Latest / Lipps Electric Podcast / 🔌 Can I Add More Outlets (and USB Ports) to My Home? Expert Answers

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🔌 Can I Add More Outlets (and USB Ports) to My Home? Expert Answers · Lipps Electric Podcast

• 0:01
  I love what I do here at Checker Pro Radio. I get to talk to great experts like
• 0:06
  Kevin Lips, and I get to help you, the homeowner, get your questions answered
• 0:10
  by great experts like Kevin. Kevin, welcome to the program. How are you?
• 0:14
  I am awesome, man. Thank you. It is great to have you here.
• 0:18
  Locally owned and operated in Cincinnati, Lips Electric.
• 0:23
  Talk a little bit about that. It is a family business, isn't it?
• 0:27
  Yes. Yeah. We, we've been in business since 1986 where our, our dad,
• 0:32
  Ron, uh, started the company.
• 0:34
  It was just him for a long time and he had a few folks work with him.
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  And, uh, so now it's me and my two brothers are both, uh, active in the company
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  and we've got just over 20, 22 people right now on the team.
• 0:46
  Yeah, that's fantastic.
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  And you have your name on the branding of the company.
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  I think that that's great. It really shows that you're part of the community
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  and you've got heritage since the 80s.
• 1:00
  I've seen your dad before. He's looking great. So, I mean, it's fantastic.
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  And I'm sure he's very proud of what you guys are doing.
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  Yeah, man, it's really cool. He definitely feels like he can step away,
• 1:14
  but he keeps coming back.
• 1:16
  Well, first off, because we want him to, but I think he likes being here.
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  And we still learn a ton from him.
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  The man knows so much in this trade, like so much.
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  It's fun when you can work with your family, especially when you get along with
• 1:31
  them too, because a lot of people don't see their family until a holiday or
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  something. And to be able to work with them can be a blessing.
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  So congratulations on that. So questions come in, and I brought you onto the
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  program to answer it because you are an expert guest here on Checker Pro Radio.
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  And it's about outlets and USB outlets as well, which are becoming more and more popular.
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  And the question is, can I install more outlets in my home, including USB outlets?
• 1:59
  Yeah, yeah. And, you know, I can answer this a bunch of different ways and it
• 2:03
  depends on what you need it for. So I'll just list a couple.
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  Or first off, I'll say, yes, you can add more outlets. But if you just need
• 2:11
  an outlet over here because you are shifting the way your furniture is and now
• 2:14
  your lamp is over here, we can move that outlet relatively easy.
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  But if you need a new outlet because you know in your living room that is in
• 2:26
  the basement needs a space heater when it gets cold outside,
• 2:30
  that's going to need a whole new circuit with it to that outlet because those
• 2:34
  space heaters take 10, 15, 20 amps of power, so we should run the proper wire to it.
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  But on the USB, you know, we were talking a little bit ago about how that's
• 2:45
  shifting and it's based on the, really the phones, everybody's phone chargers.
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  But everything now has different batteries and so much battery-powered stuff.
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  And the USB is actually becoming a little bit outdated. It's still really apparent and needed.
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  But the ones that we recommend install, it has a USB and a USB-C.
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  So the smaller one that fits the newer Apple phones in there.
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  And we do those for folks all the time. And a lot of times that's like an easy
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  add-on for us when we're on site.
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  We have a club program with coupons to even help you get better pricing on them too.
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  Yeah, in that case, if someone just wants to upgrade to a USB outlet where they
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  have the regular outlet power coming in, the heavy voltage versus the lower
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  voltage, you can take an existing outlet, remove it.
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  And put it in. And what's really, really cool is sometimes we want to redecorate.
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  And when we do, we're like, you know, these old ivory looking switches and outlets,
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  they don't match the bright white we're looking for.
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  So you guys can come in and you can change all of that real quick.
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  Yeah, for sure. For sure. And while we're in there, we're going to check all
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  the wiring connection, replace wire nuts. We're going to get that thing back to new.
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  Yeah. And there's nothing like getting an aesthetic change as well,
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  because you can't, like I said, sometimes the outlets and switches also are old and dirty.
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  They could last 30, 40 years and they work, but they don't look good.
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  And no matter what you do, you can't refresh them without replacing them. It's true.
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  And just from a use standpoint, we talked about it before where breakers, they wear out over time.
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  Well, outlets do as well. So when you're plugging that same toaster in every
• 4:34
  single morning and over time, that repetition, where is that outlet out?
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  So we do have tension testers that let us know how worn out are the outlets.
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  It's something people don't think about, but they wear out. Yeah,
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  so I've seen people take duct tape and duct tape the plug and...
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  And put the tape onto the outlet slash wall to hold it up because that outlet
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  no longer can hold the plug, right? So they're trying to get that right connection.
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  There's sparks coming out. They're like, oh, we got it. Tape it,
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  right? And that's not what you should be doing. No, 100% no.
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  I think it can relate because you're laughing. You've probably seen something
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  like that before because the outlet. There's some creative wiring.
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  Don't use extension cords and run them across the rooms.
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  I mean, we see that way too often. And if you do at least get a real big extension
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  cord that's big enough, because a lot of times people use those real tiny ones
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  that are only meant to wire up a lamp. And those things can really be a fire hazard.
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  Quick question just came to mind.
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  Is it better to be overcautious by using a heavier gauge extension cord than not?
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  You just said it was, but I'm thinking about what that outlet is rated for.
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  So let's say it's an outlet that's rated for lamps and not appliances,
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  but you're going to plug a lamp in on the other side of the room.
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  Isn't it better just to just get a bigger, heavier line, or is that not going
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  to transfer well because it's coming into the outlet?
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  At a lower rate. Yeah, no, I understand the question.
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  And I would always get the thicker, better extension cord.
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  I don't think you have to in that scenario. But if you use it for something
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  else like a saw or any equipment that you would normally see in a garage that
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  has a good draw on it or any motors, those will need more power.
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  That's what those extension cords are for. And it's fine to use that bigger
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  one on a smaller circuit. You know, it's just the risk is what's the thing you're plugging into it.
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  So you, if it's a smaller circuit, you shouldn't be plugging your,
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  um, your electric saw into that.
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  You're only as good as that. Yeah. You're only as good as that circuit.
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  So don't plug your, your circular saw.
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  I've got a table saw. Um, and when that thing cranks up, the light's dim. It's a beast.
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  And that's, and I don't know if it would make a difference of what I plugged
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  it into unless I was in some industrial place. plant somewhere.
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  But once it's going, it's good. You know, it's a startup that's the issue.
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  And once it's going, it's fine. As always, Kevin, thank you so much for joining
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  me here today on the program.
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  Thank you, Jim. Take care, man.