Off-branded receptacles and switches

[Junkman]

I am at the point where I will need to purchase receptacles and switches for the new home. I have found some good deals on eBay for the Leviton Decora 20A 125V Tamper-Resistant Outlets T5825 (WMP White), but I haven't found a reasonable price for name-brand GFIC receptacles. I did a search on Amazon and found some that say they are UL listed, but I have never heard of the brand before. Would you buy an off-brand?

Amazon.com

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Wouldn't a gfci circuit breaker work and be cheaper?

 

[mike93lx]

Not a chance in my house.

 

[mike93lx]

Wouldn't a gfci circuit breaker work and be cheaper?

A homeline gfci breaker is $56. Vs $7 for a regular and $15-20 for a quality receptacle. I'd only use a breaker vs receptacle where resetting the receptacle could be challenging or if it needs to be hardwired. Even if hardwired, you can use a dead front

 

[Tundra1]

Definitely not something i would install. Claimed UL listing is questionable with Amazon off brands. Not worth the risk

 

[The Cobbler]

for the cost difference and the impact it has on the overall cost... buy the name brand ones

 

[bwringer]

If it were a name brand, you'd have to assume it was yet another scAmazon counterfeit.

No way in hell I'm risking my home and life with an alphabet soup brand. I'll give you three guesses as to how legitimate that UL listing is.

 

[sparky 1971]

Why 20 amp? Doesn't matter. Get the good stuff, I use Legrand, buying a three pack of 15 amps for about $38 at Menards. I'm sure ScAmazon has them too.

 

[mm08822]

Buy name brands and shop for cheapest delivered price.

 

[NostraThpmas]

IMO money saved on safety is money wasted. Buy the right stuff. Buy once, cry once.

 

[PCustoms]

Would you buy an off-brand?

Amazon.com

Hell no.

Electrical is not the place to buy cheap materials.

Stick to name brands from reputable sources (eBay is suspect IMHO), buy in bulk to save or open an account at a supply house.

 

[rust in the eye]

Checking the website "where to buy" I see zero electrical supply houses. Home Depot is one retailer. HD has pivoted hard to the cheapest ****(highest margin) they can lay hands on, often with their own label. HD is a hard no for me these days.
I'd also verify the UL approval, which seems dubious.
Short answer? No.
Compile a shopping list and get a quote from a legit supply house.

 

[johnre]

"Reduced depth 1.22" compared to other brands" is listed as a feature for this outlet, as it leaves more depth for wiring it.

To me, all that means is that they skimped on the internal switched contacts that open the circuit if there's a ground fault. The penetration of the ground pin on a NEMA 5-15P plug is 3/4", which leaves little room in the back of it to put the GFCI apparatus.

No way for me. Use a name brand and just put in a deeper J-box.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

A homeline gfci breaker is $56. Vs $7 for a regular and $15-20 for a quality receptacle. I'd only use a breaker vs receptacle where resetting the receptacle could be challenging or if it needs to be hardwired. Even if hardwired, you can use a dead front

I guess I was thinking the circuit would be maxed out with receptacles. Iirc Max of 12? 12 x $7 = $84.

 

[mike93lx]

"Reduced depth 1.22" compared to other brands" is listed as a feature for this outlet, as it leaves more depth for wiring it.

To me, all that means is that they skimped on the internal switched contacts that open the circuit if there's a ground fault. The penetration of the ground pin on a NEMA 5-15P plug is 3/4", which leaves little room in the back of it to put the GFCI apparatus.

No way for me. Use a name brand and just put in a deeper J-box.

The 1.22 is not from the face, that's 1.5".

And both are thicker than Leviton's, so I don't think concerns over depth are valid

 

[mike93lx]

I guess I was thinking the circuit would be maxed out with receptacles. Iirc Max of 12? 12 x $7 = $84.

There is no max, and no need to use more than one gfci per circuit

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

There is no max, and no need to use more than one gfci per circuit

Ah, right! The first one covers all downstream. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Chuckster in NJ]

I have seen a lot of crappy electrical materials that had a UL listing on it so basically "you get what you pay for"……. My suggestion is to go to your local electrical supply house for quality materials.

 

[mikedodge]

Name brand outlets and switches are cheap especially when you buy the bulk packs. The risk of using the multi branded Amazon type junk isn't worth it especially for the little savings.

 

[JohnX14]

I wouldn't use no-name. I agree the the P&S Legrand are probably the best to use. I used to use them. I prefer Leviton, but I don't argue that P&S is better. I used to use them. I am not a fan of the Eaton devices, but those are safe.

How many devices do you need that price matters much? 2 kitchen, a few baths, a few outdoor, and maybe the garage? I'm assuming this house is new to you and doesn't have GFCI's? Or am I wrong and this is a new build? Which won't really change my question.

 

[William Payne]

You are building a brand new house and trying to penny pinch on your electrical?

That’s where you want to spend money. Cheap sockets and switches are horrible. The switches get all floppy and the sockets loose.

Down here there is a brand called PDL. More expensive than pretty much all other brands. But every single electrician uses them. They are the industry standard. Why? Because they are good.

I’m actually surprised the electricians are even willing to install customer supplied gear. They have to sign their name to that and be responsible for the safely/fire hazard. Usually they like to get their own stuff that meets the customers requirements.

Even at my poorest I never skimped on electrical.

 

[35Ford]

You will most likely need an arc fault breaker on that circuit, along with most others. A combination arc fault / ground fault breaker will only be a few dollars more than just an arc fault breaker, and give you the ground fault protection you need in the locations where it’s required.

 

[mm08822]

Go price Hubbel.

 

[Codyboy]

I'd bet that using cheaper unknown devices like that will net you a cost savings of a whole $00.87 on your monthly mortgage payment.

 

[mike93lx]

I'd bet that using cheaper unknown devices like that will net you a cost savings of a whole $00.87 on your monthly mortgage payment.

Typical millennial only worrying about payments!

/s

 

[nadogail]

Checking the website "where to buy" I see zero electrical supply houses. Home Depot is one retailer. HD has pivoted hard to the cheapest ****(highest margin) they can lay hands on, often with their own label. HD is a hard no for me these days.
I'd also verify the UL approval, which seems dubious.
Short answer? No.
Compile a shopping list and get a quote from a legit supply house.

Home Depot is often referred to as Home Despairit, your supplier of last resort. when you need something urgently and everything else is closed

 

[mikedodge]

Checking the website "where to buy" I see zero electrical supply houses. Home Depot is one retailer. HD has pivoted hard to the cheapest ****(highest margin) they can lay hands on, often with their own label. HD is a hard no for me these days.
I'd also verify the UL approval, which seems dubious.
Short answer? No.
Compile a shopping list and get a quote from a legit supply house.

Hope Depots here have mostly name brand stuff at typical prices. If i'm after things like receptacles or plumbing supplies that's usually my go to since it's the closest store. If I'm after something specific like a well tank go to a supply house because they're usually priced better for stuff like that and more knowledgable if you have questions or looking for something specific.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Home Depot is one retailer. HD has pivoted hard to the cheapest ****(highest margin) they can lay hands on, often with their own label. HD is a hard no for me these days.

so leviton and the other name brands they carry are cheap ****? ive been buying electrical devices from home depot for 15+ yrs and the brands have hardly ever changed and i have never had an issue

you sure you arent confusing HD with some other big box store?

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Home Depot is often referred to as Home Despairit, your supplier of last resort. when you need something urgently and everything else is closed

odd.... HD here carries some of the same brands and models the supply houses carry...

 

[wyliesdiesels]

GFCIs are NOT something to cheap out and penny pinch on....

go try to find the UL listing for that brand. I bet it doesnt exist...

 

[Junkman]

I am not trying to cheap out; however, the electrician suggested I look for the GFIC receptacles. As for cheaping out, this build isn't being built on the cheap. All so far has been either Square D QO, Hubbell, or Leviton. All the dimmable switches are Lutron Maestro. I am asking questions because I want to learn, but it seems that whenever I ask a question, the majority of the replies are made to just bust balls, and I believe that most of those people don't know the correct answer any better than I do, so that is all that they can do to keep their post count up.

 

[tarbellb]

OP keep in mind you only need 1 GFCI per circuit (the first or closest in-line to the breaker),
that should hopefully save you some money

Also I saved a money on the more modern face plates by going generic, the quality is great. Enerlites

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R1XXOFC?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[johnre]

The 1.22 is not from the face ....

Correct; their diagram shows it measured from the inside of the mounting tabs.

And both are thicker than Leviton's, so I don't think concerns over depth are valid

From the link that the OP listed:

I wasn't that concerned about installation depth; as I noted, a deeper J-box can accommodate whatever the depth dictates. What I was pointing out was that a shallower depth could mean a less-substantial set of switch contacts to cut the power out in the event of a ground fault.

 

[tarbellb]

Also these have been awesome for installing around the house. Super quick and clean, easy to pull and replace etc...

$2/ea was a no brainer and $20/ea for the GFCI version

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-Decora-Lever-Edge-Easy-Install-15-Amp-125-V-Tamper-Resistant-Duplex-Outlet-Receptacle-White-10-Pack-E5325-MW-M02-E5325-0MW/322083559

 

[JohnX14]

Why are you supplying materials if you have a professional electrician. In my 35 years in business as an EC, I have never installed anything I didn't supply. Not saying I wouldn't make an exception, but it just doesn't make sense.

And with the products you quoted - Square D, Hubbell, Leviton, and Lutron Maestro - what is saving $100 on no-name devices going to accomplish? After buying all of those, why skimp?

 

[sparky 1971]

Why are you supplying materials if you have a professional electrician. In my 35 years in business as an EC, I have never installed anything I didn't supply. Not saying I wouldn't make an exception, but it just doesn't make sense.

And with the products you quoted - Square D, Hubbell, Leviton, and Lutron Maestro - what is saving $100 on no-name devices going to accomplish? After buying all of those, why skimp?

I will occasionally let the customer supply the material when they are being cheap but the labor rate goes up; there is no warranty on anything I don't supply, they screw up and get the wrong thing and I get paid while they go get the right part, something is junk out of the box and once again I get paid while they run to the box store and get another, and down the road if something fails, they pay me to come fix it. I can only think of one time where it happened, but a cheap no name store brand failed within a couple of months of me installing it. When I added in the pain the *** "trip" charge and supplied the replacement GFCI, the invoice was around $300.00. That pretty much wiped out anything that was saved by the customer supplying his own material.

 

[rust in the eye]

so leviton and the other name brands they carry are cheap ****? ive been buying electrical devices from home depot for 15+ yrs and the brands have hardly ever changed and i have never had an issue

you sure you arent confusing HD with some other big box store?

Nope. They may still carry name brands in many lines but I've noticed a big increase in their house brand of "stuff". Private label merchandise is invariably made to a price first and foremost. If the folks at HD HQ smell a buck to be made by getting some folks in China to slap an orange label on something made cheaper for them they will.
HD with their shitee house brand, shitee lumber, invariably messed up special orders(because they no longer hire folks with product knowledge or train them properly) and high prices have kept me away for several years now. The only thing I find a HD store useful for is walking my dog when the weather *****.

 

[rust in the eye]

Also these have been awesome for installing around the house. Super quick and clean, easy to pull and replace etc...

$2/ea was a no brainer and $20/ea for the GFCI version

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-Decora-Lever-Edge-Easy-Install-15-Amp-125-V-Tamper-Resistant-Duplex-Outlet-Receptacle-White-10-Pack-E5325-MW-M02-E5325-0MW/322083559

Any of you sparkys here back stabbing devices?

 

[tarbellb]

Any of you sparkys here back stabbing devices?

Any sparkys using a Wagos?

 

[wyliesdiesels]

but I've noticed a big increase in their house brand of "stuff". Private label merchandise is invariably made to a price first and foremost.

what house brand of electrical are you referring to? Ive seen no non-name brand wiring devices at my home depot.