Significance and Usage of Electrical Watertight Floor Boxes

In large spaces, particularly offices or multi-purpose rooms, it is neither aesthetic nor convenient to create several power supply points on walls. Electrical floor boxes are essentially electrical outlets that can be fitted into floors for providing power supply points within offices, huge industrial spaces and other commercial settings. The greatest benefit of installing these highly efficient equipment pieces is that they can allow electrical devices to be connected anywhere within a room. They also come with safety lids, such as SIMON watertight floor boxes and therefore, do not become a hazard for anyone when not in use. Besides providing power supply, they may also carry VGA ports, telephone jacks and data ports, and be used as receptacles for networking, electricity, audio/video transmission and telephony.

Using electrical watertight floor box allow designers to make floor plans freely without having to configure the designs for providing wall electrical outlets. In fact, users would be clustered near the walls if floor outlets were not incorporated into the design plan. But with their usage, designers are able to get a clear idea of the layout and configure everything for maximum efficiency. Besides that, the risks associated with long cables running across the ground of workplaces are also eliminated.

Electrical floor boxes are generally of two different types - pop-up and fixed. The former options have their outlet fixed with the lid of the mainframe, while the latter ones have a separate lid which is used for covering the outlet attached to the frame. Pop-ups are ideal to be used within conference rooms, offices, auditoriums and hotels as they can be accessed conveniently by someone who is in seated position. In addition to that, they also have an elegant design. The fixed ones are more suitable for industries and open offices where they would be easily noticeable. Ground fault current interrupters (GFCIs) may also be used for preventing any damage from earth leakage current.

While placing electrical floor boxes within an area, say a workplace, it is important to recognise the fact that every workstation will require access to them. It can be prudent to place the boxes under the tables and desks, so that they do not become trip hazards. If they are being placed within a conference room, they should be arranged in the form of a perimeter around the conference table. In industries, it would be more appropriate to place floor boxes near every work area so the necessity of lengthy power supply cables can be eliminated.