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My neighbor pointed out my outlet covers were upside down for 2 years
He said 'the little ground hole goes on top' and I felt like such a dummy. Does it actually matter or is that just an electrician thing?
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julia6224mo ago
the little ground hole goes on top" - yeah I had an electrician tell me the same thing once. I just shrugged and said ok whatever. Honestly never noticed a difference with mine.
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hugo_cooper4mo ago
@julia622 Actually that's a common myth. The ground hole on a US outlet is supposed to be on the bottom for safety, not the top. Reason being if a metal object like a fork or something falls onto the face of the plug, it'll hit the hot and neutral blades instead of the ground pin, which could cause a short or shock. Having the ground up stops that from happening. But I get why people think it's trivial, most modern plugs are molded real tight anyway and aren't gonna let much fall in there. Still, it's one of those things where the code folks figured out a good standard for a reason.
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grant.richard2mo ago
Start with saying I actually got into this with my own electrician a couple years back... He was dead set on ground hole up. But after looking into it myself, the National Electrical Code doesn't actually say which way is right or wrong. It's more of a preference thing based on local habits. I've seen plenty of professional jobs with the ground down and nobody's house burned down yet. So yeah your neighbor might be passing along what he was taught, but it's not some hard rule you gotta follow.
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