David Paul
Well-known member
So I’m looking to replace all the original back stab receptacles in my home. Looking for suggestions on where to purchase 25 or so quality receptacles. Thanks
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Where to buy receptacles
- Thread starter David Paul
- Start date
GirchyGirchy
Well-known member
Lowe's? I think the standard ones they sell are fine...saw no need for industrial or hospital grade when changing ours from ivory to white.
dcg9381
Well-known member
I buy 10 packs of the 20A for the shop at Home Depot. 15A is a lot cheaper. Residential code here requires the new 15A outlets to have those darn safety-things in them.
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beemerphile
Well-known member
Industrial or Hospital is not required, but I'd move up to Commercial vs. Residential.
Toolfool
Well-known member
I purchased all commercial grade receptacles and switches from Amazon for my shop. 15A and 20A.
And I'll be doing the same to replace the cheap **** in our house soon.
And I'll be doing the same to replace the cheap **** in our house soon.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Home depot. Leviton or Legrand.
I wouldnt buy a single 20a...waste of money. Good quality TR's don't ****
I wouldnt buy a single 20a...waste of money. Good quality TR's don't ****
finn
Well-known member
Menards. They offer a couple grades, but I have not had issues with the standard household grade receptacles.
I have, howe, been in houses with sloppy outlets. Never figured what people do to wear them out, having never experienced that in any house I owned.
I have, howe, been in houses with sloppy outlets. Never figured what people do to wear them out, having never experienced that in any house I owned.
wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
spec grade are a few bucks each at home depot.
alfredeneuman
Well-known member
The inside "workings" of 15 and 20s are the same so there's no benefit.
(Some brands just change the plastic plate on the front)
nadogail
Well-known member
Just don't buy the cheap "builders grade". I buy the mid grade in Contractor's Packs at Home Depot.
20A is not permitted on 15A circuits.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I know. I did say I wouldn't buy any 20's...
Wiz02
Well-known member
If you need something not readily available fròm a big box store, I had good luck finding commercial quality decora Leviton 4 way switches in gray at these sites:
www.emisupply.com
I preferred to run my garage lighting circuits in multiple banks, with the ability to individually turn each bank on and off from multiple locations, which requires 3 conductor cables plus ground and 3 way plus 4 way switches.
Straight Blade Wiring Devices : EMI Supply, Inc
EMI Supply, Inc : Straight Blade Wiring Devices - Safety,Industrial & Manufacturing,Electrical,Abrasives,Construction Materials,Tools & Equipment,Clearance,
www.emisupply.com
I preferred to run my garage lighting circuits in multiple banks, with the ability to individually turn each bank on and off from multiple locations, which requires 3 conductor cables plus ground and 3 way plus 4 way switches.
nolimits76
Well-known member
Here are some website links to finding suppliers for some of the big boy manufacturers. Normally they will work through various retail chains or local supply houses to push their products to the masses.
www.legrand.us
I personally like Home Depot as I can order online or drop by a local store, stare, point & grunt. Also, if you are current or ex military, there is a small 10% discount. Additionally I have found local supply houses that contractors use to be helpful as well. Not all of them advertise dealing with the public but most will do cash sales for those situations. Depending where you are located, this supply house may be helpful:
www.lockesupply.com
Another place I don't use very often but has a deep inventory of oddball stuff is DigiKey. I have found a couple of parts I was sure I'd never find with them. Sometimes it takes patience to find them.
www.digikey.com
Where to Buy | Legrand
Find Legrand products near you whether you are looking for a distributor, sales representative, or online retailer.
www.legrand.us
Find a Distributor - Where to Buy
Find an authorized Schneider Electric distributor, system integrator, or reseller in your area. See a list of retail locations for where to buy our products.
www.se.com
I personally like Home Depot as I can order online or drop by a local store, stare, point & grunt. Also, if you are current or ex military, there is a small 10% discount. Additionally I have found local supply houses that contractors use to be helpful as well. Not all of them advertise dealing with the public but most will do cash sales for those situations. Depending where you are located, this supply house may be helpful:
Locations
Locke Supply Co. is an employee owned Plumbing, Electrical, and HVAC Distributor located in Oklahoma City, OK with over 180 locations to better serve you.
Another place I don't use very often but has a deep inventory of oddball stuff is DigiKey. I have found a couple of parts I was sure I'd never find with them. Sometimes it takes patience to find them.
DigiKey Home
DigiKey offers millions of products from thousands of manufacturers, many in-stock quantities available to ship same day. Apple Pay, Google Pay™ & Paypal accepted, order online today!
www.digikey.com
240sxguy
Well-known member
I've found amazon can be cheaper for the same stuff you'd buy at menards or home depot when it came to outlets. I've gone through enough in this house (old worn, outlets) that I just order contractor packs and keep them on the shelf.
OP
David Paul
Well-known member
Thanks all for the replies, especially nolimits. I’ve looked on Amazon but no real luck. Home Depot looks like a good choice but so far I’ve only seen the 10 packs in white.
rancherbill
Well-known member
I believe those are just 10 packs of their normal single ones. Contractor refers to a better volume price.
nolimits76
Well-known member
I’m all about squeezing out a discount. But realistically 25 outlets is going to reap a small one.
I’ve also bought on Amazon when it makes sense (better price, selection and/or availability). But honestly I like supporting local business where feasible so if things are reasonable I will go local. Plus I like building the relationship which can prove very useful when you least expect it. Good relationships will carry you further than a few percent in my experience.
inphx
Well-known member
Any gems here? I bought a box of GFI's from them a few years back.
www.fruitridgetools.com
Fruit Ridge Tools LLC
Shop our wall receptacles & outlets. Many different styles to choose from including grounded, ungrounded, singles and duplex. Residential, commercial, industrial, and hospital grade receptacles.
www.fruitridgetools.com
as mentioned above .... when you go to HD or Lowes, or supply house, there are always two grade, commercial and residential (builder) grade... price difference also.. of cause there are industrial grade and hospital grade as well... something about special isolated ground for hospital grade other than being orange or something. Don't think you find those at big box stores.
commercial
vs
residential
commercial
Leviton 20 Amp 125 V Commercial Grade Duplex Outlet/Receptacle, White (1-Pack) CBR20-W R62-CBR20-00W - The Home Depot
The Leviton 20 amp Commercial Duplex Power Outlet designed to withstand abuse and resist impact. It features a heavy-gauge steel strap that is rust resistant. It is an UL and CSA listed product and helps
www.homedepot.com
vs
residential
SlappyWhite
Well-known member
Home Depot is fine and spend the very little bit extra for the higher grades. Generally Leviton is my preference.
Other than that I avoid Eaton personally as I do not like the quality and more importantly how they pull the wires around when using the screws (if that description makes sense), but that is just my opinion/experience... if nothing else they just take more time per outlet to install due to this, others here my be the opposite as it is an opinion. With recent shortages sometimes they were the only option when a specific colour was required.
Other than that I avoid Eaton personally as I do not like the quality and more importantly how they pull the wires around when using the screws (if that description makes sense), but that is just my opinion/experience... if nothing else they just take more time per outlet to install due to this, others here my be the opposite as it is an opinion. With recent shortages sometimes they were the only option when a specific colour was required.
OP
David Paul
Well-known member
So Home Depot it was. 28 outlets, 4 switches less than $100 as I had a $15 off $100 coupon. Leviton 15amp commercial. Not bad for redoing just about the whole house. Thanks again for the suggestions.
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Were they Decora ... I need some Decora TR's in brown
OP
David Paul
Well-known member
No, regular duplex.
HamAndEggs
Well-known member
Maybe I'm crazy (Well, we all know I am), but I refuse to not install a 20a receptacle when I have a 20a circuit
Sure, right now there is almost no household 20a devices, but what about is 10 years, 20 years, 30 years? The receptacle in my house were almost all original, from 1968, so 54 years of service. Hopefully whatever I install will get somewhat close to that, especially if I've spent the extra cash on spec grade
Other than maybe 1 or 2 dollars, I see no downside
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
No one is stopping you.
What appliances are going to pop up that require 20a plugs? Especially for stuff in your house? Most manufacturers are reducing power consumption, not increasing it
HamAndEggs
Well-known member
I'm putting my money on high end gaming PC and workstation PSU's requiring 20a cords soon enough. With the introduction of some crazy new GPU's, paired with the ML/AI trend, you can EASILY pull more than a single 15a receptacle. Its been fairly common now to see new builds with dual power supplies, and then running them on 2 circuits. The only thing stopping is that there isn't many 20a receptacles around. There are a few 240v only PSU's coming out to get above the 1800w limit, but much harder to run a 240v circuit than simply throw a 20a receptacle on your 20a circuit
NVIDIA Just launched the 4000 series, the RTX 4090 heavily overclocked can pull over 600w on its own, and some new Ryzen Threadripper CPU's are pulling over 400w at peak. If we are already pushing the limits of a 15a circuit, once people start getting their hands on these cards its only going to get worse. Throw 4 x 400w cards in one PC and you're at 1600w just for the GPU's, let alone CPU or other components. Imagine a dual processor workstation with a bunch of GPU's in, going to blow past 15a pretty easily
And electric scooters, bikes etc are getting more and more popular with faster and faster charging. No reason they couldn't end up with a 20a input. Many people with these don't have garages, and just charge them inside
Also the "Solar Generator" trend is picking up more and more, with faster charging times. Some of them will already max out at 1800w charging. With CA banning all gas engines and all of the new larger more powerful electric tools, I think we may also end up seeing over 15a of charging those be possible
I'm calling it early, we will start to see a few 20a receptacles dotted around houses. I may be completely wrong though
sparky 1971
Well-known member
In my long and glorious career I've seen exactly two things that required a 20 amp 120 volt receptacle. One was a Hotzy pressure washer and the other was some type of machine for printing designs on t shirts. Outside of space heaters and hair dryers, household appliances are becoming more efficient so 20 amp receptacles are never going to be a must in a house, but if someone wants to install them, go ahead. I personally think they look stupid and wouldn't put one in unless I had to.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I don't think computers will hit a point where 1800w power supplies are a common thing. That end of the spectrum is a definite niche market.
I also think we will have new battery tech that will hit the market before there is a real demand for 20a plugs for scooters, e bikes and battery packs. Ultra fast charging on devices like that just doesn't have the demand to turn the entire existing electrical system on its head, IMO.
Possible? Sure. Likely? I don't think so
sparky 1971
Well-known member
If it ever gets to that point and it probably won't, it's dedicated circuit territory anyway. There's no sense whatsoever in having 20A receptacles on general use circuits even if they are 20 amp. Ain't gonna run two things with 20A cord caps at the same time on the same circuit.
HamAndEggs
Well-known member
Surely that's like saying there is no sense having 15a receptacles on a 15a circuit, and you are not going to run 2 things with 15a cords on the same time
Yet, I've got all sorts of stuff that pulls 1500 or 1800w, and plenty of people have all 15a circuits throughout most of their house
Yet, I've got all sorts of stuff that pulls 1500 or 1800w, and plenty of people have all 15a circuits throughout most of their house
sparky 1971
Well-known member
Something with a two watt load is going to have a 15A cord end. Theoretically, every receptacle on a 15 amp circuit could have something plugged into it and running. There are no two things that require a 20 amp 120 volt receptacle that are going to be running on the same circuit at the same time.
I will grant you that there are plenty of 1500 watt loads, space heaters and kitchen appliances are the most common. They have 15A ends and two of them won't run on a 20 amp circuit for very long before the breaker trips. But a space heater and a TV or lamp or two will be just fine.
As far as 1800 watt loads, the only one I can think of offhand is a hair dryer. Most, if not all, are 1875 and the reason code requires bathrooms to have a 20 amp receptacle circuit. Those still have 15 amp ends even though the math says they are 15.6 amps. Even if the bath had 20 amp devices, nobody is going to be able to run two hairdryers at the same time on one circuit.
Nobody is stopping you from installing 20 amp devices, you are free to do as you see necessary. That doesn't change the fact that appliances that require a 20 amp device are never going to become normal. Sure, there might be some things, like super duper chargers, but those will be the exception, not the rule and are probably going to get a dedicated circuit.
If it requires a 20A plug, it will also require a dedicated circuit. 29 almost 30 years ago I used 20A receptacles in my shop because I had them, not once has the 20A feature been needed. I don't we need to worry or plan for more usage in the shop, we need to worry if there will be adequate power at all, as it seems that power is going to become more dear with gas appliances be required to be replaced with electric, plus other actions a 3rd world grid is the future. It is going to make what happened recently with a 140 million people losing power in Bangladesh seem small potatoes.
I also don't see that there would be a change to 20A plugs becoming standard unless it's a special purpose. These days people are using laptops phones and tablets more then regular computers, most people would charge electric bikes outside or in their garage, tvs and entertainment equipment take less power now then they did years ago.
Manufactures generally make products based around 15A outlets because they know that people either won't buy their product if they know it needs a special outlet or they'll have a lot of returns and bad reviews if people unknowingly buy something they can't plug in or trip breakers.
Manufactures generally make products based around 15A outlets because they know that people either won't buy their product if they know it needs a special outlet or they'll have a lot of returns and bad reviews if people unknowingly buy something they can't plug in or trip breakers.