# Unusual outlet in home? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 30, 2020, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705 "2020-05-30T00:41:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/1 "2020-05-30T00:41:17Z")
I was looking at a house to buy and instead of having 2 electrical sockets, this plate had a round section in the middle that was not moveable. RE agent has seen many,many houses and he’s never seen this before. I will see if I can get his picture of it. Any ideas of what it is for? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/2 "2020-05-30T00:58:33Z")
Something [like this](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-1-Gang-Midway-Single-1-406-in-Hole-Wall-Plate-White-R52-00PJ7-00W/202059896)? It’s a socket with a slightly higher amp rating. Note the notch in one of the prongs for the suggested socket. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/3 "2020-05-30T01:27:22Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Something [like this](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-1-Gang-Midway-Single-1-406-in-Hole-Wall-Plate-White-R52-00PJ7-00W/202059896)? > > It’s a socket with a slightly higher amp rating. Note the notch in one of the prongs for the suggested socket. A lot of wall AC units require this, as well as baseboard heaters. Even if your house has central air and heat, many people find that they spend almost all their time in the living room, so they keep all the doors closed, set the thermostat to 65’F, or even 62 in the winter, and 78’F in the summer, and use a wall unit/baseboard heater in the winter. We did this, and found that the oil-filled radiator we bought (~$65, movable from living room to bedroom), and the two small, bottom-of-the-line wall units, one for bedroom and one for living room, ($87 per) paid for themselves in increased electricity savings in about 16 months. We even had an especially cold winter, but we still kept the thermostat at 62’F, and wore longjohns under our sweats around the house, and had an excuse to snuggle a lot. Our neighbors all had to refill their propane tanks in February, and we didn’t. Ours ran out in April, when nights were still cold, but we just got a second heater, and stayed toasty as night ($65 was way cheaper than 25% minimum to fill the tank, which in February would run close to $300.) Our electric bill was around $80 in the summer, and our neighbors’ were around $150. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/4 "2020-05-30T01:31:19Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I was looking at a house to buy and instead of having 2 electrical sockets, this plate had a round section in the middle that was not moveable. RE agent has seen many,many houses and he’s never seen this before. I will see if I can get his picture of it. Any ideas of what it is for? was it near a window? if it was and the house was built a while ago, it might have been a 240VAC socket meant for a window A/C unit [like this.](https://i.stack.imgur.com/KIm5b.jpg) if it’s down on the wall at the same level of the usual outlets, then it might have been for phone wiring. [here’s one example, my folks’ place had these](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j4yndTiORLw/Wi8WYwOuX6I/AAAAAAAABF4/3RHw1CUXAdoN6-OQrbjJAEEOCqjLJy0TACLcBGAs/s1600/info-strange-bell-system-phone-jack-round-old-example.jpg) (built in the 1950s.) Or it might have been for an RJ phone plug [like this.](https://i.imgur.com/RrPmkWH.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/5 "2020-05-30T02:13:26Z")
house is about 20 years old. Not near a window. Has central air and heating with gas. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/6 "2020-05-30T03:04:54Z")
If like [this](https://www.homelectrical.com/sites/default/files/images/category/Dryer%20Outlet.jpg), it could be a washer/dryer outlet. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/7 "2020-05-30T03:38:31Z")
If you’re brave, you may wish to carefully unscrew the cover to see what’s inside. It may be a dummy plate covering what had been a live outlet but is now decommissioned. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/8 "2020-05-30T03:55:10Z")
Another option; the wall plate is there to run coax cable or perhaps HDMI to a TV. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/9 "2020-05-30T06:38:46Z")
It’s called a simplex receptacle (as compared to the more common duplex receptacles). Generally used in locations where you only want 1 item plugged in, usually a high-current item that uses up most of the capacity of the wires. Often a higher-than-normal voltage, too – those will have different arrangements of the blades so a normal plug won’t fit into the receptacle. Similar simplex arrangements are available for non-power wiring, like phone jacks or cable TV outlets. (Though modern installations of those generally use multi-keystone outlets.) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/10 "2020-05-30T14:20:31Z")
It’s in the living room, not near the washer/dryer. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/11 "2020-05-30T18:26:20Z")
Eagerly awaiting the picture I am. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/12 "2020-05-30T18:36:54Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > Eagerly awaiting the picture I am. In this case, one picture is worth a thousand posts. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/13 "2020-05-30T18:37:21Z")
What about a central vacuum system hose connection? It’s been a while since I’ve seen one, but IIRC, it was just a round hole. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/14 "2020-05-30T20:53:56Z")
> [@dougrb](#): > > What about a central vacuum system hose connection? It’s been a while since I’ve seen one, but IIRC, it was just a round hole. Those are much bigger holes. Also, most of them being installed now also have electrical wiring connected to them, with connections for a powered brush on the whole-house vacuum wand. Again, a picture of this receptacle will allow easy identification of what it is. (Unless it’s just a blank cover plate.) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/15 "2020-05-30T23:05:18Z")
there is no hole in the plate. BTW In about an hour I will know if I am buying the house. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/16 "2020-05-30T23:52:07Z")
I am buying it so I will take my own picture this coming week. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/17 "2020-05-31T01:00:09Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > Those are much bigger holes. The OP has not stated the diameter of the hole, even approximately. Or whether the hole contained anything resembling an electrical outlet or otherwise. We don’t need a picture to get the general gist of what the plate is for, but as of yet the details have not been forthcoming. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/18 "2020-05-31T02:28:39Z")
Congratulations! ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2020, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/19 "2020-05-31T02:59:57Z")
Yes; Mazel Tov! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2020, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705/20 "2020-05-31T03:01:10Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > It’s called a simplex receptacle (as compared to the more common duplex receptacles). Generally used in locations where you only want 1 item plugged in, usually a high-current item that uses up most of the capacity of the wires. That reasoning makes sense! The hardware stores around here have mostly simplex NEMA 6-15 and 6-20 outlets (240V, 15A and 20A respectively), as opposed to the usual NEMA 5-15 and 5-20 (120V, 15A and 20A), the common North American household outlets. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-outlet-in-home/854705.md?page=2)