UK Mains 13A 2 Gang Double Power Wall Socket Faceplate with 2 USB Charge Ports

These revolutionary 13a plug faceplates now integrate 2 USB charging ports. It’s great that practically every battery-powered device charges via USB these days. What isn’t so great is that you probably have several USB chargers for various device, each of which will charge only one device. This is where the USB charging plate comes into play.

This faceplate replaces any standard UK two-gang socket and provides two built-in USB ports for charging your tablet, smartphone and any number of other gadgets. As long as your double backbox (behind the faceplate) has a depth of at least 25mm, the faceplate should fit just fine. As long as you’re competent with a screwdriver and you turn off the power, swapping an existing faceplate for the USB version should take about five minutes.

It’s a simple case of connecting the live, neutral and earth wires to the clearly marked terminals, and each is easily large enough to take two or three wires, so it doesn’t matter if the faceplate you’ve chosen also feeds (or takes feeds from) other sockets.

The two USB ports can provide 2.4A at 5V between them. It’s a shame that it can’t provide this output to both ports, as that would allow you to charge two tablets at maximum speed simultaneously. However, thanks to load balancing, you can still charge a tablet and smartphone at the same time since the 2.4A is intelligently shared between the ports rather than being fixed at 1A per port like many competing sockets.

If you connect two tablets and they attempt to draw more than 2.4A, the transformer will trip to protect itself – and your devices. If no device is connected to the USB ports, the transformer intelligently goes into sleep mode and no power is supplied to the USB ports. You can use the mains sockets for any 13A devices, but you can of course connect two USB chargers for charging up to four devices from this charging plate.

We recommend using a qualified electrician for installation. DO NOT MEGGER TEST as this will damage the USB charging circuit. Please read the instructions included carefully before commencing with installation. Failure to install correctly will negate the product warranty.