How a concealer mounts over a wall outlet

What the plate plugs into

An ordinary American wall outlet is a duplex receptacle: two sets of openings stacked one above the other, each with two flat slots and a round hole. The pattern is called NEMA 5-15R, and it is built for 125 volts and 15 amps.

Our prongs go into the upper set. The body of the plate then drops down over the lower set and over most of the faceplate, so the outlet is hidden by the same piece that draws power from it.

That is why the lower receptacle is no longer free afterwards. The cord run carries the outlets instead, and it carries them to where the furniture is not.

Why nothing comes apart

The faceplate screwed to your wall stays where it is. Our cover sits over it rather than replacing it, so there is no screw to lose, no wire to loosen, and nothing to put back when you move out.

The whole piece comes off the way it went on, by pulling the prongs straight out of the receptacle. Renters can take it to the next apartment.

How much room it gives back

A molded plug standing out of a wall needs more than an inch of clearance, and the cord bending out of it needs more again. Our face is 0.3 to 0.4 inches thick, and the flat cord leaves along the wall instead of into the room.

That difference is the whole point of the thing. A dresser, a headboard or the back of a couch can touch the baseboard rather than stopping an inch and a half short of it.

Outlets a concealer will not fit

Look at the wall before ordering, because a few receptacles do not take a concealer at all.

• Receptacles with TEST and RESET buttons between the two sets of openings. The buttons sit exactly where our body has to sit.
• Receptacles with USB ports built into the face, for the same reason.
• Receptacles sunk into a recessed box, the kind installed behind a wall mounted television. There is no flat wall around the face for the cover to sit against.
• Receptacles in surface mounted boxes or metal raceway, where the face stands off the wall instead of sitting flush in it.
• Outlets mounted sideways, with the slots running across the wall rather than up and down.
• Any receptacle that no longer holds a plug. If a plug sags out under its own weight the contacts inside are worn, and that is a receptacle for an electrician to replace before anything else goes on it.

Where the cord ends up

The flat cord leaves the top of the plate, runs down the wall, and continues behind or under whatever is in the way. Adhesive clips hold it against the wall so it lies flat instead of bowing out into the room.

What sits at the far end depends on the piece. Most of ours end in a short strip of receptacles that can live behind the couch or beside the bed. The television kits end in a connector that goes straight into the back of the set instead.