USB power points, anybody used them?

[Matt Irvine]

I was at the local electrical supplier on Friday after noon, and saw some USB power points, a double 3 pin outlet, with a pair of USBs in the centre.

Their claim to fame is they charge faster, and obviously remove the need for an adapter, can anybody vouch for this?


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[Flange]

I have just fitted 2 in my garage (I will be posting a garage build thread in a few weeks).

I intend to change some sockets out in the house for some of these in the coming weeks also.

The advantage, to me, is to be able to not have to plug in the power supply for the usb device and the fact that I get 4 sockets from 2. E.g. If I plug a phone into the USB port I still have 2 standard sockets and another USB charger available.

I doubt they will charge faster (although I am happy to be proven wrong). If upping the voltage, without damaging the battery or shortening battery life, shortened the chabhging time then why are we not all charging our phones from flat in 2 minutes at 220v?

 

[Techie1961]

I have a couple in the house. One is behind the A/V system and allows me to plug in one of my devises without the wall wart. The other is in the kitchen where we place our cell phones. Handy.

I don't know about the faster charging part though.

 

[Skidonenko]

Over here in 'murica the common ones are limited to 1A output. 2A is needed for newer phones/tablets. I'm fairly sure the comparison is with a newer phone that would actually utilize the extra output and if you had an older phone that limited the charge rate you would see no gain.

 

[risc]

There are 4 types of USB chargers:

0.5a - basic USB port, charges phones slowly
1.0a - phone charger, charges phones quickly and tablets slowly
2.1a - charges tablets "quickly", some phones charge faster than 1.0a but most don't. iPads charge slowly.
2.1a Apple - charges iPads "quickly"

Higher current ports charge lower current devices just fine, so an Apple approved 2.1a charger is going to be the best for everything.

 

[bob from indiana]

The break room at work has some of these outlets along the counter. They work ok but I see a lot of chargers plugged in the 120 outlet.

 

[coljar]

I put one in my son's remodeled kitchen and he says it is great. It is above the counter they lay their car keys on, so it's in the perfect spot for during the day.

 

[4xdog]

They're available in many styles here in the US, although combination 120V/5V outlets are still uncommon. One will probably see many more of these in the future, at least in locations such as countertop outlets as coljar notes.

Here's a selection from a well-known supplier:
http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/SectionDisplay.jsp?section=53874&minisite=10251

 

[nationalminer84]

I've installed one in the shop and two in the house so far I like them


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[Rogue1987]

I've got a Levitron unit in my kitchen that outputs 2.1 amps per channel but it's a dumb charger - can't charge an ipad quickly (which doesn't matter because I don't have one anyway). It cost me $20 on Amazon. Nice to get rid of the wall warts there. Seems everyone charges in the kitchen.

In the living room I went with a 5 port unit that has two dedicated 2.1 amp channels that are smart (e.g. They can quick charge smartphones or apple products). What's nice is the two dedicated channels so two smartphones can quick charge at the same time, and there are still three 1 amp ports open (nice for my flashlight and Bluetooth headsets from my helmet). I think it was around $25 off of Amazon. Lot more Capable than the outlet combo unit but space isn't a factor there.

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[marty_p]

I'll be looking for a few of those soon myself; for only about a $20 bill, they're essentially the same cost.

 

[toplessHO]

dont cheap out here,buy a good name brand one
would be a shame to smoke an expensive device

 

[Youngfd]

We put lots of them in our new emergency vehicle builds. They also make a neat 12 volt version. Looks like the old 12 volt "cigarette lighter" style but when you lift up the cover it has 2 USB ports. J

 

[G19Tony]

When I built my garage, I had one put on every wall. Very convenient.

 

[gungatim]

I put one in the kitchen, 120v and 2 USB, works well, but was expensive. like $35 I think at Lowes or Menards. when the price drops to appropriate levels I will buy more and put them in the shop as well. you can get chargers at the dollar store but the price on these outlets are absolutely ridiculous. should be <$5 IMO, considering a regular outlet is like 79cents...

 

[HOTFR8]

1/2Cup fitted some at his place some time ago and he is a Sparky. Have a look in his topic the Shed Down Under. This link will help you >
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=225061&showall=1

 

[joe_padavano]

The break room at work has some of these outlets along the counter. They work ok but I see a lot of chargers plugged in the 120 outlet.

That's probably due to uniformed users. Most airports now have charging stations that have both 110V and USB ports. It amazes me how people fight over the 110V ports so they can plug in their iPhone charger, which has a USB cable to the phone. They apparently don't even think about unplugging the USB cable from the charger and simply plugging that right into the unused USB ports on the charging station.

 

[tab2]

I was given a bunch by a friend who works at a commercial electrical company. They are the Levitons with two USB and two 120 receptacles. I have one on each side of the bed, one next to the couch and gave one to my sister. I put hers on her kitchen island and she gets the most compliments about her place from that!

I love them and recommend everyone buy them (even though I didn't have to pay for them). They are about $25 though.

 

[1/2 Cup]

I have just installed these Clipsal units at home, they work well.

They cost about $35 each and that is only the USB unit itself. The 2000 series plate and switch mech., am guessing would be around $10.00.

I have installed an isolator beside each outlet just for safety sake. I am not a big fan of having some thing like a charger on all the time and not being able to switch it Off.

View media item 42293
Regards

 

[BDT/NWMN]

I've got a Levitron unit in my kitchen that outputs 2.1 amps per channel but it's a dumb charger - can't charge an ipad quickly (which doesn't matter because I don't have one anyway). It cost me $20 on Amazon. Nice to get rid of the wall warts there. Seems everyone charges in the kitchen.

In the living room I went with a 5 port unit that has two dedicated 2.1 amp channels that are smart (e.g. They can quick charge smartphones or apple products). What's nice is the two dedicated channels so two smartphones can quick charge at the same time, and there are still three 1 amp ports open (nice for my flashlight and Bluetooth headsets from my helmet). I think it was around $25 off of Amazon. Lot more Capable than the outlet combo unit but space isn't a factor there.

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That 5 port USB outlet would sure enable me to clean up a pile of spaghetti and meatballs on my desk... Thanks for the info.

 

[aar0s]

I installed a double USB with a single outlet last fall and thought that it was probably going to be a waste but we use it constantly. It's a basic USB so the I pad don't go into it but the phones do.

 

[Speedy Petey]

Over here in 'murica the common ones are limited to 1A output. 2A is needed for newer phones/tablets. I'm fairly sure the comparison is with a newer phone that would actually utilize the extra output and if you had an older phone that limited the charge rate you would see no gain.

I have a few of the "common" name brand ones and they are 3A USB ports.

 

['71 VW 1302]

Does anybody know if the Leviton units with 2 NEMA 5-15 receptacles and the 2 USB power points can be split?

 

[bwringer]

Kind of interesting to see the differences between Aus and US electrics.


The switching power supplies used in USB chargers have extremely low current draw if nothing's plugged in. Something like less than a penny's worth of electricity a year.

Also, the USB charging ports in airports are very hit or miss. About half of the damn things are broken (or maybe that's what I get for flying cattle car class), so you still see a lot of competition for wall wart space.

 

[HOTFR8]

Before we had power points with USB I got one of these from ARB (http://www.arb.com.au/ ) here.

I then added one of these.

Another option from a computer supply shop is something like this.

Kind of interesting to see the differences between Aus and US electrics.

You have 110 power and we have 240. A big difference in many ways.

 

[HOTFR8]

Another option if you are traveling.

I find mine very good.

 

[pfbz]

Unless otherwise specified, expect any generic USB charger or outlet to be a dumb 500mA USB 1.0, or even 100mA USB. Pretty outdated. Slow or no charging of larger/newer devices Probably not a good choice for hard-wiring.

You want a charger that specifies USB 2.0 (preferably 3.0 compliant), a high total charge rate (ideally 4.2mA), the capable of providing 2.1A per port, the capability of providing the high charge rate on multiple ports, and Apple iPad compliant if you really want a fully capable device. Also, higher charge rates are 'negotiated' over the USB, so a higher end outlet will have a microprocessor and software in it. Even devices that specify "2A charging" often do not have the intelligence or correct software to negotiate the high charge rate with many devices like an iPad or newer iPhone, and default back to a slow charge rate. Many (most?) also do not support the higher charge rate for a second device, which kind of defeats the purpose of having a multi-port charger.

A really cheap USB outlet will essentially have the capability of a 8-10 year old USB phone charger. Not what I would want to hard-wire. Even if it meets your current needs, it will almost certainly need replacing in the future.

Here's a link to a high quality 4-port and 2-port/2-outlet Leviton charger... They are both 125V, but it will give you an idea what to look for in an 250V outlet.

I personally like the idea of having an all-usb outlet rather than a AC/USB outlet. All the places I would potentially install one have an abundance of AC outlets, and the ones I would typically replace are pretty much only used to plug in chargers anyway, so losing one AC outlet is no big deal.

Example:

Leviton 4-port (125V) USB outlet
4.2 A total, 2.1A per port, microprocessor negotiation, Apple iPhone/iPad compatible.

Even this device can't 'fast charge' more than two devices before it hits its current max...

​

 

[Gotcha640]

A few spread between the kitchen/office/behind the TV makes sense, but Samsung is already pushing smarter 9v fast charging, and as mentioned, a 500mA port might not even keep up with an idle iPad.