Electrician for Child Proof Electrical Outlets

Consider hiring our Abbotsford residential electrician to install child proof electrical outlets. Let us help you baby-proof the electrical outlets around your home.

Also referred to as tamper-resistant electrical outlets (or tamper-resistant receptacles), these child proof outlets cost only a few dollars each and are a very simple and inexpensive way to keep your children and family safe, and prevent any unnecessary accidents in your home.

What Are Tamper Proof Electrical Outlets?

A child proof wall outlet is a tamper-proof electrical outlet that looks just like an ordinary outlet but is anything but.

The spring-loaded receptacle cover plates help safeguard the electrical contacts by preventing the insertion of any object if there is unequal pressure applied to the receptacle. Because young children won't be able to apply equal pressure to each slot at the same time, the child proof electrical outlets will prevent the child from making contact with live electricity.

When comparing a regular receptacle versus a tamper-resistant receptacle, look at the vertical slots. The slots in a regular outlet will appear open while the slots in a tamper-resistant receptacle will appear closed off.

How to Operate a Child Proof Outlet

For older children and adults, child-proof electrical outlets are just as easy to use as normal outlets. Simply apply equal pressure to each side of the plug, as you normally would, to cause the receptacle cover plate to open. No extra force or special knowledge is required to operate the plug…unlike many other children-proof gadgets made for home installation.

Did You Know that Kids Are Less Resistant to Electric Shock?

As parents, we know firsthand that curious young children will touch and play with anything they can get their hands on. They will also likely attempt to take these objects (or even their small fingers) and poke them into any hole they can see, including the electrical outlets scattered throughout your home. If the object they hold happens to be metallic or their fingers are wet, the child may become electrified.

Children's skin is much thinner and offers less resistance to electric flow and heat. This means that the shock and burns a child incurs are much more significant than if you were to accidentally shock yourself through an outlet.

Some electric shocks are minor with no long-term damage, but if the electrical current is strong enough, it will enter your child's body at the point of contact and leave at some other point. In between, the current damages any tissues in its path.

In children, minor electric shock damage includes skin burns, numbness or tingling, muscle contractions, pain, weakness, headache, and possibly hearing impairment.

In severe electrical shock cases, the shock can be strong enough to make your child unconscious or stop breathing. Child proof electrical outlets can help prevent severe shocks that can cause seizures, cardiac arrest, or damage to the brain, the heart, or other important vital organs. In the most severe cases, electric shock can cause death.

If you are buying or moving into an older home and you have children, our Abbotsford residential electricians recommend that you also have an electrical safety inspection done.

Benefits of Child Proof GFCI Outlets in Your Home

For the expense and effort of installing child proof outlets in your home, the benefits are well worth the effort.

Child-proof GFCI outlets:

• Are inexpensive – only pennies more than a regular electrical receptacle
• Adhere to current BC Electrical Regulations (tamper-proof electrical outlets are required in all new homes in BC)
• Prevent painful and life-threatening electrical shocks
• Prevent painful electrical burns that typically result from shocks
• Add resale value to your home for subsequent families with small children
• Eliminate the need for using plastic plug covers (which can be a choking hazard for young children)

Ask Us About Tamper Proof Electrical Outlets

Let our Abbotsford residential electricians help you child proof your home and install tamper-proof electrical outlets. To keep your entire family safe, we also recommend that you install wired CO and smoke detector alarms.

As industrial, commercial, and residential electricians, we service the entire Lower Mainland with most of our clients in the Fraser Valley between Hope and Surrey BC.

If you still have questions about child proof outlets or to book an in-home, consultation with our Abbotsford electrician please: