarized plugs) and 90 degree cords (as you stated). In workshops, unfinished basements and garages, I use ground up. It helps limit the possibilities of things falling down along a wall and making contact with the hot & neutral. That is my choice anyway.

I am an industrial electrician for many years and I personally like down and never had a problem. Most of the electricians that I have seen installing them ground up said they have done work in hospitals and were instructed that way.

When I built my house 27 yrs ago I hired my best friends brother to do my electrical work. He was an industrial electrician who decided he was going to do residential wiring. This turned out not to be such a good idea on my part. While he was a good electrican, he didn't know anything about residential construction and made some very basic mistakes that caused issues (recepticles over the counter too low prohibiting the use of the counter backsplash, running wires across the basement stairway before it was cut out, etc). We caught and corrected most but one that I didn't was he installed every recepticle ground up. Most of the time this isn't a big issue but when you put in a 3 prong plug in as you mentioned, the plugs want to be installed ground down. I could (and probably should) flip them all around but since it hasn't been a big problem I just haven't done it but in my opinion, ground down is the way to go. Any that I've installed since have always been ground down.

I always do Ground Up for the arc safety. But it really comes down to who folks trained under - that seems to be the primary determinater of which method folks follow.

When first installing receptacles as an apprentice, over 50 years ago, the journeyman I worked with said we ought to install them DOWN, because down shows "smiley face", while down shows a frowny face. I too, just think they look better AND for appliance receptacles, as stated here. the appliance cords work better in down receptacles.

I bought my home 40 years ago. It was built in 1936 and won a nationwide design contest as the best design small home in America! The builder was way ahead of his time in so many regards. One particular uniqueness he incorporated was installing all electrical outlets horizontally. I had never seen this before, and only rarely since. Personally, I am amazed that this is not the norm more than the exception.

I had a bad experience with a kitchen wall receptacle that was ground down. The outlet had one of those bare chrome plated metal covers. This cover, held in place with a single center screw between the two outlets, as is common, worked loose over time. As I was pulling a plug out of it. Well down it came thanks to gravity, contacting the two hot side blades on the plug, way too close to my fingers. I was lucky not to get shocked or burned. This produced quite a light flash and sound show, before tripping the breaker in the main box. So, even though this is probably a rare occurrence, I will never again do a ground down installation if a metal faceplate is on the outlet, or I replace the cover with a plastic one.

In California schools, outlets are usually installed ground up. In Residential, ground up usually means switched receptacle

I hate arc fault receptacles. They trip every time the toaster pops.

Hi, I agree with you on "Up or Down". I have all of mine down except 1 wall receptacle on the left side of my bench because I have some storage bins on that side where I store screws, nuts, and washers. I just feel that if they should happen to fall over and nock the cord loose for my charger there is less chance of it shorting out.

So in the discussion promoting up it was stated to prevent a falling object from arcing. Ok. Now the room is flooding and fills with water bottom up. It hits the 2 blades first and electricity travels between them but does not immediately go to ground. I'm no electrician but the logic for up was only applied in one way it seems. (but you wouldn't have a fire with all that water lol)