Online Electrical Supply Sites

[Dan Mages]

Abby, the one tooth wonder, is seven months old and getting bigger every day. Now is starting to get mobile... She is trouble and becoming more and more so every day. I need to make a bulk purchase of outlet plug covers. For now, I will use the classic plastic inserts. Does anyone know of an electrical supply web store where I can buy some in large quantity?

Thanks!

Dan

[Lee Schierer]

Go to your local Lowes or Home depot and they have child protection devices of all descriptions including outlet covers.

[David Weaver]

Using some like Lee showed as we speak. They work well to keep the diaper trasher from getting in the outlets, which she would do with great frequency if they weren't there. Everything 3 feet and below in the house will be slobbered on, poked at, pushed or chewed on.

Anyway, most of the small things like that come in fairly large quantities. You'll only need a box or two do to do the whole house unless you intentionally purchase a small quantity. Major recommendation for the things that fit around surge protectors, too, or the second you turn your head, your baby will find one in ten seconds and be yanking on the plugs to try to pull them out.

I'm only about 3 months ahead of you.

[Bonnie Campbell]

I bought a bulk pack of the outlet plugs.... the first time my grandson spotted one he had it out of the socket before I could of gotten it out We all know if we need a child-proof bottle opened... give it to a kid!

[Chris Mahmood]

Speaking from experience the plastic inserts are useless. I installed Leviton tamper-proof outlets and they did the trick but there are lots of choices since these are required in the 2008 NEC code for new and renovation work. My local electrical supply place had them for $3 each in boxes of 10: http://laner.com/cgi-bin/wwiz.asp?ww...H&pcat=TRRECEP

[Brad Sperr]

+1 to upgrading to tamper resistant (TR) receptacles. The internal shutter prevents anything from being inserted except a plug, and even that takes a little bit of effort. Mrsupply.com also has good prices on Leviton commercial grade TR receptacles if you're interested in going that route.

[Dan Mages]

Speaking from experience the plastic inserts are useless. I installed Leviton tamper-proof outlets and they did the trick but there are lots of choices since these are required in the 2008 NEC code for new and renovation work. My local electrical supply place had them for $3 each in boxes of 10: http://laner.com/cgi-bin/wwiz.asp?ww...H&pcat=TRRECEP

That's $3 each for Decora, about $1 each for standard. I will definitely have to look into these. It will take me a good day or so to switch out most of the outlets, but this will be a good choice. What is the advantage of the commercial vs. residential plugs?

Dan

[Dan Mages]

I stopped by the blue borg to pick up some TR plugs. They had two different models. One is about $14 per 10 pack and the other was $44 per 10 pack. I asked the drone in the electrical dept who, not surprisingly, had no clue. He left for a minute to find out. When he came back he looked at the other customers and asked "Is anyone here an electrician? Does anyone know the difference?" I just walked away...

Dan

[Chris Mahmood]

That's $3 each for Decora, about $1 each for standard. I will definitely have to look into these. It will take me a good day or so to switch out most of the outlets, but this will be a good choice. What is the advantage of the commercial vs. residential plugs?

Dan

The ones labeled commercial are usually a bit heavier duty (thicker plastic, maybe more copper). For inside a house where you aren't going to whacking them with falling boards and plugging and unplugging things 100 times a day it's probably overkill. The highest end ones are sometimes labeled "hospital" grade, you don't want those since they are for use in systems with an isolated ground.

[Chris Kennedy]

My little one did just fine with the regular plug-in socket covers, and a day or two of "No!" anytime he started to go near one.

Of course, my sister's youngest tried to chew electrical cords on a regular basis for months no matter what they tried, so it is going to depend on the kid.

Just a warning in case your kid is like mine -- a few months later, we started to have a repeat interest in electrical sockets. It took a couple of days to realize what it was -- he kept going for the GFCI's. He had reached the "pushing buttons" stage, and he wanted to push the buttons on the GCFI's.

The adventures of parenting . . . .

Cheers,

Chris