Up Down one last time

[dnem]

I just did a final on a store that had quads all over the place under all of the counters. . I saw that every quad had one duplex ground up and one duplex ground down. . I asked why they did it that way. . They said that would accommodate right angle cord caps that had ground prong up or ground prong down.

Good idea. . I wish I had thought of that when I was a contractor.

 

[dnem]

I prefer split-wiring every receptacle in a room than switching one.

I always proposed that idea to custom home homeowners and I offered that option for close to cost. . I always liked stringing 3+g Romex alot more than 2+g. . The 2+g loves to twist and loop just when you pick up your work pace.

Little convenience ideas get you alot of mileage with homeowners. . Another thing that got me on the homeowners good side, I told them that if they were leaving during the day and walked thru the house and flipped every switch to the down position, they wouldn't accidentally leave any lights burning all day. . I was easy for me to test my 3way/4way groups and rotate one switch [if needed] before mounting. . Housewives in these big monster houses especially were tickled with this. . They have dozens and dozens of light switches and tons of lights outside, some on motion or light sensors.

If the homeowner knows that you're keeping their interests and convenience in mind, that'll give you some credit when a problem or upcharge comes up.

 

[SEO]

If somebody split wires receptacles for switching at least be consistant and switch the same half thru-out.

 

[G0049]

Years ago, I bought a new house in Colorado. Whoever did the finish wiring forgot to break off the tab between the hot side screws. That took a loooong time to figure out what the "useless" switch was for.

 

[charlie b]

I lived in my previous rental house for three years, before I became curious enough to try to figure out whether a particular "useless switch" really had a use. It turned out to be one of a matched pair of three-way switches that controlled an outdoor flood light. I had always turned that light on and off using the switch just inside the downstairs side door that was right below the light. I had no reason to suspect that if I went upstairs, walked to the other end of the house, and threw another switch by the door to the back porch, it would also control that light. For the remaining two years we lived there, we never had occasion to use the back door switch to control the side door light. So in effect, the switch really was useless. Go figure.