Frosted Electrical Outlet. Help Please.

[BiscuitNaBasket]

A little back story: Recently located to the Lawrence area. Home was built in 2005. Interior temperature is set to 68 deg Fahrenheit. This electrical outlet is next to a gas fireplace. The fireplace was on most of the evening. My girlfriend had her ipad charging in the top socket of this outlet for a few hours before she went to unplug it and discovered frost on the top of the face plate, on the screw holding the face plate to the socket, and on the bottom of the face plate. I have not yet taken the faceplate off to see what's going on back there.

I felt very cold air coming out of the socket. I checked all of the other outlets along the outside walls of the home and discovered that they were cold but cold air was not coming through the others and there was no frost on the other outlets either.

With the unusually cold temperatures we are experiencing in Marion County right now I assume part of the problem can be attributed to that, but frost doesn't sound right and I don't know if I need to call an electrician or not.

Has anyone else had this issue before? Are there any INGO members who can give some advice on what I should do about this? Am I making a mound out of a mole hill? Thanks

 

[Bunnykid68]

My thoughts are this, a fireplace creates a lot of heat and must exhaust upwards thru the chimney which causes air to be sucked out of the rest of the house. Obviously it is sucking cold air thru this outlet and causing the frost. You have an insulation problem, not an electrical problem unless that ice shorts out across the wiring.

 

[BiscuitNaBasket]

My thoughts are this, a fireplace creates a lot of heat and must exhaust upwards thru the chimney which causes air to be sucked out of the rest of the house. Obviously it is sucking cold air thru this outlet and causing the frost. You have an insulation problem, not an electrical problem unless that ice shorts out across the wiring.

Thanks for your input BK.

 

[sparky241]

yes, the receptacle may be running to one that is outside right now, when it gets warmer i would pull the recept out and put a little peice of insulation in the pipe. they also have foam you can put around the receptacle behind the cover

 

[BiscuitNaBasket]

yes, the receptacle may be running to one that is outside right now, when it gets warmer i would pull the recept out and put a little peice of insulation in the pipe. they also have foam you can put around the receptacle behind the cover

Awesome, this helps a lot. Thanks!

 

[Bunnykid68]

Have you tried shutting the fireplace down and see if the air flow at least slows down?

In any case, whenever you use a fireplace it will need air from somewhere.

 

[You'll shoot your eye out]

Better get that fixed before those wires freeze. If the wires burst there will be electricity spraying all over the place!

 

[BiscuitNaBasket]

Have you tried shutting the fireplace down and see if the air flow at least slows down?

In any case, whenever you use a fireplace it will need air from somewhere.

When I checked the outlet and felt the cold air coming inside the house through the sockets I had just turned off the gas.

 

[BiscuitNaBasket]

Better get that fixed before those wires freeze. If the wires burst there will be electricity spraying all over the place!

Well now this has me worried.

I'm going to go take off the face plate and see what's in the wall. BRB.

 

[rgrimm01]

Plugs on an outside wall are subject to improper insulation due to depth of box. I am curious if this is a 2x4 wall? N or NW wall? Hmmm, I have seen pinholes in insulation allow cold air to freeze waterlines. Frost would not be surprising but undesirable nonetheless.

Disclaimer: I am not a certified electrician or insulation specialist and would suggest contacting a qualified professional.

 

[sig-guy]

My thoughts are this, a fireplace creates a lot of heat and must exhaust upwards thru the chimney which causes air to be sucked out of the rest of the house. Obviously it is sucking cold air thru this outlet and causing the frost. You have an insulation problem, not an electrical problem unless that ice shorts out across the wiring.

^^^ This

The cold air is freezing the humidity from the home to the cover/outlet. Fix the draft issue and your problem will go away.

 

[Mackey]

Better get that fixed before those wires freeze. If the wires burst there will be electricity spraying all over the place!

Yes, you're supposed to leave the electric running when it's this cold so it don't freeze up. You need a little bucket to catch all the electric that drains out. Dont let it spill on the carpet. Very sticky stuff.

{by the way, I think the bunny nailed it and I just had to add something}

 

[Bunnykid68]

It's been 10 minutes, I am worried he might have a terrible electricity leak now.

 

[BiscuitNaBasket]

Alright, I took off the faceplate and discovered a thin foam insulation pad behind it. Here is what that looks like:

I peeled the insulation pad back so I could see around the outlet itself:

Here's a reference shot for distance from the fireplace. The outlet is under the window on the left:

 

[Sylvain]

Can you feel cold air coming from the outlet box?

 

[Bunnykid68]

That is obviously the path of least resistance for the air flow. There must be a serious lack of insulation in that section of wall.

At least it looks like all the electricity didn't spill out.

 

[Mackey]

I bet that was cold in there. Could you feel the draft. That white mustasche looking frost about matches the opening at the top where that insullation doesn't cover.
The mosture is most likely being pulled out of the air in your home.

What you need to do is stick a fork into the slotted looking holes. That will warm things up nicely.

Ever notice how those sockets look like a face saying "Oh no!!" ??
That's what you're face will look like after you follow my directions above. Don't worry ... it's not permanent.
morticians can fix much worse than that.

 

[BiscuitNaBasket]

Can you feel cold air coming from the outlet box?

Yes, all around it.

That is obviously the path of least resistance for the air flow. There must be a serious lack of insulation in that section of wall.

At least it looks like all the electricity didn't spill out.

Hmmm

 

[Sylvain]

I bet that was cold in there. Could you feel the draft. That white mustasch looking frost about matches the opening at the top where that insullation doesn't cover.
The mosture is most likely being pulled out of the air in your home.

What you need to do is stick a fork into the slotted looking holes. That will warm things up nicely.

 

[BiscuitNaBasket]

I bet that was cold in there. Could you feel the draft. That white mustasch looking frost about matches the opening at the top where that insullation doesn't cover.
The mosture is most likely being pulled out of the air in your home.

What you need to do is stick a fork into the slotted looking holes. That will warm things up nicely.

I couldn't feel the draft. We were sitting on the couch eight feet away and didn't notice anything. Yeah, the frost matches up perfectly with the sliver that the pad doesn't cover at the top. I cut a live wire once and it burnt a hole in those pliers. I learned my lesson