Electrical Outlet Placement

[mama23]

Hi all,

getting our platform built for our 24' pacific yurt.

DH & I are in disagreement about how to power the yurt. I say completely off grid - he says why not do electricity since we have access already.

SO - sounds like we are going to at least for the time being wire the platform for 4 outlets and then decide whether or not we will go ahead & have an electrician hook it up. That way we won't have to retrofit it.

anyhow - Im wondering if anyone has any input on where these outlets should be placed. honestly, Im not even sure what they will be used for yet, as I haven't been thinking of it as an option. We will have a wood stove for heat. The builder is planning on putting them in the flooring. I guess I was assuming just equally placed around the perimeter about a foot or so away from the walls.

any other thoughts or things we should consider? Thanks.

[Bob Rowlands]

I've been carpentering since 1973. The waY I see it there are several issues with installing floor receptacles in a yurt that is more roughly used than a typical subdivison house. My yurt is roughly used. It gets very dirty and wet inside on occassion. Some are fancy homes, and the info I'll present may not be the case for you.

To start, a problem with floor outlets is they get plugged with dirt (in my case sawdust sand and crud in drop cord gang box). I wouldn't install any receptacle around the perimeter wall because there is my dirt at the yurt wall. It is harder to sweep up due to belongings cots chairs etc.

Secondly, water collects on the floor at the wall if I've had the cover rolled up to cool it in the summer, and it has rained while I'm gone or asleep.

Thirdly, because your belongings will be situated around the wall any floor outlet there will make it tougher to utilize the receptacle. You'll be on your hands and knees like half brother to a contortionist to plug in.

Lastly floor rectacles are usually flush with the wood flooring. The box needs to be cut in and the cover of gets routed flush with the wood floor so no toes get stubbed etc. Few carpenters and nearly no electricians I've met have the patience, time, or interest in doing an 'A' grade install in a wood floor so I generally do it at the very end of the house build.

With this in mind I highly suggest your receptacles be 14" up off the floor in standard fashion. Attach a water rated box to the lath and have your sparky use BX cable above the deck to insure there's no chance the cable will get damaged. He will know the electrical code.

Good luck.

[Marshall Eppley]

I think i would mount the box to a short piece of 2x4 and then secure it to the lathe or maybe even hook it to the snow load brace. just my 2 cents worth

[Jafo]

I agree with Marshall.

Off-grid can be really expensive. My yurt camp is off grid but I do not use a lot of power. I am talking some lights, powering a laptop and a couple ham radios. That setup alone was pretty pricey.

There is nothing about hooking into the grid that says you CAN'T use off-grid power. You just flip a switch or two and you are off.

[Bob Rowlands]

Thats a very good idea about the mounting the box to 2x4 Marshall. Beats my tie wire and duct tape solution. lol

[Marshall Eppley]

We have power at our place and when it goes out i have a small Honda generator i just put it in the out house and run a cord. im like a big ole turd i just go with the flow.

[liam]

We are trying to upgrade electrical availability from an extension cord slipped in between the floor structure and the outside covering. We want to put at least one permanent outlet mounted at the 14" height as suggested by Bob Rowlands above. The thing is that today we have 2 power strips connected to the extension cord to accommodate everything that needs to be plugged in. Does anyone have a idea or plan for a power distribution 'post' that is useful yet stylish?

[Bob Rowlands]

No I don't. Somewhat related, temporary power on a jobsite is frequently 2- four receptacle boxes, and 2- 20 amp breakers, mounted at ~4' height on a pole. That is generally satisfactory until the permanent power is installed into the panel inside the new home. And then if you are lucky, there will be three duplex receptacles on three seperate 15A breakers, or 'real lucky', 20A breakers. Unfortunately, and frustratingly, tripping those is a regular occurance in residential construction. All I can say is watch your amp draw. If I lost a refer full of food that would be a financial hit that would be a REAL pisser. Wish I had real advice here on this, but I do not. Good luck.

[MT Rod]

I am in the midst of building a conventional (for here) small concrete house at the moment, and we just finished most of the wiring preparations.

We are in an area that has a good wind source and is fairly constant, so 12 or 24 volt is in our future, as well as conventional 120v.

My plan has been to put the outlets in double boxes. I am using the orange outlets for 12/24V and traditional 120V will be in the same box, but the outlets will be ivory colored.

I also plan to use orange plugs at the end of all the 12/24V cords as a reminder. At this point there are just two of us planning to use the casita, so we can be "trained", and I fully expect we will make a mistake someday, and will have to live with the consequences. At least it is only harmful if you make the mistake one way.

By the way, if there were kids around, I not sure I would be thinking about using this setup.

Rod
rodyurtlocker.com
Home Page.

[Bob Rowlands]

Another point, I suggest not installing 'new skool' breakers that are 15 amp. Use 20s. Electricians now install old school 20a breakers for the refer, so they don't trip and ruin an entire fridge full of food. Those outlets are coveted by tradesmen at the end of the job because they very rarely trip. FWIW the new skool breakers now mandated by code are yet more bureaucratic safety BS to save people from themselves. Big pita to deal with as they trip for very little amp draw. JME.