In the cubicle world, without a cubicle’s ability to organize and hide power cords, the modern day office would look quite different. Picture wires hanging from the ceiling of your office, power cords running between cubicles, people accidentally kicking out power cords and employees losing their saved work. The point is – cubicles have done more than provide workplace privacy. This latest cubicle dictionary series is centered around providing power to cubicles.
One of the most important pieces of a cubicle is one that personally, I walk by every day I come in here but almost never notice them – the power pole. These are often vertical plastic columns that hide wires and come down from the ceiling, running all the way to the base of the cubicle where the power panels are located. Its main use is for aesthetic purposes so that there aren’t exposed wires hanging down from the ceiling, but it also organizes and separates wires. It is only useful under the assumption that an office’s power supply is being run through the ceiling, otherwise a base feed would be used to run power along the floor. A base feed is similar but is horizontal and often runs along the floor, providing only a minor obstacle on the floor.
Most office cubicles have the option to include power panels, regardless of size or dimension. Power panels are located along the floor of the cubicle, and are protected by kickplates. Most cubicle buyers choose to have at least some of their cubicles with power. Many office managers opt out of having surge protectors and extra wires running everywhere. While including power panels does slightly raise the cost of a cubicle, most people find it outweighs the other options of running cords from the wall.
Each cubicle can vary in terms of how much power or how many outlets it provides. Any cubicle with the power option in one of the floor panels will include at least one outlet. Generally between one and four power outlets are included and each one can be put on its own circuit, with the fourth one having the option of being a dedicated circuit. More than four outlets can be included, usually for an additional charge.
Most cubicle sellers will provide information for the wattage/voltage numbers that need to be taken into account. For the most part, however, a customer does not need to provide anything extra since the power supply is pretty standard in most buildings.
Pretty powerful stuff, right? I would be shocked if this article hasn’t sparked a surge in your interest of providing power to offices. “Pun”til next time!