outdoor electrical outlet placement and uses?

5 years ago

What are these typically used for? Please let me know what you use your outdoor electrical outlets for?

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bluesanne

5 years ago

Our single most important reason for an exterior outlet: on New Year's Eve, my husband hauls his guitar amp (me amp goes to 11...) and plays Auld Lang Syne at full volume, ala Jimi Hendrix. This tradition began when we lived in town, with the song blasting throughout southeast Portland. Now that we live in the sticks, he plays to the coyotes in the upper balcony.

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Comments (16)

~peggynell~ Cherry
5 years ago
At least 1 on each side. Lights, lawn equipment, outdoor tv, whatever
bluesanne
5 years ago
Power tools, musical equipment, secondary lighting, charger and electric fencing for horse corrals, and much more. We currently have outlets on two sides of the house, but we could use more.
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If your house is new construction, you'll have plenty of outlets just to meet code. Other places to consider: 1. At least one on your deck for lights, fan, cooking tools, etc. 2. In multiple places around the house and yard, outlets for electric yard tools (so much quieter, easier, and cleaner than gas ones, even if the cords are a nuisance). 3. Make sure there's one that's easy to reach in the room where you'll be ironing. If you do ironing in a laundry room, the laundry outlets may be hard to get to, and the cords on irons are short. 4. Anywhere you'll need to plug in a vacuum. 5. Wherever anything that needs to be charged (hand vacs, emergency lights, etc.) 6. In the attic, basement, and garage. (My electrician installed an outlet for me in my attic for his own use and didn't charge me, rather than run a long power cord to the 2nd floor. My house was built c. 1870 and is deficient in outlets, although I've added several.) 7. Consider outlets on the walls behind the toilets for heated or bidet seats. 8. Have ceiling lights wired with 3 wires, so you can add ceiling fans later easily if you want (and have separate controls for the lights and fans). 9. Make sure that rooms with multiple entrances are wired for 3-way lights. You may need extra outlets in your home office.
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The electrician still hasn't come, so we're still kicking around ideas. Here is what we are thinking now. Tell me if you see any drawbacks. The outlets on the solid wall: Put them at the usual height 16 inches off the floor, but closer to the corners. Then, if there is no room for a regular china cabinet against the back wall, there might be room for corner cabinets. Either way, the cabinets would cover the outlets. Higher up, or even lower in the previous location and the cabinet light cord would be in view. Maybe the electrician can think of a way to put sconces on the wall without hard wiring them in. Then, dh thinks we wouldn't need the outlet by the patio door. Then on the switches, I forgot about the living room lights. When coming in through the back door, we can turn on the kitchen light or the dining room light beside the back door. The living room light used to be in the wall that we took out between the kitchen and the new dining room. So it makes sense (I guess) to put it in the box on the far side of the dining room. Then put another box on the other side of the patio door for the patio light and for the two wall outlets on the solid wall. Then, if china cabinets or sconces are there, we can turn them on with a switch instead of having to open the china cabinet doors or turn on each sconce. Or would it be better to have all the light switches in one location? On the spotlights, dh only wanted them in the corners. I want to add one in the center of the solid wall directed at a picture. Think that's enough?
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That is exactly what you need, you're good to go. Be sure to seal the back of the box to the house very well. Some people will argue that the back of that box is considered "outside" and romex shouldn't be used there lol.
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I suppose it depends on the type of mirror you plan on. But the placement on the drawing looks pretty good. Even better would be on the wall that backs up to the linen cupboard. No conflict with the mirror. In our kids’ bath, similar layout to yours but with double sinks (useless, wish there were one sink and more drawers), one outlet is on the wall on the rigth side of the vanity (in yours it would back up to the linen closet), and the other is, like your photo, to the left of the counter and to the right of the toilet. i don’t understand why. True, there is a full mirror mounted above. But anything charging like toothbrush or shaver goes on the right side, near the sink that no one uses, lest the cords dangle and pull the device off the edge of the vanity.
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Virgil Carter Fine Art
5 years ago
Mostly electricity...?
PRO
Anglophilia
5 years ago
I had one put in next to my front porch for Xmas lights. There have been times when it would have been useful to have one on the terrace - just ran a long cord into the kitchen. If I were building, I'd have one by the front and back doors for certain. I have a plug right inside my garage so don't need one there.
User
5 years ago
Lately? English Settlement, turned up loud - IMO, best XTC album of all.
chicagoans
5 years ago
bluesanne I love that! I have a bass and guitar playing son who named our dog Hendrix. Just tonight he (my son not my dog) used one outdoor outlet to vacuum out the car that he drove to The Peach Music Festival. I use my outlets for holiday lights in front, party lights in back, and sometimes random stuff on the sides (like an electric hedge trimmer.) Super handy and wouldn't plan a new house without them. For outlets that you'll use for holiday lights, be sure to have them work from switches inside the house so you don't have to go outside and unplug them when you want to turn them off. (Timers work too, but I like having the option of switches.)

Placement: one in back, near the driveway side of the house; one on the side on the non-driveway side of the house; two in front on either side of the front door.
Suru
5 years ago
I have one on my front and back porches that I've used to plug in my laptop if I want to work on the porch. I've also used it for my phone and a radio. We put a plug in the eaves for Christmas lights and it's controlled by a switch inside, but we haven't used it yet. There is one other one outside the garage man door. My husband wanted it there to plug the vacuum in when he washes the cars.
vinmarks
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
1 on front porch, 1 on side porch, 1 between garage doors, 2 on back deck-1 is on the house other is on a post where we have our kamado grill which we use for some accessories for the grill. We have 2 screened in porch areas. We have 2 outlets down low in screened porch off masterbedroom. The other screened in porch has 2 low down and 2 high up. The ones high up we put in hoping Sonos comes out with outdoor speakers. Our garage is detached and has about 5 double outlets within. We use it as a wood shop. We also have a storage room thats accessed from outside and it has a few outlets as well.
User
5 years ago
Front duplex gets used for Christmas lights and electric hedge trimmer. Have one just inside the garage I use for portable table saw/tools for projects.

One on back patio for pellet cooker, electric hedge trimmers, and what ever tools I use in the back yard.

Have two 100' long extension cords and several shorter ones which get me to any point in the yard.
User
5 years ago
One on each side of the house, one next to the AC for the technician, two switched in the back for water feature and light, three for Christmas lights (two high and one low), one on side for low voltage lights and two on patio (one next to gas outlet for BBQ rotisserie.
chicagoans
5 years ago
Forgot to mention: we have a few outlets in the detached garage, which has its own electric circuit panel. There are 3 or 4 in the downstairs part and at least one in the upstairs storage area. We use those for using the vacuum for the cars, for tools, and for using the garage as an extra party space (like when my son's band sets up in there for parties.) Helps inspire us to keep the garage tidy :).
bpath
5 years ago
Party and holiday lights (suru, great idea to put one in the eaves!), power tools, birdbath heater, music, inflating the Aerobed for backyard sleep out. In our old neighborhood where the power on one side of the street would go out, running extension cord between neighbors (shhhh...yes, dangerous, but sometimes you just have to).
Pinebaron
5 years ago
A bunch of uses as stated by others above, guitar amp? Now that's a thought and bet the coyotes would love to hear me playing Hendrix though my lead guitar playing skills are probably a little rusty now. Have duplex outlets one on each end of the home and two each on the front and rear of the property. Make sure the outlets are on a separate breaker and GFCI protected.
Laurie Schrader
5 years ago
To charge my car.
User
5 years ago
We have one outside each door exit, and extra one in covered porch, two in each soffit. I suspect we will use soffit ones for Christmas lights and cameras. Other ones as needed for power tools/garden tools, lights, etc

outdoor electrical outlet placement and uses?

bluesanne

Comments (16)

~peggynell~ Cherry

bluesanne

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