We have at least 4 outlets in each room and they are a little over a foot off the floor except for the kitchen and bathrooms. The kitchen outlets are at waist level and the bathroom outlets are at shoulder level.
I believe this is to prevent someone from throwing a toaster into your bathtub while bathing. It has happened.
Oh yes I know that's the official reason but in some countries in Europe there are proper sockets not just shaving sockets.. ..and I was told that the USA has proper sockets too in bathrooms.. is that not the case? Most of our rooms in the UK aside from the bathroom and toilets... have around 10 sockets per room.. ( we have 12 doubles in the livingroom , (but my husband put 2 of those in himself)... and the hallways up and down have double sockets.. the upstairs bedrooms have a minimum of 8 double sockets... our voltage here is 240 v compared to your 120 v...and here in the Uk we only have one type of plug and socket..
Holly! A shaver socket output is supplied from an internal transformer the return of which is not connected to earth (your pipework) No return.no shock. All your sockets are connected to earth, instant death if you are immersed in the bath.
@Lois Winters U.S. National Electrical Code forbids location of any sockets in a wall lower than one-foot above the floor, this aimed at flooding short-circuit conditions. Frank
@Jim Nash In the US, and I suspect UK now, too, any power electric socket located: In a bathroom, in the kitchen, in a garage or shop, or outdoors MUST be Ground Fault Trip Equipped. This ensures against death, or even shock. Here, the maximum current allowed by a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interruptor) is 5 Milliamperes (0.005 Amperes), and it must trip within less than 1/60 second of fault detection. What is "fault"? Current which flows ANYWHERE outside of the Conductors (wires) designed to to carry it. Stray current flow from circuitry to Earth Ground. What is Earth Ground? The Earth itself, into which stray current entry may be through soil, metal appurtenances contacting the earth, metallic structures like flag poles, wet or water-containing areas, even falling rain. GFCI construction is either within a circuit-protective overload circuit breaker, or built-into specific GFCI wall outlets, one of which is allowed by Code to feed a number of other standard sockets, affording them that same protection. Such GFCI outlets are NOT CURRENT-LIMITING PROTECTIVE DEVICES, but rather "trip" only in response to ground faults! GFCI circuit breakers, intended for feed purposes from within "breaker-panels", are expensive; however, one breaker may feed many wall-mounted receptacles, depending on expected loads and conditions. Given my "druthers", ALL the breakers in my main panel would be GFCI's. Frank
Yes Frank we call ours, RCBOs Residual Current Breakers. It is not mandatory to have all circuit breaker boards changed to include RCBOs and no enforced inspections,(only rented properties.) As you can imagine there are many outdated systems so it is reasonable to ban sockets in bathrooms. I went to visit a friend who warned me that I would receive a sharp tingle when using the bathroom basin tap. A better return would have meant no friend.
@Jim Nash That light tingle can easily be a very serious warning of a "Residual Current" flow about to occur.......possible sudden death, as you well know. Current flow between two hands grasping a metal faucets passes through one's chest, where is located a very important body organ..... Frank
The fault was rectified. I experienced a scary fault in a hospital. lights were becoming brighter and blowing in some wards and dimming in others. I found the earth conductor had broken on the three phase supply. In a star formation the earth connection gives a separate return to each phase. Remove it and they balance out across two. Reduce load on one phase and things go wild on another. A day I will never forget.