I recently picked up a USB electrical outlet for my house. It seems that I can never find a wall charger when I need one. The phone charger I saw seconds ago vanishes when I go to use it. Tired of tracking down a charger when I need it, these electrical outlets with USB ports have solved the problem nicely. I have a couple installed currently, and have plans to install a third. It is hard enough keeping on top of things with daily life. Looking for a charger shouldn’t be something that you need to keep track of.
If you’re in a hurry (or just curious!) –
✅ Check out this USB Electrical Outlet on Amazon
What is a USB Electrical outlet?
A USB electrical outlet is just what it sounds like – and electrical outlet that also has USB ports on it. These outlets are super convenient, since you don’t have to go looking for a wall charger if you want to charge a device. You always know where a USB port is for charging. This replaces a standard wall outlet.
Having a USB Electrical outlet like this adds charging ports to an electrical outlet while not blocking the electrical outlets. This means you can charge your phone while also using the power outlet for something else. Since my outlet is in the kitchen, usually it’s a toaster plugged in next to my phone.
Why have USB Electrical outlets?
If you have ever spent more than a minute trying to find a phone charger, you will love having USB Electrical outlets. We have a ton of USB chargers by now, but when it comes time to find them they are always missing. Hunting for a wall charger should not be something you have to deal with. These USB electrical outlets make it so that there is always a USB port for charging and you always know where it is.
These suckers are super smart too. They have overvoltage protection and overcharging protection – both designed to keep your expensive electronics safe. No more worrying about a cheap charger damaging your phone or tablet.
On top of this protection, the TopGreener USB outlet TU2154A will detect the rate that your devices can charge at, then use that rate (up to 2.4A per port) This means you can plug something in that only takes 1A and not have to worry about it overheating your device.
How to Install a USB Electrical Outlet
You will need a little bit of electrical knowledge to replace an electrical outlet, but not a lot.
The TopGreener TU2154A comes with a ‘screwless’ wall plate, or a normal, screwed wall plate. They were really simple to install with full instructions. It took me about 15 minutes to install each outlet.
The most important part is to make sure that the electricity to your outlet you are replacing is off before removing it’s face plate. For this, I plugged in a small night-light and turned off breakers one at a time until the light turned off. Most of the install time was running back and forth between the fuse box to figure out which breaker to turn off. If you have your fuses pre-marked so you know what one goes to which area, you can save yourself a lot of time here.
Once you have your fuse turned off, and your light is not lighting up, it’s time to replace your outlet. Remove your old outlet’s face plate to access the outlet itself. Unscrew your electrical outlet from the wall using the top and bottom screws. Determine which wire is your hot (black or colored), which is your neutral (white) and which is your ground (green). If you cannot identify these wires – you will want to call an electrician. I like to take a picture at this point so I have documentation on how the outlet was hooked up previously.
With your wires identified, follow the instruction diagram that is included with the new USB electrical outlet. Switch out the wires one at a time from your old outlet to your new one. Mount the new outlet back into your wall socket, and reattach the face plate. This model of USB outlet has two options for a face plate – one with visible screws and one with invisible screws. Pick the option that best suits you.
Go back outside and turn your fuse back on. Then test the wall outlet with your night light again. If it lights up, you are good to go!
TopGreener TU2154a Review
The TopGreener TU2154A-W is Amazon’s choice for usb plug outlets. This model has a super high star rating with over 4k ratings, so you know that it’s a quality USB electrical outlet. The super high rating is what sold me on buying this brand of USB electrical outlet. Playing around with cheap electronics is one thing, but letting it touch my phone, tablet, and other expensive electronics is another! I want to have a quality charger to better protect my electronics from under or over charging.
I really like these USB charger outlets. This USB charger outlet has high speed charging – so the kids can get back to playing on their tablets sooner. The outlets themselves are tamper resistant so are a bit stiff to use as an outlet. You won’t be able to use these to charge a laptop after installing them (they’re not rated for the load). So that’s something to keep in mind if you charge all your electronics in one spot.
We replaced one of our kitchen outlets with this USB electrical outlet, and it is always in use. I might need to convert more wall outlets to USB outlets at this rate.
In Summary…
I highly recommend getting a couple of these in wall USB electrical outlets. They charge devices quickly, you always know where your charger is, and they are easy to install. I have more than one of these outlets around the house and I have plans to add more, they are just that nice.
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