Electrical Outlet Types

In below article, let’s see some of the commonly used Electrical Outlets or Receptacles in our homes and offices.

Applications for Electrical Outlets

Usually, the electric power from your local utility is firstly brought into your home through cables and is terminated at the distribution box with circuit breakers. Secondly, the electricity will be distributed all over the house either through in-wall or external conduits and reaches light bulb connectors and electrical outlets.

An Electrical Outlet (known as Electrical Receptacle), is the main power source in your home. You need to insert the plug of the device or appliance into the electrical outlet and switch it on to power up the device.

Different Electrical Outlet Types

Let’s take a look at different types of electrical outlets as follow.

• 15A 120V Outlet
• 20A 120V Outlet
• 20A 240V Outlet
• 30A 240V Outlet
• 30A 120V / 240V Outlet
• 50A 120V / 240V Outlet
• GFCI Outlet
• AFCI Outlet
• Tamper Resistant Receptacle
• Weather Resistant Receptacle
• Rotating Outlet
• Ungrounded Outlet
• USB Outlets
• Smart Outlets

1. 15A 120V outlet

One of the most common types of electrical outlets is the 15A 120V outlet.  They are suitable for 120VAC supply with a maximum current draw of 15A.  Internally, the 15A outlets consists of 14-gauge wire and are protected by a 15A breaker.  They can be for all small to medium powered devices such as smart phone and laptop chargers, desktop PC, etc.

2. 20A 120V Outlet

The 20A 120V outlet is usual electrical receptacle in U.S. The receptacle looks slightly different from the 15A outlet with a small horizontal slot branching of a vertical slot.  Also, the 20A outlet uses a 12-gauge or 10-gauge wire with a 20A breaker.  Slightly powerful appliances such as microwave ovens often use 20A 120V outlet.

3. 20A 250V Outlet

The 20A 250V outlet is used with 250VAC supply and can have a maximum current draw of 20A. It is often used for powerful appliances such as large ovens, electric stoves, etc.

4. 30A 250V Outlet

The 30A/250V outlet can be used with 250V AC supply and can have a maximum current draw of 30A. It is also used for powerful appliances such as air conditioners, air compressors, welding equipment etc.

5. 30A 125/250V Outlet

The 30A 125/250V Outlet features a heavy-duty receptacle that is suitable for both 125V and 250VAC supply at 60Hz, and it can be used for large appliances such as powerful driers.

6. 50A 125V / 250V Outlet

The 50A 125/250V outlet is an industrial grade electrical outlet rarely found in residences. You can also find these outlets in RVs. Large welding machines often use such outlets.

7. GFCI Outlet

The GFCIs are usually used in kitchens and bathrooms, where the area can be potentially wet and danger of electric shock is high.

GFCI Outlets protects from ground faults by monitoring the current flow through the hot and neutral wires. If the current in both the wires is not same, it means that there is a current leak to the ground and the GFCI outlet immediately trips. Usually, the current difference of 5mA can be detected by a typical GFCI outlet.

A 20A GFCI Outlet looks something like this.

8. AFCI Outlet

The AFCI is another safety outlet that continuously monitors the current and voltage and if there are arcs due to loose wires broken wires or wires coming in contact with each other due to improper insulation.  For this function, AFCI can prevent fires that are usually caused by arc faults.

9. Tamper Resistant Receptacle

Most modern homes are equipped with TR (tamper resistant or tamper proof) outlets. They are usually marked as “TR” and have built-in barrier to prevent insertion of objects other than plugs with ground prong or proper two-pin pronged plugs.

10. Weather Resistant Receptacle

A weather resistant receptacle (15A and 20A configurations) is usually designed with a corrosion resistant material for the metal parts and also a weather protective cover. These outlets can be used in outdoor conditions and they can provide protection from rain, ice snow, dirt, moisture and humidity.

11. Rotating Outlet

A rotating outlet can be rotated 360 degrees like its name. This is very handy if you have multiple outlets and a bulky adapter blocks the second outlet. You can free up the second outlet by simply rotating the first outlet.

12. Ungrounded Outlet

An ungrounded outlet has only two slots, one hot and one neutral.  Most of the grounded outlets mentioned are three-pronged outlets, where the third slots act as a grounding connector. Ungrounded outlets are not recommended as grounding of electrical appliances and devices is an important safety feature.

13. USB Outlets

These are becoming popular as you don’t have to take with one additional mobile chargers, just simply plug-in the cable into the USB port on the outlet and charge your mobiles.

14. Smart Outlets

After increasing usage of smart voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home Assistant.  you can control simply by commanding your assistant when your TVs, LEDs, ACs, etc. are all “smart” compatible devices.  Smart outlets also allow you monitor the power of the device that is plugged in. They are usually controlled by Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee or Z-Wave protocols.