Plugged into one electrical outlet, I have the following:

[yvr girl]

1 appliance and 1 extension cord.

Into the extension cord is a power bar and another extension cord. Plugged into the power bar is one (fairly) major appliance.

Plugged into the extension cord is another power bar. Attached to that is an appliance and 2 electrical items and another extension cord.

Attached to that extension cord is another power bar. Plugged into that power bar is 5 electrical items.

:scared:

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Dude, you gotta come up with a better solution

that's a disaster waiting to happen, and I mean that in all seriousness.

Unless all those are very low wattage appliances.

[yvr girl]

5. One is a freezer

The others I use one at a time. Suffice it to say I can't boil water and make toast at the same time.

I only have one outlet in my apartment that I can plug a three-pronged plug into.

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. Oh, well, if you're only doing one at a time, no problem.

They'll all work fine with the freezer with no harm done so long it's only ever the freezer and the one appliance, and so long as none of the other things are drawing current (any of them have digital clocks? Lights that stay on all the time? Anything like that? If so, that could be dangerous). Not the best solution in the world, but not a bad one, either.

You really would be good, though, to unplug everything when you are done with them. I know it's a pain, but if lightning or an electrical spike came in and hit that one outlet, BAM, they're all gone.

[yvr girl]

8. My computer, modem and phone

plus a light, kettle, microwave, phone charger, sometimes a fan/space heater.

My computer, modem and phone are always on.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. Your light, phone charger, kettle, modem, phone and fan/heater

can go into non-three-hole plugs. And best not to put them all in the same plug, either.

I'd do that.

You're definitely living on the edge.

[yvr girl]

12. Not all of them

Some have 3-pronged plugs.

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. But, considering the position you are one,

you are safe to put converters on the devices that have three prongs. None of them are sensitive enough, or powerful enough, that they really need the three prongs.

Though as you said in another post, you really should get the landlord to come in and replace everything with grounded outlets. As the landlord, it will cost him a few dollars (though really not very much) but you can tell him that it will make the apartment safer.

And, I believe current code requires grounded outlets now, and perhaps even grounded polarized outlets, and probably does in every state, or at least most.

And considering almost electrical device nowadays is either three pronged or uses a polarized plug, it behooves your landlord to make outlets that people can actually *(@#&(&% use.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. No. Stop that, right now!

[cmd]

3. So, where do you teach?

That sounds like my classroom before the electrical system was updated.

[LynzM]

4. Dude. Bad.

"Next up in local news, a local woman loses her home to a fire..."

Seriously, that's too many things. Please, pretty please, don't do that anymore?

[Zuni]

7. please yvr, be careful

that is really dangerous. You need to find a better way to take care of that

[yvr girl]

9. I need to get my landlord to convert my outlets

I have lots of outlets that I'm not using at all because they don't have a space for the ground.

[TreasonousBastard]

11. No big deal if...

those power strips are all UL rated and have fuses or breakers. And the extension cords are rated for the power. Cheap extension cords from the dollar store are not the best for this sort of thing.

My kitchen has two toaster ovens, a breadmaker, microwave, coffee grinder, crockpot, blender, spice grinder, food processor, coffee maker, and a couple of other small things plugged into the one convenient outlet on the wall. Needless to say, I can't run more than one of the bigger ones at a time or the breaker will blow. As it has when I thoughtlessly turned on the nuke when the coffeepot was brewing.

Personally, I'd put the fused power strips first in line, not the extension cords. Presumably, the fuse on that circuit will blow before the fire starts, but you never know with cheap extension cords.

Another thing you can do is get a gadget to plug into the outlet that expands it to six outlets. Make sure that has a UL label, too. There have been fires from the dollar store gadgets. Best to buy this sort of thing in a real store and pay an extra couple of dollars.

I replaced all of my outlets with grounded outlets. Decent ones are pretty cheap, and it's not difficult to do. Even more important is replacing the outlets with Ground Fault Interruption outlets where there is water. My place had nasty two-prong outlets right over the sinks in both the kitchen and bathroom! Even if you are usually careful, you never know when you're going to slip and grab a faucet at the wrong time. Or drop something into the sink while switched on.

[BeFree]

13. Ground is not needed

Get a three-prong plug adapter and plug it into the two-prong outlets (not grounded) and you can plug just about anything in. You can even plug one of your power bars into it.

[yvr girl]

17. I looked for something like that when I first moved in here

Couldn't find one. I got the impression they weren't allowed, but the guy in the hardware store could have been full of it.

[Rabrrrrrr]

18. Oh, of course they're allowed!

Sheesh. Stupid hardware guy.

[yvr girl]

19. Could we have different laws in Canada?

:shrug:

[Rabrrrrrr]

20. Oh yeah, I keep forgetting you're in Canada

sorry!

My Americocentrism is showing.

:-)

[yvr girl]

22. I need to colour myself Canadian

I guess, neighbour.

[Rabrrrrrr]

23. Righty oh!

Colour on, and be civilised, eh!

[Hand]

26. I think so!

I was looking for the exact same things when I first moved here (Canada, that is) and the guy at the hardware store said sorry, they're illegal. I've never seen one here.

The non-solution solution I came up with was to replace all the two-prong outlet plugs with three-prongers. Doesn't do a damn thing for grounding, but it allows you to plug three-prong devices in. The real eventual solution will be to get our 1950's vintage house completely rewired... ouch!
:hi:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

15. This is not a good thing.

Especially considering that inferior Canadian electricity you guys use up there.

And I'll bet you guys still use those old screw-in fuses, doncha! Jeez.

BTW, can I emigrate? You wouldn't mind, wouldja?

[johnnie]

16. You need one of these

Just don't plug it in.

[BikeWriter]

24. ...and some of these...

[Redstone]

21. Send us pictures of the fire, would you,

when your house burns down?

Unplug that stuff. Right now. Don't argue with me, just go do it. And I don't want to hear another word from you, young lady, until it's done.

Redstone

[yvr girl]

25. I'm the quietly defiant type

You can't make me, but I won't argue.

[sparky_in_ma]

27. Please listen

Feel the extension cord, especially when you're running the space heater. With all those devices plugged into one outlet, there is a risk of overheating. That's what causes fires.

The three prong is for grounding, it does not cause fires but it for protecting you from shock hazards. I worry more about how few outlets you have.

Trust me, I get paid to know these things.

[yvr girl]

28. I'm careful

I don't use much else when I have the space heater going.

[yvr girl]

29. If it makes you feel any better

I live 1 block from the firehall and 5 blocks from the city's biggest hospital.

[Seabiscuit]

30. Are you a closet pyromaniac?