Sometimes I’m at the doctor’s office, at the library, or even at the grocery store and see an unused power outlet. My phone is dying. I feel weird plugging in, but I feel even weirder asking for permission.
Phones charging use such little power I’d really be surprised if anyone cared. It really depends on the place. A library I would have no issue plugging in anything without asking. I can’t say I’ve ever been at the doctors and considered charging my phone though I may ask out of courtesy if I did simply because I like my doctor. Overall I’d say it wouldn’t be a big deal either way.
They use a few cents (in US dollars) a year.
A 2000 mAh battery that is charging at 3.7V for one hour per day uses 2.5kWh of energy per year. About $.50 at ~$.20/kWh. That’s pretty remarkable!
If it’s a public place and you have legitimate business starting there for a while, I don’t see any issue with it. Eg. Doctors waiting room and you have an appointment, restaurant and you’re dining there, etc.
If it’s someone’s private home I’d ask first.
Some places you’re not supposed to plug anything in unless it’s tested and tagged. Unlikely to be an issue in a public area, but if you’re somewhere that the power getting tripped would be a safety issue then best to ask first.
Are you thinking of the ICU too?
A business’s insurance might require all electronic devices to be tested before being plugged in though.
Then those outlets shouldn’t be unlocked
Something small like that, you’re fine. They wouldn’t really care, or even notice the bill.
The problem comes if you either start unplugging devices to plug in your phone, or you plug in such a ridiculously large load that you start tripping breakers, but that comes more with space heater, or car charging territory.
Phones are perfectly fine, and in some places, like the library, that is what they’re meant for, to let people charge their phones or laptops while they work.
I don’t think it matters
I don’t think it matters with a phone/laptop or other small device.
If you plugged in a Tessy that might make some people unhappy.
Flashback to when my sister in law had an electric car and felt compelled to plug it in at my place everytime she visited.
Bold.
Imho, it’s a bit like a water fountain. You wouldn’t ask before filling up your bottle. In both cases you as an individual are costing the business pennys.
The only place you mentioned that I personally wouldn’t do it is a store, but that’s mostly because to charge your phone you kinda have to sit by the outlet and I personally see stores as places of movement where hanging out is discouraged. You are supposed to buy something and leave.
But for doctors offices, you’re probably fine, and libraries you 100% all g.
Not rude at all. I wouldn’t even ask for a phone charge.
Just don’t plug your giant bitcoin miner in.
rolls huge server rack filled with GPUs into the doctor’s office
“Yo doc, mind if I plug in for a bit?”
Well, seeing as you asked so nicely.
Going to need a little more power, do you have a 50Amp outlet in the back?
There’s a street light outside my house, I swear I’m going to open the hatch and install a gpo if I ever get an electric car.
Dr office, no in the waiting room, yes in the exam room. Library, no. Grocery store, yes. Any more?
Airport? Shopping mall? Restaurant? Parking lot? Stadium? Your friend’s house? The office? Classroom? Museum? Cinema?
BDSM parlor.
No, maybe, yes, no, no, yes unless you know better, no, depends how old you are, maybe, no so long as its off/silent.
Also, I’ll note in case anyone forgot, the original question was not “can you?”, but “is it rude?” Which are two different things.
Lmao
Edit: I got it backwards, meaning these are what I’d consider acceptable places to charge your phone.
Airport? Yeah but use a no-data charging cable.
Mall? I don’t see why anyone would care about that.
Restaurant? If it’s under your table or very close by.
Parking lot? Do they have outlets?
Stadium? Where would they be charging it at a stadium, maybe where the bathrooms and concessions are? If it’s out of the way I don’t think that would bother anyone.
Your friends house? Yeah unless they’re running an off-the-grid setup or something.
The office? Yes fuck the man.
Classroom? I assume they can charge it somewhere while in class, I’ve been out of there for a while though.
Museum? Eh, feel like it can wait.
Cinema? No.
You forgot public pool and bathroom
I’ve never seen a power outlet in the public pool…
I think it’d have to be no for all them, no? Besides maybe museum or cinema, but I guess it depends on where the outlet is.
I’ve definitely plugged in the exam room, they leave you to wait for 10-15 minutes I can get 30-50% charge while waiting.
From a (US) financial perspective, a phone charger takes about 5 watts of electricity. At $0.010/kWh that’s $0.0005/hr (or ¢0.05/hr) of charging. This is utterly negligible.
For reference, a worker at the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hr would be paid that much after 0.25 seconds of working. It’s not even worth paying an employee to tell you to not plug in, which would probably take at least 15 seconds.
Naturally, some businesses may want to discourage people from loitering, but more often than not, they probably want your business (library, grocery store, coffee shop &c) or understand that reality happens.
It depends on the charger. Fast charging can pull around 20W (1 second of minimum wage worker time, so maybe worth it if they ask very quickly), and PD allows for wattages over 100W, which would cost 1 cent per hour or more, though you’d still leave on your own long before then because your device will be charged.
In really high traffic places like poorly supported airports, it does tend to wear out the outlets which is a bit more money over time.
Realistically, most places can afford to provide charging facilities. I’m still carrying a battery pack with me though.
Libraries welcome you to do it! So definitely don’t feel weird there.
My preference would be to ask for permission.
Will you drink a can of Coke™ lying around a stranger’s house without asking? No? Then, ask for permission as a matter of etiquette unless there are signs specifically saying it is ok to use them.
Well if they had some on tap piped into each wall of their house I would be pretty comfortable with filling up a bottle.
Aka a water fountain lmao.
Would you fill up your bottle at the fountain, then you should be able to juice up your phone.
Ye
Big difference to a random coke and a flow of constant power that literally costs less than a cent to charge a phone.
Yep, super easy to ask. “Hey, is it cool if I charge my phone here while I wait?” I’ve never had anybody tell me “no”. Assuming you’re not also asking for a cable or something, I don’t think most people mind at all.
I wouldn’t bother asking if it’s a 15 min charge for your phone. If you are there for 3 hours, then maybe consider asking.
If you don’t have to reach or lean over someone, sure. Obviously if you do that would require saying ‘excuse me…’ or asking them to plug it in for you. An open outlet, anyway, is always fair game. If someone needs to use it after you start… they can say something.
I’ve literally moved tables in doctors offices to plug my phone in and no one’s ever said anything. The library those outlets are yours. Charge away.
yeah me too, I always just move other people’s furniture around and even shoosh the occasional pet away if my phone is in need, no one ever said anything either. they might look funny but that’s probably bc my farts smell
