Few outlets in apartment...no response from property managers (apartments, rent)
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My wife and I moved into a place near the University last spring and everything was okay until I went to set up our electronics and found that the bedroom and living room have two outlets each. The property we're in was built in the forties and doesn't seem to have been improved upon that much in all that time. We have inquired to our property manager several times that because of the daisy chaining with power strips that is necessary to power our things in the bedroom, several fire hazards are presenting themselves. I told them we need at least two additional outlets in the bedroom and possibly two in the living room. For the fifth time, we were told that they would look into it and get back to us. It's almost been a year.
One of the outlets in the bedroom has already failed and almost caught fire, if I hadn't have noticed it in the middle of the night. The electrician said he'd be happy to put more outlets but that I needed to contact my property manager first. Anyway, is there anyone who is familar with the electrical codes in this city? Having only two outlets on opposite walls in a room can't be up to code!
When they change electrical code, it doesn't suddenly require everything that came before to stop existing.
You found the place and liked it; it had just as many electrical outlets then as it does now. It probably exceeded what few codes there were at the time of construction in terms of electrical safety.
Most houses of that vintage started with very basic electrical service- 60 amps or fewer total to the house, and some even still have fuses instead of circuit breakers. To do any kind of upgrade to that house will then involve modern codes, which will probably be tens of thousands of dollars. How many months of rent do you think it will take for your landlord to recoup only that investment?
It's not your landlord's fault you need to run so many gadgets in that one room. If you like the house, offer to pay for the upgrades yourself, maybe prorated toward partial rent for a while ($10k of electrical work does not translate to $10k of mortgage payments and property taxes).
Here's the approach I'd take- get a pair of those six-outlet to two-outlet wall adapters (not the strip kind), and if somehow 12 still aren't enough, add a power strip here and there. If you don't blow the breaker or fuse, then you're probably fine. If you have to daisy chain 3 2' power strips to get the power where you want it, stop being cheap and buy a 20' power strip to replace them with. I like this monster from Harbor Freight.
If we were looking at this problem in retrospect, with an electrical fire that damaged everybody's stuff, and no clear indicator where the fire started exactly I'd put the fault toward the tenant. All those complaints would actually weigh against you in the mind of a third party.
I like Ziodberg's suggestion to look into trading an upgrade towards partial rent.
I'd want to see the panel that's feeding the place... if it's an old, low-amperage panel, you're probably SOL.
And rather than adding more outlets to existing wiring, get a Kill-A-Watt. It'll tell you how much current you're drawing, and between that, looking at the panel, and knowing how many circuits you have (go around turning off breakers and checking to see what's on which circuit), you can get a better idea of what's safe. If you just plug a bunch of stuff in, there's always the chance that turning something on will suddenly pop the breaker, or worse, overload old wiring and start a fire.
Maybe I am out of touch, but 2 outlets per room is pretty standard, no?
By which I mean, as long as you are not doing some unusual overloading, you should be able to set up an entertainment center (TV, cable box, sound system, console, plus lamps, clock, phone/laptop charger, etc.) in an average room with the use of a couple of power strips.
If you do have unusual requirements, buy an unusual house or be prepared to make unusual upgrades for an unusual price.
How do your neighbors cope?
Many older homes and apartments have few outlets, my daughter's apt has one outlet in the living room and no overhead light.
A lot of people simply learn to prioritize what they actually need at any given moment and plug in other stuff as they need it.
I agree that it's very unlikely that the property owner will upgrade just because you request it, not unless they were thinking of doing it anyway. Most folks grandfathered in under older codes don't want to mess with the trouble and expense of having to come up to current code.
Maybe I am out of touch, but 2 outlets per room is pretty standard, no?
By which I mean, as long as you are not doing some unusual overloading, you should be able to set up an entertainment center (TV, cable box, sound system, console, plus lamps, clock, phone/laptop charger, etc.) in an average room with the use of a couple of power strips.
If you do have unusual requirements, buy an unusual house or be prepared to make unusual upgrades for an unusual price.
Depends on its size. Our smallest bedroom (my "office") has two...
I worked for an electrician 40+ years ago, there is/was some rules. spacing etc, but that does not always apply years later. Upgrading can be expensive and is more than just adding outlets, it could be new gauge wiring, throughout to include a new larger circuit breaker panel/box...
There is no obligation for the landlord to upgrade because you feel he should. A home built in the 40's more than like met code at that time. New codes have now affect on previous buildings unless they are upgraded and required to at that time.
OP, you don't know if the building's electrical service could handle doubling the number of outlets. If you're overloading your circuits to the point that there's fire danger, the LL could blame you for creating the hazard. Maybe your current location isn't for you, and you should look for a more modern building.
I live in a one bedroom apartment in a 40 year old building.
The bedroom, living room, and kitchen each have three outlets.
The bathroom has one.
I do use a 'power strip surge protector' for my computer, printer, computer tower (?), and desk fan.
Since you had a electrician look at it already you might get a estimate for the upgrade and share the cost with the LL. You might have a safety issue anyway with that bad outlet in the bedroom so the LL should fix that and, if code and circuit capacity allow, have them stick in another outlet. I wouldn't expect him to add outlets in the whole unit.
We have many more electronic devices now than just a few years ago. There are USB charger adapters that still preserve access to the outlet if that helps.
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