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Ask Slashdot: Wiring Home Furniture?

Posted by timothy on from the for-a-couch-that-seats-1 dept.

b1tbkt writes "So it seems that furniture manufacturers have not yet acknowledged the realities of modern life. Kitchen tables could benefit greatly from built-in concealable receptacles. Even more obvious is the need for electrical wiring in couches and coffee tables. I realize that there are safety (fire) concerns but as it stands most families that I know already have power cords for laptops, tables and phones draped over, under and through their couches at any given point. If someone wanted to wire their furniture with AC or some type of standardized LV DC system, what are some dangers to watch for and what, if any, specialized hardware exists for the purpose?"

22 of 235 comments (clear)

  1. Easy by genka · · Score: 4, Informative

    Google "countertop pop up receptacle" and you'll find many choices.

    1. Re:Easy by davester666 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Even better with safesearch turned off!

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    2. Re: Easy by AvitarX · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Or back these guys
      http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1704062015/nuplugtm-the-most-convenient-outlet-for-your-smart?ref=card

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    3. Re:Easy by JWSmythe · · Score: 4, Informative

      Counter top outlets in general are a bad idea.. If they're on the surface, they're bound to get something down in them.

      Every kitchen I've seen has plenty of outlets along the walls, and some on the vertical side of cabinets...

      As for sitting furniture, it's an amazingly bad idea. I'm just picturing a couch.. Kids spilling drinks. The dog pissing on it. Toddlers finding amazing new places to stick metal objects. Hell, drunk friends spilling drinks on them while watching football or in the case of this audience, playing a heated game of D&D.

      If there isn't a wall outlet close enough to where you (he) wants them, have one installed. Contractors are more than happy to install anything you want within the guidelines of local building codes.

      For the furniture manufacturers, they become stupid additions to their line. If they sell internationally, they'd need to offer all the different outlets. If the consumer chooses not to use them, now the customers have the annoyance of dead outlets.

      For movers, they no longer are just skilled at moving heavy objects from Point A to Point B, they have to be electricians. That's assuming they're to be hard wired, and not just plugged in somewhere.

      And never leave it to the consumer to consider the total power load on a circuit, they'll always get it wrong.. I can just imagine an entire livingroom with a couch, loveseat, and other assorted chairs, all plugged into one outlet strip on one socket, with god knows what plugged into every outlet. They already fuck it up bad enough with chained outlet strips on poorly designed home wiring..

      When we have some extra cash to bring a contractor in, we're going to have a good bit of our home rewired. Despite a couple dozen circuit breakers in the box, half the house is on one circuit. At least we're aware of it, and are careful not to overload it. As I've found over the years, this is normal. It's like the construction crew waits for the inspector to sign off on the electrical, and then throws everything else on one long circuit.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    4. Re:Easy by icebike · · Score: 4, Funny

      As for sitting furniture, it's an amazingly bad idea. I'm just picturing a couch.. Kids spilling drinks. The dog pissing on it.

      The kids will never learn, but I wager the dog won't piss on it more than once.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    5. Re:Easy by Shompol · · Score: 4, Funny

      Seeing how I always have water spilled in the countertops (both kitchen and bathroom), I dub these "personal electrocution device"

    6. Re: Easy by ozmanjusri · · Score: 4, Informative

      Or walk around an IKEA. There's plenty of existing furniture that does the job.

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    7. Re:Easy by Khyber · · Score: 4, Insightful

      GFCI does okay until the entire outlet is soaked. Then it's useless as fuck for protection.

      I can see these mounted on a couch or table getting fully-soaked no problem.

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      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    8. Re:Easy by CyberTech · · Score: 5, Funny

      Outlets are supposed to be every 12 feet, not 6 -- that's the same "thinko" i did while building (self) my house. The code actually says no more than 6 feet along any wall (i think the wall has to be 4 feet or longer) to a receptacle. This has the goal of making appliances with 6 foot cords work from any point along the wall.

      When I built my house, I was frustrated with my previous 1960's house that had 2 receptacles per room. I said, hell with it, code says 6 feet, I'll make it 4. Note that thinking CORRECTLY, that would have made it 8 feet between outlets.

      It wasn't until I had run wire and boxes to 3 rooms that I realized I'd been wiring for 4 feet between boxes. I laughed my ass off and said fuck it, wired the entire house that way... 115 receptacles later, I was done :)

      AND THERE'S STILL SPOTS I WISH I HAD A RECEPTACLE AT! :)

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      -- CyberTech
    9. Re:Easy by icebike · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, there may be no need depending on the severity of its first experience.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    10. Re: Easy by Sqr(twg) · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I use a similar, but cheaper, soulution. I bought ordinary power strips that have little holes in both ends (for hanging from hooks, etc). Then I attached them with screws to the underside of my desk and kitchen worktable. There, they are always within reach, while out of sight and safe from spilled liquids.

  2. A few things to watch out for by jason.lindberg · · Score: 5, Informative

    The engineering problems that present themselves with wiring something that has mechanical components adjacent to or in direct connection to electrical wiring is protecting the cable from being damaged and heat generation. This can mean armored cables or flexible conduits, e-chain (for repetitive motion), or other cable management systems. If you are running any electricity though flammable materials then you need to be concerned about the amperage you pull through it and be mindful of how much it heats up as a regular and peak load. This is very important to be mindful of because a conductor may be rated for a certain amperage but at what temp? Make sure that temp is compatible with the rest of the construction materials involved in your furniture. A larger conductor would mean less heat as it passes an equivalent amount of current to a lower gauge of conductor.

    1. Re:A few things to watch out for by afidel · · Score: 5, Informative

      Heats not really a concern as far as flamability, even a 25A 208V circuit pulling 120% of rated load doesn't get over 110F (don't ask how I know this). The only way you're going to introduce enough heat energy to cause something to burn (especially furniture which is doused in flame-retardant chemicals thanks to smokers) is to short something out, so your comments about making sure that chords are protected is spot on.

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    2. Re:A few things to watch out for by feepness · · Score: 4, Funny

      , so your comments about making sure that chords are protected is spot on. I've found E, A, and B are good power chords, but they only heat up if you use a wah-wah pedal.

    3. Re:A few things to watch out for by kilodelta · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yeah - I've had an extension cord rated for 20A break down at 15A draw. So even the rating is a little suspect.

    4. Re:A few things to watch out for by bzipitidoo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That's only when everything is in good condition. Lot of house fires are started by degraded wiring. Anything that thins the conductive material or loosens a connection can increase the resistance at that spot so it will get hot enough to start a fire the next time someone uses a power hungry device such as a vacuum cleaner. As long as there's nothing flammable nearby, it may not cause any harm, but if this wiring is in a couch, could be a serious problem.

      All kinds of things can degrade the wiring. Ants, especially fire ants and now these crazy ants can chew the insulation, and build nests. I've seen an outlet stop working because the home's foundation had cracked, and shifted the walls enough to pull the wires out of the receptacles on the outlet. Also, builders almost always do the cheapest, shoddy electrical work code and inspectors allow them to get away with. Fortunately code is pretty strict these days, but it wasn't always. Then there's the do-it-yourself home owner who is completely ignorant of code and decides to add some extra lighting or a ceiling fan. Must watch out for older homes. One will find circuit breakers that were poorly designed (Stab-Lok models, for instance), outlets that were never properly grounded or that are near sinks and bathtubs and lacking GFI, and wiring run sideways through the walls or that has no slack or is too close to something else such as a fireplace's chimney.

      If we want to wire up furniture, it will take some effort to do it safely. We've dealt with safety by simply keeping electricity away from flammable material and water.

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  3. Obvious need for couch wiring? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Please elaborate.

  4. Re:Torts lawyers would greatly benefit by pyro_peter_911 · · Score: 4, Informative

    *sigh*
    There's plenty of powered furniture available, and has been for decades. Those crazy "As Seen On TV" powered folding beds have been around for ages. My new couch has push button electric recliners. Most cars today have powered seats; many of those electrically heated.
    The problem I'd have with furniture based power supplies is similar to the problem I have with built in electronics and adapters in vehicles. The lifetime of my furniture and vehicles greatly exceeds the probable lifetime of any consumer electronics power adapter installed in it. I used to work at a high end auto dealership. I installed dozens of iPod adapters (at around $400 a shot. Insanity!) and all of those adapters are worthless to the new generation of i devices that these customers are likely to have. Some of my customers had older vehicles with build in analog cell phones which are now junk that just rides around with them.
    Furniture is even worse. Decent furniture should last a lifetime. By putting a consumer electronics power port into a piece of furniture you're basically admitting that it's going to be trash in less than 10 years.
    Peter

    --
    Downsize DC Today!
  5. Some furniture is already widely available by OhANameWhatName · · Score: 4, Funny

    They've been making custom powered chairs in the US for a hundred years.

  6. I can't resist this old joke by willoughby · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...I made a chair for my mother-in-law once. .. My wife wouldn't let me plug it in.

  7. Already exists in some furniture, but... by i22yb · · Score: 4, Informative

    I happen to work for a furniture store. This feature already exists in a lot of office furniture and, occasionally, in some living room furniture. You will find it more often in an end table because those are usually placed closer to a wall. You will only find it in sofas and chairs, once in a while, if the piece already contains a motorized reclining mechanism. Otherwise, it's just not a practical application to add to those pieces of furniture. Not many shoppers would pay an extra $100 to have a power outlet pre manufactured into their sofa when they can just plug their device directly into the wall, or get a cheap $6 power strip that will do the job. Also, it would not make sense to put these into a coffee table, because coffee tables are usually placed out in the middle of a room and you would have to run a cord across the floor to power the table. Furniture makers do not want to be sued for tripping hazards.

  8. Search a little harder... by i22yb · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sofa - http://www.rothmanfurniture.com/221-11502-4.html
    Coffee Tables - http://www.gizmowatch.com/entry/13-high-tech-coffee-tables-for-the-geeks/
    Kitchen Table - http://www.sligh.com/home-office-furniture/Westlake-74%22-Dual-Purpose-Electronically-Enabled-Dining-Table-300BA-300/577