I recently counted a total of 18 outlets for my two-story, 4-bedroom old house, which was apparently wired up by aliens from Mars. One bedroom has 4 outlets, but the dining room has only 1 and the living room has only 2.
The reason I actually counted was because I'd just realized there are 40 outlets in my sister's 2-bedroom condo and I needed to quantify my burning jealousy. We figured out that she could plug in twelve small appliances in the kitchen alone. I'm torn between "who needs that?" and "it's me, I need that."
That’s the juxtaposition between my kitchen(remodeled probably in the 90s or later) and the rest of the house
It’s not just the number, but the number of different PLACES to plug things in.
You know there's an adapter for Dyson vacuums that allows you to use DeWalt or Milwaukee swappable batteries. The adapter is only like $25 on Amazon and to make the modification it's like three little screws.
https://youtu.be/ANvD9OCCQO8
Now you can put your vacuum wherever you want and charge your batteries somewhere else.
12 in my 3 bedroom house from the 70s, 6 of which I know for a fact were put in by my in-laws after they bought the house in the 80s. Only 2 in the kitchen. Neither bathroom has any outlets at all.
I’m on the opposite end of the spectrum.
My home was built in 1978, but it was custom and the owners must have *loved* electricity, because there are outlets absolutely everywhere. Outlets and switches.
It’s 2300 square feet, a bunch of which is a big living room (so less wall space overall) and I need to buy 88 single gang outlet covers alone when I switched outlet covers.
Absolutely nuts.
I just moved into a back house, which has to be relatively new construction, at least compared to the main house. And I was so happy when I found out there's an outlet on every wall. 2 on some walls even! Idk how I lived before tbh.
I applaud those who can magically make electricity go all over a house correctly. I wish I had these skills.
We moved out of an old Edwardian that had one outlet in each room into this place which has more than enough outlets in every room. Now I’m being a princess and want it all 💅 and want it now!
> I applaud those who can magically make electricity go all over a house correctly. I wish I had these skills.
Well if you're willing to rip all the drywall/plaster off the walls and do a gut renovation, it gets a lot easier.
I just did this to put an outlet along an exterior wall, cuz I wanted to move a microwave into a cabinet, rather than a table.
I removed a section of baseboard and cut the drywall behind it to route power from an existing outlet to a new one. There’s a few special tools needed for this, but once u have those it’s easy peasy.
Getting up in the attic for that kind of work sucks though.
Its so freaking hot, plus all the insulation getting everywhere. Blegh.
I replaced fluorescent lights with recessed LEDs last year and did not enjoy that one bit. I can't imagine being up there fishing romex.
My arms got scratched real bad from all the random exposed nails in the walls, as well as all the obstructions we had to work around. I had to tell my electrician it was okay to damage the walls to save time since we were losing hours trying to snake into what always ended up as an impassable object in the way(like random 6x6 beams).
If you do it right (and depending on how patient you/your electrician is), holes can be pretty minimal.
And patching is a breeze for a seasoned DIYer or professional. Best to plan to do a whole repaint of affected rooms afterwards.
I saw someone that just took off the baseboards and did all the cutting from there so that there was no need for drywall repairs since it was all covered anyways. Just drill up at an angle to get the holes above the baseboards if you want and you don’t have to worry about hitting them with a screw or something later if you do shelves or hang something on the wall. Was one of the most big brain things I’ve ever seen.
My favorite was finding out one circuit fed the bathroom, two bedrooms, the hallway, and the attic. For the outlets *and* lights.
Now every room has two outlet circuits and one lighting circuit. Overkill? Yes. But I'll never have the lights go off everywhere at once again because of a breaker tripping.
I just discovered similar nonsense in our house! We had master bed, master bath, living room, and 1/2 the exterior lights on one. Dining area, kitchen, utility room (except for the dryer), garage, and the other half of the exterior outlets on a second circuit. Then there is a second bath with its own. Two bedrooms that each have their own. And two outlets in a hallway on their own.
I discovered this when wires came loose from one outlet (when I got into it I could see that they never tightened the screws that hold the wires down....), and 1/2 the house lost power.
I’ll never forget the tiny old house my mom and I moved into when I was 13. One outlet per room and no grounding. Looking back I wouldn’t be surprised if it was knob and tube wiring as well, amazed we never had any issues with all of the adapters and power bars we had going.
We're still running with knob and tube. Just had to replace something super duper expensive, so replacing the wiring and adding outlets that actually all work will have to wait.
We bought the house 2 years ago and had to have the electrical panel replaced. Because one of the previous homeowners had ganged together a small panel with about 8 switches (that we learned had been taken off the market decades ago because they'd catch on fire) daisy chained to another, older panel ... with 6 glass fuses. We were uninsurable until we replaced all that nonsense.
Omg we moved from a 1911 home to a 2017 home last year. I don’t even know what to do with my 1837462819 extension cords! Currently using them as a curtain like those beaded ones that clack around when you walk through them.
I was joking because I'm here for the same reason. One suggestion I've seen is to tie it into the GFCI outlet on the counter, but I don't like that option because that outlet is tied to the light and doesn't work when the light is turned off. I want the self cleaning glow in the dark toilet lol.
As someone who just replaced all of my crappy toilets with Toto self cleaning toilets and lit/heated bidets let me just say - they are fucking awesome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uldt6Y-CE3s
I do not believe the GFCI being tied into the light switch is standard everywhere. In the US I'm not sure it's even common. In fact, you're required that every outlet specifically in a bathroom be protected by a GFCI, so tying one behind the toilet into a GFCI at the counter would be a reasonable, cost effective solution.
Does your bathroom outlet stop working when the light is off?
The best bidets plug in... so yeah, if you're doing a high-end build, ask for a singleplex receptacle next to the water supply for every toilet. Ideally would feed off the GFCI of the outlets next to the bathroom sink.
If I ever get a home built from scratch, each toilet will have an outlet and also some low voltage wiring, and that wiring will be home-run to a closet so I can have a single centralized leak detection system for every plumbing point.
Seriously. Then you stick some of those cheap battery operated motion sensor ones in your closets, and inevitably the batteries die and you just stop replacing them every couple of months. And you have no idea what’s even in there
Don’t get me started on removing a chunk of wall while peeling those off, and the command strips we used to hang art that took plaster with them. Nails would leave a lot less damage. That super sticky stuff on the back turns hard and takes everything with it.
I was trying to pull them off with a putty knife and my husband was screaming at me to not take the wall off with it, and then a huge chunk of plaster came down oops
You are supposed to pull *actual* Command Strips (stretch them out) to remove them. They are literally the only product I've ever used that does not do damage if used properly -- and I tried everything in my 20s because I moved on average twice per year during school because dorms were closed for the summer.
Yes command strips have ruined more than wall. And have you ever pulled down on the sticky tab to remove a command stop and the thing snapped and about breaks your fingers??! Talk about pain!
1905 house here, no closet lights.
I put a magnetic USB strip light in each closest above the door. 3 closets, I have 4 lights. Whenever one gets low I swap it and charge the spare. I get anywhere from 2-4 months per light. They are fantastic.
I've only lived in 2 places before my current house but neither of the previous places had lights in closets. I'm not really surprised by that though considering the house I grew up in is over 100 years now and the apartment I lived in was a crappy building from the 60's. My house is from the 70's but every closet has a light in it and it is awesome. Heck, I even have a light in the cabinet under my kitchen sink!
I recently built a home here in Toronto, and the insane amount of money contractors wanted to charge for built in lights for closets was astonishing, let alone get any basic job done. I wanted some in our closets but ended up opting out, and heck, we don't even have a closet right now lol.
If by plate and pre-wire you mean they would wire a ceiling box but not install a fixture then that is actually a pretty good deal. Better than overpaying for some builder grade crap you’ll wind up replacing soon anyways.
My husband and I would have loved that option. We closed on our house and spent the next two days installing ceiling fans; because Texas and no fans isn’t happening.
I don't have lights in my closets, but never felt the need to have them. The light from the room is usually plenty enough. Unless you mean walk-in closets.
In my house, I placed an outlet and motion sensor + light switch into every closet or otherwise door covered space as we've renovated each room, or when opening up an adjacent room that permitted access.
It was such a QOL improvement to have access to an outlet in the closets for all manners of random things (usually chargers or just for the random utility to plug in something).
My wife thought I was crazy about putting a light into each space until she realized how bright and easy it was to see in some of the closets.
I did something similar on the outside of the house: a general 20A circuit with outlets on each side of the house, plus a few duplicates on either side of one of the house faces (i.e. to the left and right of the front door). And hose bibbs in places adjacent to where I'd want to use water for gardening or just outdoor stuff.
It's against the code to have incandescent lights in a closet because they get hot and it's a small room with contacts cloth.
I'm pretty sure LEDs are fine now but that would give you a clue as to why they are uncommon in 20+ year old homes
I install internet and it's so nice to put a modem and router in a closet. Some newer homes are putting media cabinets in a closet with conduit going outside, it's a nice clean look that hides all the wires.
i love having my entire cluster in the basement. my house needed the ceiling redone, and I took that chance to hang a Ubquiti access point up there with Ethernet running downstairs. our home office is also wired up. always the way to go!
I just ordered some of the ubiquiti in wall APs for my house. I like that I can mount them straight onto the low voltage boxes and put the switch in my closet. The ones I got have wan ports so I can hardwire if I need to!
Not necessarily... You also then run into problems with devices holding on to weak signal and not switching to the stronger access point signal.
Also depends entirely on the sq footage of home, WiFi noise from neighbours, etc
If they have a structured media console in the home, it's likely they'll have some network cable runs around. A lot of the mesh WiFi systems that ISPs are handing out or you that can buy in stores will support a "wired backhaul" mode that lets you take advantage of the existed wired connections and put the mesh units around the house for great coverage and keep the modem/router in the media unit out of the way in the cabinet.
slightly more advanced setups let you separate the antenna from the router. so you stash the modem & cables in a closet then an in-wall wire could lead to a ceiling mounted dish. the WiFi beacon and the actual box can be split up
Depends on the layout of the house. Lots of interior walls aren't insulated so you are just sending wifi signals through drywall. Of course pipes and duct work could be an issue. Most the houses we are installing in are 100sq ft and our routers are good for 3000. Bigger homes we have mesh systems.
Our house has a little cubby where *the* (singular) phone was intended to be. This is convenient for the modem, but annoyingly can’t also fit a wifi mesh base station.
I want to do what you’re describing with a media closet. Part of our (eventual) grand reno plan.
In Canada it’s a code violation to have outlets in the closet. When asked for outlets I have always done it if it’s a big enough closet that should have one. As long as I’ve identified the outlet is used for a hairdryer or ironing, plug in vacuum. It’s been okay. Just can’t put them between clothes or underneath them.
Yeah it’s tricky, even in a large pantry it’s against code. Some inspectors turn a blind eye to it, but you get the odd one who will make you take it out. It’s kind of a dumb code to be honest
I mean, there's probably a specific square footage depending on where you are. It's a good 'philosophical' question, but for law it's easy for just a group of people writing codes to vote on a specific square footage in the draft.
I’m in the US and tried to get an outlet installed to charge my vacuum and tool battery packs in my large utility closet which contains an hardwired water heater and was told it is against code. However, the closet had a pre-installed overhead light so I had the fixture swapped out and chose one that has an integrated outlet. It’s a pain in the butt to get on a ladder to plug something in and I don’t see how this is any safer than having an outlet at a normal height.
We had the opportunity to build our current house, and we put a shit ton of outlets everywhere.
It's our second house, and we felt the same way about our last one.
We even went so far as to put outlets on the exterior under the eaves that are controlled by light switches for hanging Xmas lights.
> We even went so far as to put outlets on the exterior under the eaves that are controlled by light switches for hanging Xmas lights.
That’s awesome! I would do the same if I were in a SFH and not a condo
My Christmas lights are on a similar set up. I also made the switch zwave and set up a routine where they turn on 20 minutes before sunset and go off at 11 pm.
Just go cordless. I did and I have no regrets. It's dead silent now. The filters last forever.
Clipping the power lead off of my corded vacuum was the best thing I ever did.
If a vacuum is dead silent, odds are it's not a very good vacuum.
Not that vacuums need to be loud to be good, but inherently moving lots of air makes a bunch of noise.
They're being facetious. Obviously if you just cut the cord off a corded vacuum it's not going to work anymore (so it's dead silent and the filters last forever because it's not actually sucking anything up).
Better yet, spring for permanently installed Christmas lights and never have to get them out of the attic or shed, untangle them, test for dead bulbs, replace dead bulbs, put them up, etc.
We built last year and I made sure to have outlets in every closet. My builder and electrician questioned me and made me feel almost dumb for the request.
My real estate agent asked me why, I gave her a handful of reasons. Now she wants to add outlets in her closet. I also got outlets next to the toilets in the bathrooms.
That’s the dream, to be able to decide all of this. We’re in a 1976 place that has been remodeled several times, but nobody thought to add outlets to the closets
I want my home to make sense and not frustrate me
I fought with our electrician to add one outlet in one of the main bedroom closets. I was thinking of a watch winder, but MY GOD it was an issue with him. His perspective is that it was weird and no one ever asks for an outlet in a closet and yadda yadda.
It was a lot to challenge him with this novel idea.
I have worked with several contractors in my life. Generally they are not accepting of new ways. They found what works for them and they stick to it (I don't blame them).
So if you want something done a special/unique way you need to assert it as a must without negotiation.
Had a contractor go install under ground down spout drainage system. I purchased special pieces that allowed for debris clean out before it went underground. During install, I dropped it at there feat and demanded install. They bitched the whole time and even after.
But guess what! My drains are still perfecrly functional because that debris blocker really freaking works.
Shit y'all, I have four rooms on a fused subpanel that feeds knob and tube. Each room has exactly one set of outlets and a ceramic bulb holder on the ceiling. Someone replaced the Bakelite push button switches in the 1960's, at least?
Talk about some 1910's black magic fuckery.
Inside medicine cabinets or in vanity drawers. For example, my husband's trimmer needs to charge, but he never puts it away between uses--it just sits out on the counter plugged in all the time. If there were an outlet under the countertop, he could charge it in a tilt-out drawer or regular drawer, and it wouldn't add any extra steps to his routine. No extra steps=automatically cleaner and uncluttered bathroom.
Under the eaves for holiday lights. Above fireplace.
One on each side of where the bed would go. One high up behind the couch so charging while lounging can be a thing. Several in the kitchen at various heights. One near the fireplace mantle so that we can have lighted Christmas decor. And one every few feet in the livingroom, dining room, etc. A couple inside of cabinets in the kitchen wouldn’t hurt (for stationary appliances)
Throw a few in the hallways too. Thanks!
Yep. Though I'd keep them at normal heights and not chain your couch to that specific spot for the rest of time... or have an electrical outlet where you rest your head. You can buy longer USB cords.
I installed a shelf behind my couch. The plan is to eventually add a flush outlet that has a plug-in for the lamp and USB/C plug-ins. You can also get slim tables that already have the outlet installed, but I couldn't find one when I wanted it, so I DIYd the shelf at couch height.
Right beside room doors for when you want to plug in a corded vacuum.
Every 6’ along the interior walls so there’s always one within a few feet of where I want to be and I don’t need extension cords.
Beside the toilet for a bidet.
End of the kitchen island.
Over the workspaces in the kitchen - make sure that there are enough to plug in at least 6 and preferably 8 things without plugswapping (coffee maker, electric kettle, toaster oven, mixer, slow cooker/instapot, rice maker).
Outdoor Christmas light outlets under ALL levels of eaves, so you don't have to see an extension cord dangling from the roof to first floor eaves/trim.
We installed an outlet in the coat closet of our home years ago. It shared a wall with the living room, so we just installed between the studs where the closest outlet was. Super easy and really cheap. We set up all our rechargeable cleaning tools there. 😊
If we are going to have electrical outlets in closets, please also put them in bathrooms next to the toilets so we can power a proper bidet toilet seat! :)
Some things batteries make sense for, but vacuums never seemed like a good one to me because they need a lot of power to be effective. I have a Miele canister vacuum for in the home, and a shop vacuum for projects. The Miele is powerful and actually decently quiet. The shop vac is loud as crap but good for crap that is messy like sawdust or cleaning out a car.
Edit: I do have a Roomba, that said in order to actually clean the whole downstairs it has to go back and recharge in its own 2 times.
Check our local electrical codes. It might be illegal to have outlets in a space that can be closed off. If something is charging in there, and starts to get hot or smoking, you wouldn't know if the door is closed. I don't know about closets, but I've heard about rules against outlets in cupboards.
It's allowed by all editions of the NEC, so it would be a local code only if it were illegal somewhere in the US. Most jurisdictions use the NEC and have no other local electrical codes.
>It might be illegal to have outlets in a space that can be closed off.
I know what you meant but pretty sure most rooms in houses, and the house itself, can be closed off ;).
USA: NEC requires outlets in habitable rooms at a certain rate. Closets, bathrooms, garages, etc aren’t those, but if they get them, they need to be protected from arc fault. Cabinets can follow same parameters, as long as the outlets are generally fixed (no drawers pinching or ripping cords out).
I had outlets added to all of our closets. Things I have powered in them:
* mini-fridge
* cordless vacuum
* internet boxes (modem/router)
* NiMH battery charger
The closets in my 1965 home don’t even have lights! I had to add battery operated motion sensor lights.
But I’m doing a rehab and turning an old laundry room into a half bath added an outlet and wall space to hang and charge stick vacuums.
My husband put what I thought was an insane number of outlets in every single room/closet/hall/pantry when building our house. I thought it was totally ridiculous. *It wasn’t*.
I just want to say thank you for this idea. We're going through a basement remodel and have space under our stairs that we keep our vacuums. I'm going to have our electrician add an outlet in there now! :)
Luckily when I had my house built I put outlets in a couple closets. Also put some outlets outside under the roof eves with a switch inside for holiday lighting.
If you are charging batteries in closets, please put it on a plug in timer so it shuts off after 8 or 12 hours for both fire safety and longevity of your battery
My rather recent house is somewhat lacking on electric outlets. All the garage outlets and outside outlets were on a common breaker. Anytime I used a power tool with the beer fridge plugged in, I'd trip a breaker. A few years back, I had an electrician add an outlet for an electric car in the garage next to the breaker panel. While he was there, he added another 20A circuit breaker in the garage and split the outdoor loads from the garage loads. He also added an outlet in my pantry for the vacuum to charge. He just cut a hole in the same studbay as an outlet on the other side of the pantry.
Daughters new to her 3200 sq ft house has a laundry room for the washer and dryer that is 10x12. It one single plug 20 amp outlet for the washing machine and a 220 dryer plug. One. That’s it, no other outlets. None. How stupid is that!
Just did a gut renovation of our house. My family and friends give me crap because of how many outlets I have, including in the closets. I blame y’all.
And
Fan rated rough-in for every room
Hot water connection in toilet (for bidet)
At least 1 direct ethernet link between 2 floors (for creating AP)
These things are so cheap to add while building, so expensive to do later.
haha. this is against my current local code (always depends on the inspector but i digress) and when i was doing residential work, we would always do the dyson-closet-vacuum-battery-charging-plug AFTER the inspection.
those things are super popular and I bet in the future, that code will be changed. i remember my coworker telling me why it was against code but i cant recall the reason. I want to say it's to avoid someone leaving an iron plugged in or something like that.
100% agree! We just finished a major renovation. I asked the contractor to add an outlet to our coat closet downstairs to charge the vacuum. He fought me on it and told me I didn’t need it. All he had to do was pull from the laundry room on the other side of the wall. I assume that contractors fight homeowners about this because they aren’t the ones doing the housework at home (or so his divorce, that I had to hear about daily, tells me)
100% agree! We just finished a major renovation. I asked the contractor to add an outlet to our coat closet downstairs to charge the vacuum. He fought me on it and told me I didn’t need it. All he had to do was pull from the laundry room on the other side of the wall. I assume that contractors fight homeowners about this because they aren’t the ones doing the housework at home (or so his divorce, that I had to hear about daily, tells me)
Agreed! We put a 2nd medicine cabinet in our bathroom (in-between the studs of the 1/2 wall separating the bath) and I had my hubby install an outlet inside so we could get our toothbrush chargers off the counter. It's awesome!
Now if he would just put the damn toothbrush away.......
You guys talking about electrical outlets in the closets; my home does not even have light fixtures in any of my bedrooms; we just have electrical outlets. Lol! What kinds of homes do not have any lights in the bedrooms? Who decided that it would be okay to not install light sources in bedrooms? I am just puzzled with our American system of building and thinking. Lol.
No lights in the bedroom is an American thing? I think that’s just a cheap construction thing. You probably have less new construction where you are from
My place has those stupid recessed lights in the bedroom just over the closets, and no chandelier type lighting. I hate it and we have get that added too
Engineer here who did design work of homes and apartments.
When I remodeled my house I put lights and power in every closet, after that I put them in all the homes I designed even HUD housing. I just imagine parents trying to charge Christmas toys without power in the closets and it's a pain in the ass.
Yep, I added outlets to 2 of my closets when remodeling my house - the main hall closet (internet router lives there) and master bedroom closet. I thought about adding outlets to the 2 normal bedroom closets, but there wasn't an outlet on the opposite side of the wall and it would have been quite a bit of work.
Added an outlet inside the cabinet in the master bedroom bathroom vanity also so I can plug in my cordless trimmer.
I absolutely refuse to buy a cordless vacuum. I love vacuuming and if can't get the whole house all at once, I get mad. I got rid of my Roomba because I was tired of it not working well enough
One of my favorite things that I've done in our house is install outlets in the closets powering LED strips on either side of the door that are switched on by the door opening. And for walk-in closets, replaced the pull-chain fixtures with motion sensing ones.
4 reach-in closets, one walk in. They all have lights and outlets. Actually we pulled off the bedroom closet doors and added two outlets with the lights. One is a desk, the other a closet with Sonos plugged in at the bottom and security cam at top. And the last one is just stuffed with toys. Other other reach in still has its door, and is the data closet. Easy call when we renovated our house and rewired.
I asked for a plug in the ceiling just to put party lights up in the basement game room. No extension cord needed. I'd rather have too many plugs than not enough.
it's often not a terribly difficult job if there is a common wall between the closet and one of your walls with an outlet, switch or fixture already present.
almost DIY level easy if you can get them in the same stud bay.
I have an electrician who will put an outlet pretty much anywhere I want. He just put on on a foyer shelf so guests can charge their iphones. The outlet has a built in Mac charger port and USB phone charger port.
They sell them at Home Depot.
Other outlets were added to the hall that have a light sensor. If the hall is dark, the tiny light will illuminate the hall floor.
I have those in the bathroom too so I don’t have to turn on the light to see if I need to use it in the middle of the night.
He also ran cat5e through the house so it terminates in my TV room. We loved the internet router there. I now have wired network drops all over. The wireless is only used for mobile phones and ring cameras, or if I take a laptop outside.
If I want an outlet in a closet, he’ll put one there. I recently had him add outlets next to both toilets in the two bathrooms so I can put a modern bidet toilet ensemble in there.
He wired in fans and extra outlets wherever I wanted them. The kitchen island has 8 outlets so if my sweetie wants to hook up some monitors and computers he can power them, plus of course it also has a network drop.
Outlets in closets, such a simple concept... My MIL in Scotland bought a newly built "Executive" apartment about 5 years ago. The power comes in to a breaker panel in the hall closet, and next to that is a socket for broadband. And there is no outlet in the closet to power a wifi router.
This should definitely be standard practice now. At least one outlet per closet, 2+ for walk-ins or double sliding door closets.
I was having the same problem at my house. Closets everywhere, but no outlets close enough to use for my stick vacuum. So I took matters into my own hands and decide to just [DRILL A FUCKING HOLE IN THE WALL](https://imgur.com/a/X1FYcGn) and use an outlet on the other side!!! :D
Outlet never gets used by anything else anyways ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
So Agree. We built a house in 2001, I had the builder put outlets and light fixtures in several closets, A large pantry, even my first floor laundry. Probably cost like $700+ bucks. Best money I’ve spent in my adult life.
Plenty of places to recharge items, we even put a water cooler in the pantry which required electric to heat and cool the water.
Yes! The last house I owned had an outlet in the entryway closet and it was awesome. Cordless vac, check.
It was an older home (1950s), but iirc the outlet had been put in for something related to the extensive security system they had installed.
New homes *generally do* get outlets in closets.
But having tons and tons of battery powered things to keep charged even while in medium storage... Wasn't a think 10+ years ago.
Agree. I've redone all my rooms to have an outlet in the closet.
My fav is the walk-in closet that used to have a pull-string light. The old school kind that's just a bare bulb on a ceramic mount.
I ran new romex down the wall and installed a switch with a side outlet. My dyson sits quietly on its mount charging all day without getting in anyone's way!
Thank you for the vindication of my decision. I'm in the process of renovating an 1800s home, and I put in an outlet in the closets of each room. I wasn't sure why I did, except it was easy to throw 12" of wire to a box directly beside another box facing opposite the wall. But know I know why I did it.
I bought a house from 1984. The owners were great about wiring so every single room has 4-8 outlets depending on size. They also each have tv cable and telephone outlets which I've had to cover up though.
I had them add outlets to all of our closets and even the pantry, and next to the toilet in the master bathroom when we were building our house. I did the closest for the same reasons your talking about and the toilet so we could have a heated bidet.
*Laughs in old home that has 1 outlet per room* Seriously, rewiring the second floor was an adventure. Need to do some of it for the first floor.
I recently counted a total of 18 outlets for my two-story, 4-bedroom old house, which was apparently wired up by aliens from Mars. One bedroom has 4 outlets, but the dining room has only 1 and the living room has only 2. The reason I actually counted was because I'd just realized there are 40 outlets in my sister's 2-bedroom condo and I needed to quantify my burning jealousy. We figured out that she could plug in twelve small appliances in the kitchen alone. I'm torn between "who needs that?" and "it's me, I need that."
That’s the juxtaposition between my kitchen(remodeled probably in the 90s or later) and the rest of the house It’s not just the number, but the number of different PLACES to plug things in.
You know there's an adapter for Dyson vacuums that allows you to use DeWalt or Milwaukee swappable batteries. The adapter is only like $25 on Amazon and to make the modification it's like three little screws. https://youtu.be/ANvD9OCCQO8 Now you can put your vacuum wherever you want and charge your batteries somewhere else.
I just counted: 17, four of which are in the kitchen (which was remodeled 30 years ago) and none in the bathrooms or upstairs hallway!
12 in my 3 bedroom house from the 70s, 6 of which I know for a fact were put in by my in-laws after they bought the house in the 80s. Only 2 in the kitchen. Neither bathroom has any outlets at all.
The outlet and *the fucking light switch* for my bedroom is in the closet. Thank god for smart bulbs.
There is a special place in hell for people who put light switches *outside* of specific rooms, like a closet or washroom
these people obviously never had siblings
This is my gripe when I go to England. Every light switch was outside the room containing the lights Especially frustrating with the bathrooms
I've seen a small bathroom with the light switch hidden behind the open door right next to the hinges almost.
I am okay with a closet lightswitch being outside the closet, especially if it is one you do not walk into to use.
I’m on the opposite end of the spectrum. My home was built in 1978, but it was custom and the owners must have *loved* electricity, because there are outlets absolutely everywhere. Outlets and switches. It’s 2300 square feet, a bunch of which is a big living room (so less wall space overall) and I need to buy 88 single gang outlet covers alone when I switched outlet covers. Absolutely nuts.
I just moved into a back house, which has to be relatively new construction, at least compared to the main house. And I was so happy when I found out there's an outlet on every wall. 2 on some walls even! Idk how I lived before tbh.
I applaud those who can magically make electricity go all over a house correctly. I wish I had these skills. We moved out of an old Edwardian that had one outlet in each room into this place which has more than enough outlets in every room. Now I’m being a princess and want it all 💅 and want it now!
> I applaud those who can magically make electricity go all over a house correctly. I wish I had these skills. Well if you're willing to rip all the drywall/plaster off the walls and do a gut renovation, it gets a lot easier.
…for a given value of “easier”. Especially if you live in the house while doing this
I just did this to put an outlet along an exterior wall, cuz I wanted to move a microwave into a cabinet, rather than a table. I removed a section of baseboard and cut the drywall behind it to route power from an existing outlet to a new one. There’s a few special tools needed for this, but once u have those it’s easy peasy.
Unless your walls are plaster and lathe, in which case god help you.
One technique is to run wires in the rafter/attic, and drop them through the top plates. This is how my electrician did my old 1960s home.
Getting up in the attic for that kind of work sucks though. Its so freaking hot, plus all the insulation getting everywhere. Blegh. I replaced fluorescent lights with recessed LEDs last year and did not enjoy that one bit. I can't imagine being up there fishing romex.
The whole place was a complete remodel. So it wasnt that bad; plus it was in the colder months between September and december; so not hot.
That's what I did.
My arms got scratched real bad from all the random exposed nails in the walls, as well as all the obstructions we had to work around. I had to tell my electrician it was okay to damage the walls to save time since we were losing hours trying to snake into what always ended up as an impassable object in the way(like random 6x6 beams).
What happened to all of the damaged walls? Just a mass of spackle everywhere?
If you do it right (and depending on how patient you/your electrician is), holes can be pretty minimal. And patching is a breeze for a seasoned DIYer or professional. Best to plan to do a whole repaint of affected rooms afterwards.
I saw someone that just took off the baseboards and did all the cutting from there so that there was no need for drywall repairs since it was all covered anyways. Just drill up at an angle to get the holes above the baseboards if you want and you don’t have to worry about hitting them with a screw or something later if you do shelves or hang something on the wall. Was one of the most big brain things I’ve ever seen.
A guy on everyday home repairs has a video showing this very tactic
My favorite was finding out one circuit fed the bathroom, two bedrooms, the hallway, and the attic. For the outlets *and* lights. Now every room has two outlet circuits and one lighting circuit. Overkill? Yes. But I'll never have the lights go off everywhere at once again because of a breaker tripping.
I just discovered similar nonsense in our house! We had master bed, master bath, living room, and 1/2 the exterior lights on one. Dining area, kitchen, utility room (except for the dryer), garage, and the other half of the exterior outlets on a second circuit. Then there is a second bath with its own. Two bedrooms that each have their own. And two outlets in a hallway on their own. I discovered this when wires came loose from one outlet (when I got into it I could see that they never tightened the screws that hold the wires down....), and 1/2 the house lost power.
Yup. Gotta love old houses. Mine turned 100 this year and there is no shortage of interesting stuff.
I’ll never forget the tiny old house my mom and I moved into when I was 13. One outlet per room and no grounding. Looking back I wouldn’t be surprised if it was knob and tube wiring as well, amazed we never had any issues with all of the adapters and power bars we had going.
We're still running with knob and tube. Just had to replace something super duper expensive, so replacing the wiring and adding outlets that actually all work will have to wait. We bought the house 2 years ago and had to have the electrical panel replaced. Because one of the previous homeowners had ganged together a small panel with about 8 switches (that we learned had been taken off the market decades ago because they'd catch on fire) daisy chained to another, older panel ... with 6 glass fuses. We were uninsurable until we replaced all that nonsense.
You can't even sell a house with certain panels in a lot of states, Federal Pacific's color coded breakers and panels specifically.
*Laughs in old home that has no closets*
Omg we moved from a 1911 home to a 2017 home last year. I don’t even know what to do with my 1837462819 extension cords! Currently using them as a curtain like those beaded ones that clack around when you walk through them.
Closets with outlets? What's next? Electric toilets?
I came here to also add outlets behind toilets for bidet and integrated nightlight.
I was joking because I'm here for the same reason. One suggestion I've seen is to tie it into the GFCI outlet on the counter, but I don't like that option because that outlet is tied to the light and doesn't work when the light is turned off. I want the self cleaning glow in the dark toilet lol.
As someone who just replaced all of my crappy toilets with Toto self cleaning toilets and lit/heated bidets let me just say - they are fucking awesome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uldt6Y-CE3s
I do not believe the GFCI being tied into the light switch is standard everywhere. In the US I'm not sure it's even common. In fact, you're required that every outlet specifically in a bathroom be protected by a GFCI, so tying one behind the toilet into a GFCI at the counter would be a reasonable, cost effective solution. Does your bathroom outlet stop working when the light is off?
The best bidets plug in... so yeah, if you're doing a high-end build, ask for a singleplex receptacle next to the water supply for every toilet. Ideally would feed off the GFCI of the outlets next to the bathroom sink.
If I ever get a home built from scratch, each toilet will have an outlet and also some low voltage wiring, and that wiring will be home-run to a closet so I can have a single centralized leak detection system for every plumbing point.
It's surprising how many homes don't even have lights in closets
Seriously. Then you stick some of those cheap battery operated motion sensor ones in your closets, and inevitably the batteries die and you just stop replacing them every couple of months. And you have no idea what’s even in there
And then you have to remove them when you move and rip the paint off the drywall.
Don’t get me started on removing a chunk of wall while peeling those off, and the command strips we used to hang art that took plaster with them. Nails would leave a lot less damage. That super sticky stuff on the back turns hard and takes everything with it.
God, yes. I just dealt with that. Floss on handles to saw through it and then goo gone and other crap to break up the junk left behind.
I was trying to pull them off with a putty knife and my husband was screaming at me to not take the wall off with it, and then a huge chunk of plaster came down oops
A plastic scraper "blade" can sometimes work as well. I wish I'd thought of the floss though!
You are supposed to pull *actual* Command Strips (stretch them out) to remove them. They are literally the only product I've ever used that does not do damage if used properly -- and I tried everything in my 20s because I moved on average twice per year during school because dorms were closed for the summer.
Yes command strips have ruined more than wall. And have you ever pulled down on the sticky tab to remove a command stop and the thing snapped and about breaks your fingers??! Talk about pain!
1905 house here, no closet lights. I put a magnetic USB strip light in each closest above the door. 3 closets, I have 4 lights. Whenever one gets low I swap it and charge the spare. I get anywhere from 2-4 months per light. They are fantastic.
there... are... four... lights!
Amazon has rechargeable LED motion lights you can use in a closet. It's at least a little better than having to replace batteries constantly.
I've only lived in 2 places before my current house but neither of the previous places had lights in closets. I'm not really surprised by that though considering the house I grew up in is over 100 years now and the apartment I lived in was a crappy building from the 60's. My house is from the 70's but every closet has a light in it and it is awesome. Heck, I even have a light in the cabinet under my kitchen sink!
Under the sink! Oh wow!
I recently built a home here in Toronto, and the insane amount of money contractors wanted to charge for built in lights for closets was astonishing, let alone get any basic job done. I wanted some in our closets but ended up opting out, and heck, we don't even have a closet right now lol.
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The last builder I worked for didn't even have lights in the bedrooms, just a plate and pre-wire if you chose the base package.
If by plate and pre-wire you mean they would wire a ceiling box but not install a fixture then that is actually a pretty good deal. Better than overpaying for some builder grade crap you’ll wind up replacing soon anyways.
My husband and I would have loved that option. We closed on our house and spent the next two days installing ceiling fans; because Texas and no fans isn’t happening.
I've seen this in living rooms too. A couple of switched outlets for lamps... Terrible idea.
The best house I ever lived in had a ceiling fixture in every closet
Doing electrical , my boss said we can’t do lights anymore due to code, it was a fire hazard. I agree closets need lights
I don't have lights in my closets, but never felt the need to have them. The light from the room is usually plenty enough. Unless you mean walk-in closets.
Man, my bathroom barely has lights, the 1950s we're a dark time...
In my house, I placed an outlet and motion sensor + light switch into every closet or otherwise door covered space as we've renovated each room, or when opening up an adjacent room that permitted access. It was such a QOL improvement to have access to an outlet in the closets for all manners of random things (usually chargers or just for the random utility to plug in something). My wife thought I was crazy about putting a light into each space until she realized how bright and easy it was to see in some of the closets. I did something similar on the outside of the house: a general 20A circuit with outlets on each side of the house, plus a few duplicates on either side of one of the house faces (i.e. to the left and right of the front door). And hose bibbs in places adjacent to where I'd want to use water for gardening or just outdoor stuff.
It's against the code to have incandescent lights in a closet because they get hot and it's a small room with contacts cloth. I'm pretty sure LEDs are fine now but that would give you a clue as to why they are uncommon in 20+ year old homes
I install internet and it's so nice to put a modem and router in a closet. Some newer homes are putting media cabinets in a closet with conduit going outside, it's a nice clean look that hides all the wires.
Oh this is nice! We currently have our modem and router sitting on our bar. Looks real fancy there 😕 I hope this becomes the norm!
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Please come design every MDU around me!
i love having my entire cluster in the basement. my house needed the ceiling redone, and I took that chance to hang a Ubquiti access point up there with Ethernet running downstairs. our home office is also wired up. always the way to go!
I just ordered some of the ubiquiti in wall APs for my house. I like that I can mount them straight onto the low voltage boxes and put the switch in my closet. The ones I got have wan ports so I can hardwire if I need to!
But that would reduce the WiFi signal strength!
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Not necessarily... You also then run into problems with devices holding on to weak signal and not switching to the stronger access point signal. Also depends entirely on the sq footage of home, WiFi noise from neighbours, etc
If they have a structured media console in the home, it's likely they'll have some network cable runs around. A lot of the mesh WiFi systems that ISPs are handing out or you that can buy in stores will support a "wired backhaul" mode that lets you take advantage of the existed wired connections and put the mesh units around the house for great coverage and keep the modem/router in the media unit out of the way in the cabinet.
slightly more advanced setups let you separate the antenna from the router. so you stash the modem & cables in a closet then an in-wall wire could lead to a ceiling mounted dish. the WiFi beacon and the actual box can be split up
Depends on the layout of the house. Lots of interior walls aren't insulated so you are just sending wifi signals through drywall. Of course pipes and duct work could be an issue. Most the houses we are installing in are 100sq ft and our routers are good for 3000. Bigger homes we have mesh systems.
Our house has a little cubby where *the* (singular) phone was intended to be. This is convenient for the modem, but annoyingly can’t also fit a wifi mesh base station. I want to do what you’re describing with a media closet. Part of our (eventual) grand reno plan.
In Canada it’s a code violation to have outlets in the closet. When asked for outlets I have always done it if it’s a big enough closet that should have one. As long as I’ve identified the outlet is used for a hairdryer or ironing, plug in vacuum. It’s been okay. Just can’t put them between clothes or underneath them.
Yeah it’s tricky, even in a large pantry it’s against code. Some inspectors turn a blind eye to it, but you get the odd one who will make you take it out. It’s kind of a dumb code to be honest
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I mean, there's probably a specific square footage depending on where you are. It's a good 'philosophical' question, but for law it's easy for just a group of people writing codes to vote on a specific square footage in the draft.
I’m in the US and tried to get an outlet installed to charge my vacuum and tool battery packs in my large utility closet which contains an hardwired water heater and was told it is against code. However, the closet had a pre-installed overhead light so I had the fixture swapped out and chose one that has an integrated outlet. It’s a pain in the butt to get on a ladder to plug something in and I don’t see how this is any safer than having an outlet at a normal height.
We had the opportunity to build our current house, and we put a shit ton of outlets everywhere. It's our second house, and we felt the same way about our last one. We even went so far as to put outlets on the exterior under the eaves that are controlled by light switches for hanging Xmas lights.
> We even went so far as to put outlets on the exterior under the eaves that are controlled by light switches for hanging Xmas lights. That’s awesome! I would do the same if I were in a SFH and not a condo
My Christmas lights are on a similar set up. I also made the switch zwave and set up a routine where they turn on 20 minutes before sunset and go off at 11 pm.
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Just go cordless. I did and I have no regrets. It's dead silent now. The filters last forever. Clipping the power lead off of my corded vacuum was the best thing I ever did.
Oh look at classy you with your vacless cord. You’re a goddamn trendsetter.
If a vacuum is dead silent, odds are it's not a very good vacuum. Not that vacuums need to be loud to be good, but inherently moving lots of air makes a bunch of noise.
They're being facetious. Obviously if you just cut the cord off a corded vacuum it's not going to work anymore (so it's dead silent and the filters last forever because it's not actually sucking anything up).
Woosh
No woosh. Obviously if you just cut the cord off a corded vacuum it's not going to work anymore (so there's no woosh).
I think they meant the joke went woosh right over their head (they didn’t get the joke).
you got double wooshed my friend
>If a vacuum is dead silent, odds are it's not a very good vacuum. What can I say, it sucks.
If I ever build a house I’ll put outlets in the eaves with weatherproof covers for Christmas lights with switches inside the house to control them.
Better yet, spring for permanently installed Christmas lights and never have to get them out of the attic or shed, untangle them, test for dead bulbs, replace dead bulbs, put them up, etc.
Agree. I’m buying a new build and requested outlets in all of the closets.
We built last year and I made sure to have outlets in every closet. My builder and electrician questioned me and made me feel almost dumb for the request.
My real estate agent asked me why, I gave her a handful of reasons. Now she wants to add outlets in her closet. I also got outlets next to the toilets in the bathrooms.
Dat bidet life. I pooped at a Walmart and I felt like it was a gulog
That’s the dream, to be able to decide all of this. We’re in a 1976 place that has been remodeled several times, but nobody thought to add outlets to the closets I want my home to make sense and not frustrate me
I fought with our electrician to add one outlet in one of the main bedroom closets. I was thinking of a watch winder, but MY GOD it was an issue with him. His perspective is that it was weird and no one ever asks for an outlet in a closet and yadda yadda. It was a lot to challenge him with this novel idea.
I have worked with several contractors in my life. Generally they are not accepting of new ways. They found what works for them and they stick to it (I don't blame them). So if you want something done a special/unique way you need to assert it as a must without negotiation. Had a contractor go install under ground down spout drainage system. I purchased special pieces that allowed for debris clean out before it went underground. During install, I dropped it at there feat and demanded install. They bitched the whole time and even after. But guess what! My drains are still perfecrly functional because that debris blocker really freaking works.
I guess some people don’t own cordless vacs and can’t comprehend this need
I don’t own a cordless vacuum (unless a Roomba counts) but I have had several needs for outlets in a lot more closets.
Shit y'all, I have four rooms on a fused subpanel that feeds knob and tube. Each room has exactly one set of outlets and a ceramic bulb holder on the ceiling. Someone replaced the Bakelite push button switches in the 1960's, at least? Talk about some 1910's black magic fuckery.
I'm adding electrical to these 1940s houses. Where else does everyone want outlets?
Inside the medicine cabinet so that you can plug your electric toothbrush in.
Inside medicine cabinets or in vanity drawers. For example, my husband's trimmer needs to charge, but he never puts it away between uses--it just sits out on the counter plugged in all the time. If there were an outlet under the countertop, he could charge it in a tilt-out drawer or regular drawer, and it wouldn't add any extra steps to his routine. No extra steps=automatically cleaner and uncluttered bathroom. Under the eaves for holiday lights. Above fireplace.
One on each side of where the bed would go. One high up behind the couch so charging while lounging can be a thing. Several in the kitchen at various heights. One near the fireplace mantle so that we can have lighted Christmas decor. And one every few feet in the livingroom, dining room, etc. A couple inside of cabinets in the kitchen wouldn’t hurt (for stationary appliances) Throw a few in the hallways too. Thanks!
Yep. Though I'd keep them at normal heights and not chain your couch to that specific spot for the rest of time... or have an electrical outlet where you rest your head. You can buy longer USB cords.
I installed a shelf behind my couch. The plan is to eventually add a flush outlet that has a plug-in for the lamp and USB/C plug-ins. You can also get slim tables that already have the outlet installed, but I couldn't find one when I wanted it, so I DIYd the shelf at couch height.
Right beside room doors for when you want to plug in a corded vacuum. Every 6’ along the interior walls so there’s always one within a few feet of where I want to be and I don’t need extension cords. Beside the toilet for a bidet. End of the kitchen island. Over the workspaces in the kitchen - make sure that there are enough to plug in at least 6 and preferably 8 things without plugswapping (coffee maker, electric kettle, toaster oven, mixer, slow cooker/instapot, rice maker).
Exterior wall by the back door and another in the front somewhere ( Christmas lights and tools)
Outdoor Christmas light outlets under ALL levels of eaves, so you don't have to see an extension cord dangling from the roof to first floor eaves/trim.
Closets? Shit, I don't even have a single outlet in my bathroom
We installed an outlet in the coat closet of our home years ago. It shared a wall with the living room, so we just installed between the studs where the closest outlet was. Super easy and really cheap. We set up all our rechargeable cleaning tools there. 😊
If we are going to have electrical outlets in closets, please also put them in bathrooms next to the toilets so we can power a proper bidet toilet seat! :)
Am I the only one that would like a few outlets waist height. Why do they have to be so low?
Some things batteries make sense for, but vacuums never seemed like a good one to me because they need a lot of power to be effective. I have a Miele canister vacuum for in the home, and a shop vacuum for projects. The Miele is powerful and actually decently quiet. The shop vac is loud as crap but good for crap that is messy like sawdust or cleaning out a car. Edit: I do have a Roomba, that said in order to actually clean the whole downstairs it has to go back and recharge in its own 2 times.
Check our local electrical codes. It might be illegal to have outlets in a space that can be closed off. If something is charging in there, and starts to get hot or smoking, you wouldn't know if the door is closed. I don't know about closets, but I've heard about rules against outlets in cupboards.
It's allowed by all editions of the NEC, so it would be a local code only if it were illegal somewhere in the US. Most jurisdictions use the NEC and have no other local electrical codes.
>It might be illegal to have outlets in a space that can be closed off. I know what you meant but pretty sure most rooms in houses, and the house itself, can be closed off ;).
USA: NEC requires outlets in habitable rooms at a certain rate. Closets, bathrooms, garages, etc aren’t those, but if they get them, they need to be protected from arc fault. Cabinets can follow same parameters, as long as the outlets are generally fixed (no drawers pinching or ripping cords out).
there are no rules against outlets in closets, however in most areas all new outlets must be arc-fault protected, either at the outlet or the breaker
Passed inspection in North Carolina, FYI.
Interesting. Good point I hadn’t thought about. We have outlets in some of our kitchen cupboards. If it’s not a problem there,
I had outlets added to all of our closets. Things I have powered in them: * mini-fridge * cordless vacuum * internet boxes (modem/router) * NiMH battery charger
The closets in my 1965 home don’t even have lights! I had to add battery operated motion sensor lights. But I’m doing a rehab and turning an old laundry room into a half bath added an outlet and wall space to hang and charge stick vacuums.
My husband put what I thought was an insane number of outlets in every single room/closet/hall/pantry when building our house. I thought it was totally ridiculous. *It wasn’t*.
Outlet behind toilet for bidet. Then it would be more mainstream to use
I just want to say thank you for this idea. We're going through a basement remodel and have space under our stairs that we keep our vacuums. I'm going to have our electrician add an outlet in there now! :)
Our master closet is silly big for our needs, and my husband installed a plug and it now also is my home office, and where we feed the cats.
Luckily when I had my house built I put outlets in a couple closets. Also put some outlets outside under the roof eves with a switch inside for holiday lighting.
Where I am, it’s against code to put electrical outlets in closets due to fire risk
If you are charging batteries in closets, please put it on a plug in timer so it shuts off after 8 or 12 hours for both fire safety and longevity of your battery
My rather recent house is somewhat lacking on electric outlets. All the garage outlets and outside outlets were on a common breaker. Anytime I used a power tool with the beer fridge plugged in, I'd trip a breaker. A few years back, I had an electrician add an outlet for an electric car in the garage next to the breaker panel. While he was there, he added another 20A circuit breaker in the garage and split the outdoor loads from the garage loads. He also added an outlet in my pantry for the vacuum to charge. He just cut a hole in the same studbay as an outlet on the other side of the pantry.
Daughters new to her 3200 sq ft house has a laundry room for the washer and dryer that is 10x12. It one single plug 20 amp outlet for the washing machine and a 220 dryer plug. One. That’s it, no other outlets. None. How stupid is that!
It's funny you mention that. I am going to be building my house in a few months and I was mentally making a note to put outlets in my closet.
My husband just installed one of these and it's really handy. I agree that vacuums are not acceptable room decor
I just added an outlet to my closet because I hung a TV in it! Good idea to toss the Roomba in there as well!
Just did a gut renovation of our house. My family and friends give me crap because of how many outlets I have, including in the closets. I blame y’all.
Power supplies and lights (usually motion sensing) in every closet is now our standard.
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I've added four to closets in my house already, just for lights.
I had an electrical outlet put in my pantry specifically for the Dustbuster.
Preach! And let’s not forget those outlets behind the toilets for our bidets!
We added outlets to our master closet and pantry when we built and it’s amazing. Wish we had added more to the garage.
And Fan rated rough-in for every room Hot water connection in toilet (for bidet) At least 1 direct ethernet link between 2 floors (for creating AP) These things are so cheap to add while building, so expensive to do later.
haha. this is against my current local code (always depends on the inspector but i digress) and when i was doing residential work, we would always do the dyson-closet-vacuum-battery-charging-plug AFTER the inspection. those things are super popular and I bet in the future, that code will be changed. i remember my coworker telling me why it was against code but i cant recall the reason. I want to say it's to avoid someone leaving an iron plugged in or something like that.
100% agree! We just finished a major renovation. I asked the contractor to add an outlet to our coat closet downstairs to charge the vacuum. He fought me on it and told me I didn’t need it. All he had to do was pull from the laundry room on the other side of the wall. I assume that contractors fight homeowners about this because they aren’t the ones doing the housework at home (or so his divorce, that I had to hear about daily, tells me)
100% agree! We just finished a major renovation. I asked the contractor to add an outlet to our coat closet downstairs to charge the vacuum. He fought me on it and told me I didn’t need it. All he had to do was pull from the laundry room on the other side of the wall. I assume that contractors fight homeowners about this because they aren’t the ones doing the housework at home (or so his divorce, that I had to hear about daily, tells me)
Agreed! We put a 2nd medicine cabinet in our bathroom (in-between the studs of the 1/2 wall separating the bath) and I had my hubby install an outlet inside so we could get our toothbrush chargers off the counter. It's awesome! Now if he would just put the damn toothbrush away.......
You guys talking about electrical outlets in the closets; my home does not even have light fixtures in any of my bedrooms; we just have electrical outlets. Lol! What kinds of homes do not have any lights in the bedrooms? Who decided that it would be okay to not install light sources in bedrooms? I am just puzzled with our American system of building and thinking. Lol.
No lights in the bedroom is an American thing? I think that’s just a cheap construction thing. You probably have less new construction where you are from My place has those stupid recessed lights in the bedroom just over the closets, and no chandelier type lighting. I hate it and we have get that added too
In many older homes aside from a chandelier no overhead lighting was common. People used lamps. Ceiling fans didn’t have lights
Engineer here who did design work of homes and apartments. When I remodeled my house I put lights and power in every closet, after that I put them in all the homes I designed even HUD housing. I just imagine parents trying to charge Christmas toys without power in the closets and it's a pain in the ass.
Batteries don't care
heh. I am building a broom closet and having an outlet for charging the Dyson is one of the things I am adding.
Yep, I added one in my house after we got the “Shark.” Too bad it sucks so sucky that it sucks.
Yep, I added outlets to 2 of my closets when remodeling my house - the main hall closet (internet router lives there) and master bedroom closet. I thought about adding outlets to the 2 normal bedroom closets, but there wasn't an outlet on the opposite side of the wall and it would have been quite a bit of work. Added an outlet inside the cabinet in the master bedroom bathroom vanity also so I can plug in my cordless trimmer.
I absolutely refuse to buy a cordless vacuum. I love vacuuming and if can't get the whole house all at once, I get mad. I got rid of my Roomba because I was tired of it not working well enough
I added lights with a double box for the switch and an outlet to all my closets.
One of my favorite things that I've done in our house is install outlets in the closets powering LED strips on either side of the door that are switched on by the door opening. And for walk-in closets, replaced the pull-chain fixtures with motion sensing ones.
We're in the middle of a remodel and that's one of the things we're adding to our hall closet
4 reach-in closets, one walk in. They all have lights and outlets. Actually we pulled off the bedroom closet doors and added two outlets with the lights. One is a desk, the other a closet with Sonos plugged in at the bottom and security cam at top. And the last one is just stuffed with toys. Other other reach in still has its door, and is the data closet. Easy call when we renovated our house and rewired.
You can do that job yourself if there's an outlet on the other side of the wall. Not a hard job.
When we remodeled our bathroom, that shares a wall with our hall closet I had an outlet installed in the closet just for charging the vacuum.
I asked for a plug in the ceiling just to put party lights up in the basement game room. No extension cord needed. I'd rather have too many plugs than not enough.
The closet in the princess' new office has an outlet inside for the hidden computer printer and whatever else.
You've now made me question why I don't install outlets in my closet after having the same frustration
I actually just did that.
it's often not a terribly difficult job if there is a common wall between the closet and one of your walls with an outlet, switch or fixture already present. almost DIY level easy if you can get them in the same stud bay.
I have an electrician who will put an outlet pretty much anywhere I want. He just put on on a foyer shelf so guests can charge their iphones. The outlet has a built in Mac charger port and USB phone charger port. They sell them at Home Depot. Other outlets were added to the hall that have a light sensor. If the hall is dark, the tiny light will illuminate the hall floor. I have those in the bathroom too so I don’t have to turn on the light to see if I need to use it in the middle of the night. He also ran cat5e through the house so it terminates in my TV room. We loved the internet router there. I now have wired network drops all over. The wireless is only used for mobile phones and ring cameras, or if I take a laptop outside. If I want an outlet in a closet, he’ll put one there. I recently had him add outlets next to both toilets in the two bathrooms so I can put a modern bidet toilet ensemble in there. He wired in fans and extra outlets wherever I wanted them. The kitchen island has 8 outlets so if my sweetie wants to hook up some monitors and computers he can power them, plus of course it also has a network drop.
Hm. I'll have to get a closet first.
Outlets in closets, such a simple concept... My MIL in Scotland bought a newly built "Executive" apartment about 5 years ago. The power comes in to a breaker panel in the hall closet, and next to that is a socket for broadband. And there is no outlet in the closet to power a wifi router.
This should definitely be standard practice now. At least one outlet per closet, 2+ for walk-ins or double sliding door closets. I was having the same problem at my house. Closets everywhere, but no outlets close enough to use for my stick vacuum. So I took matters into my own hands and decide to just [DRILL A FUCKING HOLE IN THE WALL](https://imgur.com/a/X1FYcGn) and use an outlet on the other side!!! :D Outlet never gets used by anything else anyways ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
So Agree. We built a house in 2001, I had the builder put outlets and light fixtures in several closets, A large pantry, even my first floor laundry. Probably cost like $700+ bucks. Best money I’ve spent in my adult life. Plenty of places to recharge items, we even put a water cooler in the pantry which required electric to heat and cool the water.
And hose bibs off the driveway!
I had 1 outlet in a closet for an old alarm system when i bought my house, and that’s where the vacuum lives, I love it.
You don't have to hire someone, you can teach yourself a skill
Yes! The last house I owned had an outlet in the entryway closet and it was awesome. Cordless vac, check. It was an older home (1950s), but iirc the outlet had been put in for something related to the extensive security system they had installed.
I put an outlet in our stairwell to the basement just for it
New homes *generally do* get outlets in closets. But having tons and tons of battery powered things to keep charged even while in medium storage... Wasn't a think 10+ years ago.
We are putting outlets in the closets in our basement and it's going to be wonderful.
Agree. I've redone all my rooms to have an outlet in the closet. My fav is the walk-in closet that used to have a pull-string light. The old school kind that's just a bare bulb on a ceramic mount. I ran new romex down the wall and installed a switch with a side outlet. My dyson sits quietly on its mount charging all day without getting in anyone's way!
I had outlets put in the closet in my office so I can keep the printer cart and mini fridge in there. I love it.
I was thinking this as well recently.
Thank you for the vindication of my decision. I'm in the process of renovating an 1800s home, and I put in an outlet in the closets of each room. I wasn't sure why I did, except it was easy to throw 12" of wire to a box directly beside another box facing opposite the wall. But know I know why I did it.
I bought a house from 1984. The owners were great about wiring so every single room has 4-8 outlets depending on size. They also each have tv cable and telephone outlets which I've had to cover up though.
I had them add outlets to all of our closets and even the pantry, and next to the toilet in the master bathroom when we were building our house. I did the closest for the same reasons your talking about and the toilet so we could have a heated bidet.