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The extension cords you&#;ll find for sale online are better quality and cost less than the ones generally stocked at brick-and-mortar hardware stores. If you can wait a day or two for shipping, buying online is the way to go. But that&#;s not particularly helpful advice if you&#;re in the middle of a project and need an extension cord right now. If you&#;re going to have only one cord, focus on indoor/outdoor extension cords&#;generally the ones in bright colors&#;and follow the tips laid out here to snag the best cord among the limited options in the store. If you&#;re looking for an indoor cord just to extend your charger or plug in a lamp, the guidelines are a little different.
When you&#;re guessing how long of an extension cord you need, leave yourself extra room for error and buy the next longest cord. Not only is a longer cord more convenient&#;it&#;s annoying to just barely reach your work area&#;-but it&#;s safer too. That&#;s because you&#;re not supposed to daisy-chain extension cords, connecting one to another. The extra length of multiple cords plugged in to each other (without thicker wires to make up for the distance) adds electrical resistance between the outlet and the thing you&#;re trying to power. Added resistance can in turn cause voltage drops that will make equipment like drills, saws, and vacuums run at lower power. The extra resistance of daisy-chaining cords can also cause additional heat to build up along the way, increasing the risk of one of the cords melting or even starting a fire.
Even if you&#;d normally ignore the safety risks and grab the cheaper, shorter cord, there&#;s another practical reason to get a longer cord: A long cord means you&#;re less likely to need to buy another extension cord for your next project.
Aside from length, the thickness of the wires inside an extension cord dictate how much power it can safely carry. Thicker wires can carry more power over longer distances. Any cord at a big-box store should meet the minimum requirements to run low-power gear like lights, battery chargers, or a stereo (see chart below). But the minimum won&#;t do if you want to run power tools like drills, saws, or wet/dry vacs safely and at peak power.
Cord thickness in the US is generally listed in terms of gauge, or AWG. Larger numbers mean smaller wires, which in turn means it can carry less power. A cord measuring 14 AWG is the thinnest we recommend&#;and at lengths of only 25 feet or shorter&#;and the much thicker 10 AWG is likely the thickest gauge you&#;ll find in an extension cord. Look for the numbers in the table above when you&#;re trying to decide which cord is right for you.
If you&#;re confused by the relationship between length and cord thickness, at least look for the amperage rating on the packaging. We recommend skipping indoor/outdoor extension cords rated for 10 A or 13 A. Instead, get one rated for at least 15 A. (If the cord doesn&#;t list a maximum amperage, you should skip it entirely.) That way you can plug in any household tool or equipment, and 15 A breakers or fuses&#;the kind you&#;ll find in most residential electrical panels&#;will cut off the power before the cord is pushed beyond its limits.
For household use, you don&#;t need to worry about voltage ratings. Most cords will be marked for 125 V or 130 V to coincide with residential voltage in the US. Contractor cords meant for job sites may be rated for up to 300 V to meet workplace safety requirements. Though these cords might be a little more robust, there&#;s no reason to spend extra money on them if you&#;re not a professional.
In our guide to the best extension cords, we found that some cords are much more flexible than others, especially at lower temperatures. Flexible cords are easier to stretch out across your workspace, easier to coil and store properly, and less frustrating to use in tight spaces. When cords are tightly wrapped in their packaging on a shelf, it&#;s hard to tell which ones will be easier to work with. Without unspooling all of them in the aisle, the only way to ensure you get a more flexible cord is to find one made for lower temperatures. Not all cords&#; packaging lists the cord&#;s ideal temperature ranges, but we&#;ve found the ones listing temperatures below freezing are generally more flexible at every temperature.
It can be tempting to pick up an extension cord with a few extra outlets at the end, often called a banana tap. But if you&#;re looking for a durable cord to run tools, equipment, work lights, or other power hogs, we don&#;t recommend them because they&#;re easier to overload. For example, a 15 A cord can easily handle a circular saw, but if you add a couple of bright work lights, every time you fire up your saw you&#;ll be overloading the cord. If you&#;ve got a 15 A breaker on that circuit, it&#;ll trip instantly when you try to run the saw and will make working impossible, or if you have a less common 20 A or higher breaker, you risk a surge of current and that will overheat your cord. For anything requiring serious power, and for general-purpose cords you hope to have on hand for years to come, stick to one outlet per cord and per piece of equipment. Indoor cords, meant to power less-demanding items like chargers and lamps, have slightly different rules.
If your cord is destined for your living room or bedside table, you probably aren&#;t looking for the thick, heavy, bright orange or yellow cords we talk about above&#;you probably want something like the cord we recommend for indoor use in our guide to extension cords. For low-power gear like chargers, lamps, or maybe a wireless speaker, the less robust indoor cords are fine as long as you&#;re aware of the limits. A small fan is fine, but a window air conditioner is not. A digital photo frame isn&#;t a problem, but powering a home theater with one is a bad idea.
The most important thing to note with indoor cords is that UL, and even modern building codes, don&#;t allow extension cords to be used in a permanent installation. That definitely means don&#;t use them in place of real electrical cable to wire an outlet, but experts have also told us that indoor cords are commonly used as a long-term solution and run around couches, beds, and other furniture. All those corners and snags can stress a cord, wear out the jacket, and become a major fire hazard in your home. If you own your home, save up and have an electrician come put an outlet in where you need one.
If you rent, or have no other option, take extra care when shopping for or using an indoor cord. Just like with outdoor cords, buy something longer than you need. Having a bit of slack in the cord is even more important in indoor cords so that you don&#;t stress the jacket as you pull the cord around corners. Outdoor cords have standard plugs, but on indoor cords you should look for flat plugs that are less likely to be bumped or tugged from the wall outlet, exposing the connection.
And though indoor cords generally have thinner insulation, if you opt for a round cord you&#;ll probably get more protection. Round cords will likely have two layers of insulation and be more durable than the single-layer cords where you can see the divot between the insulation on two wires. And just like with outdoor cords, indoor cords will have amperage ratings to tell you how much power is safe to plug in. The amperage on indoor cords is generally suitable for digital devices that don&#;t use much power, but don&#;t plan to use it a year later to run your power tools outside when no other cord is around. Indoor cords aren&#;t weather resistant either, which means they&#;re more likely to break down if left in sunny or damp locations for a long period of time.
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