Electric Outlet Question

[pumpuiman]

The plans for my house specify some electrical outlets(plug receptacles) to be placed 1.3 meters high. Other outlets listed in the plan have no height listed.

What is the general height of outlets in new construction?

Thanks,

Eric

[elkangorito]

The plans for my house specify some electrical outlets(plug receptacles) to be placed 1.3 meters high. Other outlets listed in the plan have no height listed.

What is the general height of outlets in new construction?

Thanks,

Eric

I've noticed that GPO's (power points) in Thailand, seem to be in the most incorrect, annoying or dangerous places. Generally, place them where they are convenient & out of harms way.

For example, placing GPO's on walls at an approximate height of 30cm above the floor, is out of the way, unobtrusive & convenient. This, of course, does not apply if you wish to use a wall mounted fan, in which case the GPO is placed high up & in close proximity to the fan.

I hope that you are not placing any GPO's in your bathroom.

I think that 1.3 metres high is an ugly height for a GPO.

[samtam]

I agree, they are generally placed too high for my taste. I tend to follow the practice in UK, whereby they are 7 cms above the skirting board for all normal appliances. However, if you're placing them in the kitchen/bathroom for example, they should be approximately 14 cms above the counter top. But this is all up to you, and as you have the opportunity to place where you wish, (I assume), make sure there are plenty in areas that you will need them. (For example in an area - office say - that requires mulitiple points, put several there, as multiple adaptors/leads are not always that easy to find.)

[Tywais]

I think that 1.3 metres high is an ugly height for a GPO.

Definitely odd placement. Most of mine are about 20cm from the floor base. Allows cables to hang fairly low and not dangle in the air with their weight bearing down.

[samtam]

I've suggested bathroom ones purely for shaving points/hairdryers etc, but in other countries this would not be permitted, and most shavers now are rechargeable, which can be done in another location. Also, I would make suer that the light switches and all GPOs/sockets are installed straight. This simple tasks seems to defeat many a contractor, and they don't always appreciate the asthetics

[lopburi3]

1.3 meters sounds more like a switch hight rather than outlet.

[pumpuiman]

My problem is that my contractor has put all the outlets at 1.3 meters.

Is this a screwup on his part? The plans specify 1.3 meters for certain outlets.....others are not given heights in the plan. Should he have put the majority of outlets lower...as in USA construction?

I am not there supervising....my Thai father in law is. I just got the latest photos

Do other thai homes have these abnormally high outlets?

[Tywais]

1.3 meters sounds more like a switch hight rather than outlet.

Good point lopburi3, that's about where my switches are. Perhaps misreading the plans?

[BambinA]

Dont forget to buy "plastic safety caps" for unused outlets ,in case you have a kid /pet

[samtam]

Is this a screwup on his part? The plans specify 1.3 meters for certain outlets.....others are not given heights in the plan. Should he have put the majority of outlets lower...as in USA construction?

[samtam]

1.3 meters would be the right height for the switches only. I cannot think that anything else GPOs/sockets would ever be at that height. Simple ? enough to change it.

[lopburi3]

If you have wet walls it might make sense to have outlets higher than normal. We have one bedroom where the walls were wet enough to loosen paint and make electric outlets a potential problem so covered with tile and placed outlets above the tile (about .9 meter) and works out quite well as this is above the desks and beds so access is easy. In kitchen (appliance/cooking area) use 1.2 meters high which keeps them above shelves/appliances

[pumpuiman]

1.3 meters sounds more like a switch hight rather than outlet.

Good point lopburi3, that's about where my switches are. Perhaps misreading the plans?

The plans specified 1.3 meters for switches. Also some outlets. The majority of the outlets had no height specified.

Did he fukc up? My wife says all thai houses are like this.....I dont believe her.

Should I be witholding payment until this is corrected?

[samtam]

If you're building it, and even if you approved this rather strange height, now's the time to change it, (and pay for it, if necessary). I cannot think of any outlets that I would want at 1.3 meters. Well, maybe the fridge. But that's it. Obviously too with light switches by the bedside, you can have these at bed level so you can switch on and off from the bed.

[chownah]

When it came time to determine the plug in height I let the Thais do it thier way and they ended up at about 120cm. This is just the way they like to do it around here. There are three advantages.

1. If the wiring is coming from above (often) then it takes less wire.

2. It is safer in that it is farther from the reach of small children and pets and less likely to get wet. This is especially true with the 220V here in Thailand compared to the 110V in the US.

3. It is easier to plug and unplug appliances. (There is a thread about how Thais like to unplug everything.)

Chownah

[oxymoron]

When it came time to determine the plug in height I let the Thais do it thier way and they ended up at about 120cm. This is just the way they like to do it around here. There are three advantages.

1. If the wiring is coming from above (often) then it takes less wire.

2. It is safer in that it is farther from the reach of small children and pets and less likely to get wet. This is especially true with the 220V here in Thailand compared to the 110V in the US.

3. It is easier to plug and unplug appliances. (There is a thread about how Thais like to unplug everything.)

Chownah

Generally speaking the Thai's surface cable all electricity. They do not usually chase walls and conceal the wiring, hence the height, so the surface cable is shorter and also safer, rodents kids etc. It is also one of the reasons why they do not have a house wired to the standards outlined by "Elkangorito" in his very informative post on House Wiring as obtaining 3 wire cable is relatively difficult in the back blocks.

[Daffy D]

In the past I have lived in various bungalows / apartments / houses. The general thing seems to be to have the power points at the light switch height. Usually in a cluster, light switches and power points all together. Easy for installation.

At first I did not take to the layout but in reality if the outlets are positioned sensibly and you can arrange your furniture accordingly, wall fans, Tv, music center it all works alright.

“Bambina” – I bought some of those “plastic safety caps” but they don’t work. Baby D. gets her baby chair to stand on and still gets to put her fingers in the holes.

D.D.

[pumpuiman]

I just got through a long talk with my contractor. I explained to him (through my wife) that I understood that Thai people do things this way. I told him he did everything according to plan.

I then explained to him that unfortunately I am unhappy with the outcome....but it is not his fault.

I informed him I wanted many outlets changed (at my expense)

He will give me the estimate.

I decided to do it like this because I'm really happy with the work he has done overall. He's been very fair. It's my fault for not researching the plans in more detail. (although in my defense....outlet heights were not specified dammit!)

And I know I'd pay one way or another!!

Thanks to everyone for their help.... you really came through for me!!

[paulsmithson]

Latest UK regs have socket outlets far higher than in the past ( I do not remember the exact heights-possibley 900mm above floor level).

As an old guy who hates bending down to plug things in this makes very good sense to me.

[jayenram]

Of all the Thai style houses I have been in, the sockets generally have been at least 1.00 metre from the floor. Having noticed this, I specified that the outlets in every room except the kitchen should be approximately 200 mm from the floor (just above the 1/2 tile upstand). In the kitchen, the outlets for the washing machine and the fridge are 200 mm from the floor but all other outlets are 350 mm above the work surface.

Regarding 3 core cable, all the wiring in my house is single core. I adopted the old UK colour system (red - live, black - neutral, green - earth). However, the cables are all hidden in conduit.

[ProThaiExpat]

OP speaks of "normal height", which is a shame since when building a custom house, you have the rare opportunity to locate electric plugs and switches where you think they make the most sense for you.

I learned many remodels and builds ago to lay out the furniture plan early on, so I knew how each room would be used and design the structure and electric to accomodate the furniture plan.

You should know where the beds will be placed so your electric can be located where it is convenient "for you".

Accepting surface mounted electric is madness in my view when it is so simple to have the electrician chip out a channel in the brick before the plaster goes on.

I have always been impressed with homes that have the electric plugs placed in the baseboards, as they then do not become a "visual feature" of an otherwise blank wall. This does require bending more to plug something in, but how often is this required on a regular basis.

In Thailand, I began with no baseboards so had the plugs located 12cm above the finished tile floor and placed horizontally to be less visual. I later installed baseboards that occupy all of the space between the floor and the plug, so now the plugs more or less sit just on the baseboard.

My exterior lighting system has interior switches for security and "panic", one of those switches is located next to where I sleep but below the height of the mattress, within easy reach when I am in bed. My remote wireless fan controlers never worked right for very long so I have switches controlling the fans where convenient. Can't abide by strings hanging down from fans, particulary in the middle of a room.

Not knowing how many shavers, hair dryers, electric toothbrushes, etc. would be used in my bathrooms, I had a single plug located on the wall behind the sink but buried in the adjoining cabinet alongside the sink. Pluged in there is a multi-plug strip with fuse, screwed into the cabinet within easy reach when the cabinet door is opened and reveals all of these applicances already plugged in and ready to use.

My euro kitchen backsplashes are mirror and not wanting plugs in the mirror, I located many kitchen plugs on the underside of the cabinets above the counter, among the concealed downlighters.

Similar attention was paid to the location of all other switches. Even though I have a bank of six plugs behind the TV and entertainment center, I have an additional two plug strips augmenting that area. My guess is more than 12 plugs all fully used. An addition strip serves my computer, ADSL etc. pluged in there as well.

Laundry room plug location should be above washer and dryer, etc.

Since you will be inconvenienced for the rest of the time you live in your "dream" home by inconveniently placed electric outlets, it is well worth the effort to spend as much time and thought as necessary to get it right the first time. This includes thinking of which switches should be on top or to the right of left in multi switch banks and whether these switches, which are usually toggle, should be vertical or horizontal and the size of the toggle. The usual toggle in Thailand is much to small for my large fingers, especially when groping in a darkened room

You will need to also designate which switches you want on dimmers and the type of dimmer to be used. They have an excellent one that dims by turning a knob and the swith is lighted so you can find it easily in the dark.

Good luck on getting it right the first time, although I think this is an impossiblity, as it was for me even with all the thought and planning I put into it. Fortunately with the brick and plaster construction so common here, additional electric can be installed as long as you don't mind surface mounts or re-painting walls after they have been tunneled into.

I was cluless as to grounds since they are a standard and simple issue in the west. I just had my system grounded per TV threads on how to do it right. I started with having the electrician use three pronged GFI type grounds but since the whole system wasn't grounded, I still had power leakage, particularly from water heaters.

[elkangorito]

Good luck on getting it right the first time, although I think this is an impossiblity, as it was for me even with all the thought and planning I put into it. Fortunately with the brick and plaster construction so common here, additional electric can be installed as long as you don't mind surface mounts or re-painting walls after they have been tunneled into.

There is no need to have your walls ripped up each time you want an additional GPO/light switch etc.

It is acceptable (& preferable in my opinion) to run circular PVC conduit down your bare walls & then render over the top of the conduits. If, in the future, your wish to add another GPO etc, it's simply a matter of drawing more wires into the existing conduit.

The colour of electrical conduit in Thailand is yellow.

[pumpuiman]

The wife and I have decided to delay moving/adding outlets until we purchase furniture and appliances.

The wiring is internal....so we want to be absolutely sure of locations before ripping up the walls.

Thanks to everyone for your input.

Eric.

[jayenram]

The wife and I have decided to delay moving/adding outlets until we purchase furniture and appliances.

I thought I was being sensible in installing 2 twins on one wall of the lounge to cover TV, fax machine, UBC decoder and all-in-one 'hi-fi.

Then I bought a DVD player.

Then I chucked the so called hi-fi and bought separates consisting of amplifier, DVD player, cassette player and subwoofer.

I now have to provide 7 sockets so it's back to the plugbar.

[pumpuiman]

The wife and I have decided to delay moving/adding outlets until we purchase furniture and appliances.

I thought I was being sensible in installing 2 twins on one wall of the lounge to cover TV, fax machine, UBC decoder and all-in-one 'hi-fi.

Then I bought a DVD player.

Then I chucked the so called hi-fi and bought separates consisting of amplifier, DVD player, cassette player and subwoofer.

I now have to provide 7 sockets so it's back to the plugbar.

My thoughts exactly.....I can live with the out of place outlets....until I know what I need.

I was a little nuts when I first discovered the problem. I've taken a deep breath and stood back, and feel much better.

You know.....it's nice to have this forum to air things out!!

[lopburi3]

As an aside walking past electric shop this week noticed several hundred feet of what appeared to be steel conduit on sidewalk so perhaps this is now available for home use here. Although perhaps for surface mount in the mode of the new airport?

[ThailandTony]

I am doing the same thing, building management by photo. Ask them to relocate the plugs to suit you, typically +0.30m for all cases apart from kitchen sockets at +1.2m. Do not mention withholding payment as this will most likely result in your builder losing the plot and your father-in-law losing face....not good.

Is the wiring surface mounted or chased into the blockwork? For the former it will be a piece of cake to change for the later some extra work required but all the same pretty straight forward. It will only cost a couple of thoa to get either re-worked and your sockets at a sensible level. This is Thailand and you will see from other threads that there is only one way to keep an eye on your construction project and that is to be there yourself. As this doesn't seem to be an option you'll have to roll with the punches.

happy House Building!....Tony.

[billd766]

All the sockets in the houses are at about 1.2 metres high.

It keep them away from my son though he was not born when we built the house.

I know where the sockets are and I never look at them as they are part of the house. All the wiring is 3 core, grounded and surface mounted as it was easier and cheaper to do as it used less cable. Should I need any extra sockets then I will just run the extra cable and paint over it when we re-decorate.

In the bathsooms and outside I have spring loaded covers on my waterproof sockets and any external cable is run through the couduits to where it is needed.

All the cable, the SAFE-T-CUT isolators and the Siemens circuit breaker boxes were all bought at a commercial electrical supply shop in Bangkok and when I got the first house wired (by EGAT) they had no idea what a ground rod was so they took it away for "inspection" and I haven't seen it for 3 1/2 years.

For me personally now that the houses have been up over 3 years I have better things to do with my time than look at the socket heights.

Also at 62 it is much easier to plug in a device at 1.2 metres than grovel on the floor looking for a socket behind some furniture.

[Phuket Dragon]

I hope that you are not placing any GPO's in your bathroom.

A GPO in your bathroom is no problem, in the Netherlands is common used from 1975 on that all houses have a Earth Leak switch 0.03 amp if you have your electric system earthed and 0.5 amp when not your electric system has earth.

This means in practice if there is a fault in your electric system or in all devices such as coffee, was/dish machine connected with your system, the switch cut automatic compleet the power from your house. Or when you touch with your fingers a fase the power is cut immidiatly.

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afbeelding:Aa...kschakelaar.jpg

A unit I see aswell in Home Pro under an other brand.

Dragon

[bernie66]

The plans for my house specify some electrical outlets(plug receptacles) to be placed 1.3 meters high. Other outlets listed in the plan have no height listed.

What is the general height of outlets in new construction?

Thanks,

Eric

on a switch its 50 inches to the bottom of a switch box.15 inches to the bottom of a recepticle box.you should have a recepticle every 6 feet on a wall.if it is in within 3 ft of a water source. it should have a ground fault interupted receptilce or circuit. but in thailand i would be most concerned about the fact that they ground nothing.