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How to safely and properly use electrical receptacles
It's hard to think of a home electrical appliance or device with as Seussian a name as electrical receptacle. But there's nothing playful about electrical receptacles (or as non-Seussian adults call them, electrical outlets). Electrical receptacles are responsible for forty deaths and about 4,000 injuries and 5,000 fires every year.
Electrical receptacle safety
If you're planning on upgrading your home's electrical system, we recommend installing electrical receptacles with safety features. About one-third of electrical outlet-related injuries involve children, who are much more prone to inserting metal objects into electrical outlets and therefore receive electrical shocks.
If you have young children in your home, a cheap and effective deterrent is to insert plastic safety caps into unused electrical receptacles that are within reach of your child.
Another common problem, particularly in older homes, is electrical receptacles that are damaged, cracked, or too old to accommodate 3-prong electrical plugs. Such electrical outlets not only pose a risk of electrical shock, they also heighten the possibility of an appliance overheating and becoming a fire hazard.
Replacing electrical receptacles
If you need to replace electrical receptacles around your home, entrust the job to a qualified electrician.
At the very least, your electrical receptacles should allow for grounded 3-prong electrical plugs to be used anywhere in your home. An even better alternative is to install ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCI). GFCIs prevent ground faults, which are a hazard particularly in wet areas like kitchens or bathrooms. That's why the National Electrical Code now requires GFCIs in hazardous locations for all new home construction.
How electrical outlets work
Part of the reason children are often involved in electrical accidents is their innate curiosity. So now that you've installed new electrical receptacles, it's safe to ask the question "How do electrical outlets work?"
Electricity flows in a circuit, and in the U.S., most home electrical circuits are on a 120-volt line. In standard U.S. electrical receptacles there are 3 holes: two parallel slots and a hole beneath them. The larger slot is neutral and the other is hot. The round slot beneath is for grounding home appliances that use a metal casing.
When a home appliance is plugged into an electrical receptacle, electricity flows in a circuit from the hot slot to the neutral slot, traveling through and powering the appliance. The amount of power that flows through the electrical receptacle is limited by the appliance you are using.
It’s important to plug appliances using a 3-prong outlet into an appropriate electrical receptacle. That third round prong is what protects you from a possible electric shock. If your electrical receptacles are too old to accommodate a 3-prong plug, you can use grounding adapters that fit onto the 3-prong plug and convert it to a 2-prong plug.
You’ll notice on these grounding adapters a flange or wire positioned on the bottom. This must be attached to the electrical receptacle’s center screw in order to function safely and properly.
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