I think this is a genius idea:
That’s pretty freakin’ sweet! I’d replace all my reachable/exposed outlet faces with these.
They also make ones with LED lights in the bottom…Might be nice for the garage, kitchen, etc.
Only problem for me is that I tape electrical tape over the screws/wires when I replace the receptacle per @Carbonfiberhooded 's advice.
Neat idea, but they need a better frame material than standard white plastic.
First install location…bathroom.
Interesting but I don’t think that “squeeze contact” connection point is safe or reliable for 110v connections.
I just put one of these in my kitchen were the wife and I were constantly fighting over the single Apple 110-USB convertor (her to charge her phone, me to charge my mini-quadcopter).
Now we can have 2 USB outlets and the microwave plugged in, while leaving one 110v outlet open.
I have something very similar to these in my house, put them in a few months back, one in each bedroom and two more downstairs.
Between charging 3 iphones, 2 ipads, go-pro, etc it was always a hassle…definitely a good solution.
A lot of places wrap the outside of the outlet with tape before installing (I believe code with metal boxes), so this would only work with non-wrapped outlets, in plastic boxes. You can just buy them cheap enough built in to the outlet itself, without having a piece stick down. I’d look into that.
I’d also make sure that the output is safe for your electronic devices. Not all 5V is the same.
IT says that they will be getting a UL listing but this thing still doesn’t sit right with me.
This is the proper solution:
$23.65/EA - https://www.rexelusa.com/receptacle-usb/hubbell-electrical/usb15x2w/hubbell-wiring-kellems-usb15x2w-receptacle-usb-charger-combo-15a-white/product/482621
$22.51 /EA - https://www.rexelusa.com/usb-4-port/leviton/usb4p-w/leviton-usb4p-w-4-port-usb-receptacle-device-white/product/605066
I have these and a couple other in stock. All meet UL and will not burn down your house if properly installed.
I’m picturing the 110v arc you’re going to get every time someone plugs and unplugs a USB cord and that single screw holding the cover in place lets the faceplate twist to the side, breaking the little vampire connection they’ve made with the plastic squeeze clip. The fact that the plug is at the very bottom makes it a perfect lever point for prying the cover too.
I don’t see this ever getting a UL listing.
This kickstarter will probably be the ultimate fruition of The Oatmeal’s Kickstarter Mart.
Funny thing is that The Oatmeal just ran a kickstarter for their new game “Exploding Kittens” and it was one of the most successful kickstarters yet.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/elanlee/exploding-kittens
^ Yeah, but Exploding Kittens is going to happen, and not burn your house down.
I just had an outlet in a rental that was barely making contact on the screw terminal heat up and burn the wire. Probably from a vacuum or something being plugged into it. Would 1 amp even be enough of a draw to arc even a potentially small surface area like that?
Not sure if I see the use in this.
Every phone I have that charges via USB has an AC Adapter with it.
Over the years I probably have a dozen USB to AC adapter things.
Do I really need to plug in the usb cable into the wall directly?
I just hook up a power surge suppressor strip in my office and plug all my chargers into that.
well yeah lol. it’s just funny because they have the cartoon blasting kickstarter, then they put a record breaking kickstarter campaign.
p.s. can’t wait to get my copy of exploding kittens
Well, in my case I have an outlet in my kitchen that has a microwave plugged into it. My wife likes to charge her phone there since it’s central to the house and she can hear txt’s and emails. I also like to charge my toys there (helicopters, quad copters etc) because I can set it on the stand and keep an eye on it. This means unplugging the microwave to plug in another USB adapter or stealing the iPhone one. With the dual usb outlet it’s no problem and I don’t have an ugly power strip or bunch of USB adapters constantly plugged in. Plus we always have people over and they’ll want to plug their phones in. I have tons of micro usb and iPhone cables in the drawer under the microwave.
Plus a lot of those ac to DC converters and shit and don’t output enough current. Gotta have 1.5A or more to charge at a reasonable rate.
Definitely go with one of the ones tpgsr posted. Much better design.
Taping receptacles in a metal box is not a code thing. Just good practice. If you don’t it’s fine. Ideally your turning power off before you remove the receptacle. But you never know who will decide to play electrician in the future. Doesn’t take much it have a screw ground out to the box. (Or use someone as a ground!)