It sounds like the plug isn't the problem, but rather the cord.If it's in a traffic area, could get tromped on enough to the point of wear making it unsafe. Personally i dont think any of it should be covered.

sierraeast--thanks for your reply. The outlet is under a table, so no one will ever be walking on the cord. What do you think in that situation?

maybe that would be a good question for the electrical forum if noone here can give you an answer. I think we have a few here that can though.

I was thinking that people have window coverings hanging down and covering receptacles.Maybe not as covered as a rug. The only thing that can really cause an arc from the outlet is movement, or an improper ground, or breaker tripping. As cyndy suggested, maybe run it by the electrical forum as there might be a technical/safety reason not ot cover it, possibly involving air/ breathability. I've never heard of that.My wifes mom was quite a pack rat with quite a few outlets covered and her house is still there. Better to be safe than sorry though.

Thanks for the replies. As I have been thinking about this, I rememberd the rubber strips that are placed over cords in public places to keep people from tripping on them. I would think that this rubber would work to prevent any arcing. I don't care if I have a bump in the rug under the table, so I wonder if putting this rubber over the cord and the receptable hole would work. I could also buy a different area rug that would fit without covering the outlet, but I really like the one that I have. Thanks.

I don't know about the recessed outlet, but I've had cords under my rugs for years. I did get some of those flat but stronger extension cords for the portion under the rug. You could hardly tell where the cord was. You could notice if you stepped on it, but you couldn't tell just from looking.

I think I have heard that it's a fire hazard, so I'm not saying it's definitely safe. I don't know how else you're supposed to have lamps available near your furniture unless it's all agains the wall, though.

Here is a discussion about this very thing.
link below

Here is a link that might be useful: discussion with electrician

Thanks for the replies. emmaches--we got the outlets from our electrician. They are brass and have a brass "plug" that you screw in when you aren't using the outlet. The plug screws out and you can remove it completely when you are using the outlet (but then you have to remember where you keep it so you can find it when you need to use it!).

Friends of ours were left homeless at Christmastime when an extension cord running under an area rug had a problem and their house burned to the ground. The outlet wasn't under there, just the cord. I can't vouch for the condition of the cord, or exactly what happened, but based on that and what the electrician said in the article linked above, I could never feel comfortable trying it.

No. Don't do it. Fire hazard. Tripping hazard.

Move the rug.

It's been 11 years since they posted, wonder if the house burned down?

I wouldn't run a cord under a rug.

I love old threads, but here's my solution:

How do these old threads resurface?

I don't know, but I am going to revive another oldie but goodie.

Why not bring back an early version of "best sayings of the year". That would be much more interesting than these old threads...