Safe, convenient & compliant: a Melbourne electrician talks sockets

You’ve come up with a floorplan you’re happy with.

You’ve selected your flooring.

The kitchen is perfectly laid out.

It seems like everything’s coming together at long last… almost. There’s one more extremely important consideration left (and which in our experience, is sometimes an afterthought).

Can you guess what it is?

The location of your electrical outlets can have a surprising impact on the convenience and function of your home.

Unfortunately, it’s also something that many homeowners overlook!

This week, our electricians in Melbourne explain the perfect placement of your sockets to ensure safety, compliance, and importantly, convenience.

Where to place electrical outlets: an electrician in Melbourne explains everything you need to know

Put electrical outlets right where your appliances are going

The first step in placing electrical outlets is planning the exact location of your appliances.

Obviously, you’ve already got a good idea of where the big appliances like fridges and TVs – and their associated electrical sockets – are going to go.

But what about the little things?

This is where many homeowners mess up when planning their electrical setup.

Forget about “smaller” appliances like chargers, lamps and toasters, and you may find yourself struggling relying on extension cords and powerboards once you do move in – not exactly an ideal situation!

Think about placement

You’ll want to be able to use electricity without resorting to an extension cord daily, right?

If so, you’ll want to ensure that each room has adequate coverage!

Oftentimes, a single socket in a corner won’t do it.

For bedrooms, we suggest at least two outlets in opposite corners. That way, whatever corner of the room you’re in, you won’t be far from an electrical outlet.

And for larger rooms, that number will be even higher!

Another thing you’ll want to think about is the number of power points you want to go with each electrical outlet.

Home entertainment areas and communal rooms may need to power more appliances. In many cases, you may find yourself relying on extension cords and powerboards – something you can avoid by installing:

• More electrical outlets OR
• A 4 gang (powerpoint) outlet

You may even need both – really, it all depends on what you’re planning on doing!

Prioritise safety in outlet placement

It can be tempting to request sockets everywhere for maximum coverage.

Unfortunately, safety considerations mean that this isn’t always possible!

Electricity is dangerous – safety should always be the number 1 priority in all electrical decisions, including the locations of outlets and wirings.

For example, let’s look at sockets in bathrooms.

Obviously, you don’t want an electrical outlet installed in your shower cubicle – what you may not know however is that you need a minimum 0.6m distance between the shower cubicle and the nearest outlet.

The only exception are outlets that are:

• Incorporated into a shaver supply unit
• Protected by Residual Current Detectors (RCD)
• Have a fixed rating of not more than 30mA
• Are installed in a cupboard

It isn’t something most people think of – luckily for you, our electricians in Melbourne can advise and plan to meet these regulations.

Do’s and Don’ts in electrical outlet installation

Do: ensure that your electrical circuitry can handle that many sockets

Before installing any sockets and cords, make sure that your electrical circuitry can even handle that much power being used at once.

While it’s unlikely that every single socket is going to be used simultaneously, it’s best to check anyway – doing so can prevent a whole host of electrical problems in the future such as short circuits or tripping a switch!

Don’t: use extension cords or powerboards in the long-term

While they’re great as a short-term solution, you should never rely on extension cords for a prolonged amount of time.

Remember that extension cords and power boards tend to get hot when overused – not to mention, they can also present tripping hazards throughout your home.

Finally, they just don’t look very good!

Don’t: install electrical outlets willy-nilly

It can be tempting to install outlets everywhere so that you won’t have to walk far to charge your phone or use an extension cable when you vacuum.

But do you really need that many sockets?

An overabundance of electrical outlets can be a real eyesore. So instead of installing them willy-nilly, we suggest a bit of thought and strategy behind it – courtesy of your electrician in Melbourne, of course!

Do: Call an electrical for outlet installation

As with all things electrical, safety is paramount – that means ensuring that all electrical work is carried out by an experienced, licensed electrician!

Sorry DIY-ers, this is something that you won’t be able to do without the help of a professional electrician in Melbourne.

In addition to carrying out the installation itself, your local sparkie can also advise on some of the finer points of the building code (such as the minimum distance between water and sockets that we mentioned before!)

Build the home of your dreams with our electricians in Melbourne

From installing electrical outlets to fitting out your home cinema and installing a CCTV system, our electricians in Melbourne ensure that your home’s electrical setup is:

• Safe
• Convenient
• Up-to-code

From home renovation to new construction projects, our experienced sparkies have worked on just about every type of construction project there is – and now, we’re ready to handle yours!

Just show us your blueprints, and we can get to work.

Contact Briggs Electrical today on 1300 300 222 or fill in the form to get in touch with our friendly team!