Floor socket- does this exist?

[purplepingu]

We're currently renovating a barn which will have a double height open plan living room. There will be a corner sofa in the middle of the space, nowhere near any of the walls. So I'm wanting a floor socket underneath where the sofa will go to save dragging wires back and forth.

DH says I can have one if I can find one that doesn't flip up, so that either doesn't have a cover at all or has a sliding cover. And I can't find one!

Does anyone know if they exist or where I might be able to find one?

I know nothing about this, but would a floor socket with no lid be just a wall socket? Could you just use one of them?

I expect the cover is a safety requirement, since a floor mounted socket would be prone to getting dirt and fluids in it. What's your DH's problem with the lids. They're pretty unobtrusive.

Now this one isn't hinged ;)
www.qvsdirect.com/powerport-3-gang-pop-up-retractable-socket-with-2x-usb-chargers

This is a helpful thread - looks like you need to look at floor boxes.
www.diynot.com/diy/threads/socket-height-regs.82670/

Example of a floor box here
www.screwfix.com/p/standard-3-compartment-floorbox/67628#product_additional_details_container

He doesn't want a lid on it because he says it will limit our choice of sofa, height wise between the floor and sofa base. If it has to pop open then we'll limit our options to ones with quite tall legs.

Now, he doesn't want one to begin with, should have probably mentioned this from the start. He says if we ever want to move furniture round then we'll have a square cut out of our carpet. But I know for a fact we'll never move a sofa from that position due to the placement of the doors and log burner. A sofa has to go where I'm proposing the socket.

The compromise is one that doesn't have a hinged lid. And I can't find one. If I can't find one I can't have one and I really will regret it if I don't have one!

Ouryve, I'm looking at floor boxes now thank you!

I think they're posing the same problem as the regular sockets. They need to be lifted up to be able to plug something in and if the sofa is too low we won't be able to do it without moving all the furniture.

It's for things like laptop chargers or phone chargers, which might be plugged in and unplugged over the course of the day rather than a lamp which would be plugged in all the time.

A floor socket with a slide back lid rather than a lift up lid would be perfect but seems impossible to find!

Why don't you buy extra chargers, which will stay plugged there always. Most sofas, even low ones, should still give enough clearance for an opened up floor socket + chargers (for a mac computer use the long ones, then the bulky rectangle doesn't stick up).

We've done this and sooo worth it.

What's going to be plugged into it? Something you will change regularly or something more or less permanent. If it's more or less permanent you could theoretically wire it in under the floor boards and just have a wire coming through, as long as you don't mind lifting the boards every time you want to plug something else in.

We have more than one charger for most things anyway so we could just leave them plugged in and hidden under the sofa, but with stories of houses setting on fire with things being left plugged in it does make you a bit wary of having something in the socket all the time.

For me, I'd have a flip up one and if we ended up with a sofa that was too low, I'd just leave it open but DH is a bit OCD and even though he wouldn't be able to see it I don't think it would sit well with him leaving it open when he knows it should be shut. They obviously come with a lid for a reason, is it just to make them look neater if they're on show?

Would there be any repercussions to have it open all the time if something was ever spilt on the sofa or if there was a water leak?

I don't think there are going to be floor boards. We've got a concrete floor in at the minute and we're having underfloor heating fitted.

That's why I'm looking now, we were told we need to make provisions now before the underfloor heating goes in.

We have an inaccessible socket and just leave an extension cable plugged in all the time, suspect your dh wouldn't be happy with that though! Could you just choose the sofa now?

I've always assumed the lid was mainly to protect the unused socket. When it's in use the plugged in device kind of protects the socket. And yes, neatness. The do tend to attract dust/crumbs a little bit. But I don't know of regulations so you might have to research.

Choose a very light low level sofa (habitat makes some nice ones, light as a feather so easy to move) or a handsome sofa on legs!

You could also put the sockets on a switched circuit so you can switch them off at the wall when you leave the house.

We have loads of floor sockets at work. They all have fairly robust lids which are either hinged or come off all together (not sure if that's by design or cack handed users). The cover of the lid is the same as the floor covering, and if you're agile you can get a plug in a socket without lifting the lid up the whole way - so you could put a sofa on top of it. There's a little port for any wires to come out. I'm pretty sure you can get domestic versions.

There is no way you'll be able just to sink a wall socket into a floor - think of spills etc. If you are worried about having one cut into your floor your best option is a long extension cable...

We have a sofa in the middle of the room and lamp tables to either side. Our house is 1950s built so no floor sockets and so we solved the problem by making a small cut in the carpet, just enough for a cable to pass through. Thread through the cable (take the plug off to make it easier) and feed it under the carpet. It might mean channelling out a bit of underlay so that it is laying flat. Then cut another small slit by the wall and bring up the cable.

Obviously best done before the carpet is laid but you can also just lift the carpet in the relevant area.

Trailing cables under carpet is listed as one of the most common safety risks for causing fire. It should never be done.

No advice on the floor socket OP, but good hunting!

Our cables are only under the carpet for about 60 cm and are covered in duct tape to keep them flat. They are also in an area where people don't walk and so it isn't the case that they would be stepped on and would therefore become damaged. I think for our set up the risk is very low but accept that if they were being trodden on a lot and could become damaged there could be a risk.

A bigger risk for us would be the cables trailing to each wall and a small child falling over them.

The extension lead plugged in all the time is about the best idea I can come up with at the minute!

We definitely won't be using a wall socket in the floor or running a cable under the carpet. I'm going to suggest a floor box to him but I think he'll think that will look more unsightly than a floor socket if furniture was to move in the future. And he'll have to see if we can have one with underfloor heating.

If I can't find what I'm looking for I think the hinged floor socket with an extension lead plugged in will probably be the best bet. Would it be safe to leave one plugged in all the time if I got one of those with the on/off switches on it?

I found an image of a sliding lid floor box here - but the market.com site it comes from has a minimum order quantity of 100 so you may need to do a bit more research to find someone who will supply just one.

Bugger broken link site it comes from here

Aren't the sliding ones for use with wooden/hard flooring though?

I think that the hinged flap can't be much bigger than the height you'd need to plug in/unplug a standard socket anyway, so you'd still need that level of clearance for your sofa surely?

Someone had the idea of having a wall switch to be able to turn off the socket under the sofa, I think that combined with an extension cable (with switches if it makes you feel better) is probably the safest idea.