Well, with PriusChat being down so much and the fact that warm weather has stymied my "frog" antics in Portland, OR (How frogs went from right-wing meme to anti-ICE protest symbol), I decided to check all my home electrical outlets and switches A few months ago, another PC member had mentioned using Leviton's new Lever Edge system when replacing an outlet. I had a couple of outlets where the plug was nearly falling out, so replaced them with Lever Edge models and was impressed. So, not hopping around today, I decided to check all outlets and switches in this nearly 60-year-old home and found that several more outlets were "barely hanging on" to power plugs and a few wall switches were also loosey-goosie -- the switches flipping as easily as a politcian on election eve. Headed to my local hardware store this morning and spent under $30 to replace eight old switches/outlets. It was really quick and easy with the lever system. The "improved" lever edge products are about a buck more than the old school -- at least at my hardware store. All the outlets I replaced were old backstab only -- nary a screw connection, except for the ground. I ended up breaking the old outlets to get the wires out. Anyway, nope, I "ain't" no influencer and I am not getting anything from Leviton for this (though I wish I knew how), but thought a few of you might be interested. Saved me a bit of time and a bit of cursing.
Color is white. Only color they had. Replaced ivory, but, white for ivory, eh. No biggy. But I do have two black outlets in the kitchen that have 20 AMP outlets, despite being 15 AMP lines. Installed them myself in 2009 when I remodeled. I used wooden outlet covers and the black outlet looks great. White or ivory would be blah. If there was lever lock in black, 15 amp, I would replace, mostly as I will be selling in a year or two and do not want hear the home inspector whine
Amazon Leviton decora (not the lever kind) https://www.homedepot.com/pep/Leviton-15-Amp-125-V-Tamper-Resistant-Duplex-Outlet-Receptacle-Black-1-Pack-T5320-E-R55-T5320-00E/202066706 There's black 15 amps in two shapes, you have time to fix it.
In my opinion, no fix needed as the breaker should trip if anyone tries to hook up a 20 amp tool -- and I am the only using the outlet anyway. HOWEVER-- the black outlets might be O.K. as I looked at the panel and saw that there is a 20 amp breaker for the kitchen outlets -- I had a contractor come in around 2009 and install new countertops, induction cooktop, etc. The electrician was a bit strange as he did not install GFCI along the countertop near the sink, but the kitchen breaker is a 20. ??? The deal is that the 15 amp outlets felt less robust than the 20s. And, the wire hookups were easier on the 20 amp as the side connections contained plates that held down the wire as the screw was tightened. The 15s just had a screw and i always had trouble with the hooked wire trying to walk away as I tightened. The lever edge solves all that.
There are 15-amp receptacles built with those plates too. You just have to look for them and not buy the cheaper ones.
There are 20 amp gfci breakers and others that are combo arc fault and gfci. No need for gfcis downstream but they "should" have a label indicating they are gfci protected.
... as long as they are really downstream, as in, their wiring connected at the 'load' terminals of the GFCI you put in. (Those are the terminals usually covered with some bright-colored tape saying "don't go attaching the supply wires here".)
