height of sockets

kitchenmadness · 7 Nov 2003

is there a minimum height for sockets above kitchen worktops?

sparko · 7 Nov 2003

no the is no height requirements in a kitchen or garages

ban-all-sheds · 7 Nov 2003

This has been asked before - see here for more responses:

//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3817

masona · 7 Nov 2003

I was told once by a electrician the minimum height for ring main sockets was 14" above floor level incase of flood.Excuuuuse mmmeeeeeeeee, how do we know the height of the flood !!!! Last year I was flooded out up to approx 24" of water !!!!!

Anyway,wouldn't it be better if the wall sockets was the right height so we don't have to bend over low etc or is it because it would be a eyesore being higher up???

ban-all-sheds · 7 Nov 2003

My parents house is not on a flood plain, it is on a hill. If the polar ice-caps melted it would still be above water. I'd always assumed that the height regulation was to do with ease of use. It certainly can't be for safety, as you're far more likely to trip over a wire that comes out of the wall higher up than almost at floor level.

Personally I think that sockets 14" off the floor look really ugly.

When I'm older I expect I'll think that sockets at waist height are a godsend.

paulfromswindon · 8 Nov 2003

Put them watever height you want to, just don't put them on the face of the skirting board, 1cm above the floor, so that the leads coming out of the plug-tops have to bend immediately at 90 degrees. Sounds daft, but you'd be surprised.

I have always tended to put sockets so that the bottom of the socket plate is 2-3 inches above the top of the skirting. Dunno why, but I've always thought that is the most unobtrusive height. In my own house they were put in 2 feet up from the floor - it looks silly to me.

By the way, if you have surface cables running up the surface of the skirting board to get to the sockets above, make sure they are protected

masona · 8 Nov 2003

paulfromswindon said:
I have always tended to put sockets so that the bottom of the socket plate is 2-3 inches above the top of the skirting. Dunno why,

Must be a bad habit then and get used to what we see

Could be a safety issue,if my wife is hoovering (not me) from lounge across the hall to the other side of the room and you know how it is,keep hoovering until the lead stop you then we either then got to practise limbo dancing or chop our head off in the hall

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height of sockets

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