We needed a post for support of an open wall, so we had one put on one side of the post. You can also put the floor kind in...

You need a plug in the floor. An electrician can put one in.

Has anyone installed an extension cord under the wall to wall carpet?

Are you able to add a floor plug? Some people can't- they rent, have slab floors, etc. but if you can, spend the money and do it. It costs about a hundred dollars and is worth every penny.

I'm a terrible person, having used extension cords under rugs, it can be a real fire hazard. Putting one under wall to wall carpeting seems over the top in risky behavior. ;)

I have a couch adjacant to the outlet wall, but near a rug. I've routed the cord under the rug, under the other sofa, to the outlet. There's a small bump under the rug but it's a pretty thick wool rug and it's really not noticeable unless you're looking for it.

I don't have a great pic, but this kind of shows it:

I was still moving things around and hadn't carefully tucked, so you can see the cord (white) peeking out from under both couches. That kind of helps to visualize what's going on. The lamp is behind the couch with the blanket over the arm, on that side (with the blanket).

And for reference, that's the lamp peaking out on the left. The wall with the mirror is where the outlet is located.

Bumblebeez, you can do it with a slab. My neighbor had it done. She had a handy man notch out a groove and run electric through a conduit.He then filled it in with concrete.

She had it done when she was getting new carpet but it's possible to pull carpet back to do it.

We do have concrete slab.

My mom actually did the extension cord under carpet when I was little. She also did the same for cable TV wire.

With so many decorators encouraging people to move their furniture away from walls, it's funny they don't mention this resulting problem. Yes, if you have hard floors and use rugs then your solution is easier. However with installed wall to wall carpet, the solutions are more complicated.

I have an extension cord tucked under the couch and behind tables, snaked around. NEVER under a carpet!! A floor socket is optimum but not very common due to the prohibitive cost of having one installed.

At another home, my husband cut concrete before new carpet wa laid and ran electrical. Concrete cutting was a major mess, make sure the place is surrounded by plastic. It can be done, takes a while depending upon the length needed. Also, make sure you know exactly where the plug is wanted or can be versatel should you decide to move furniture again.

Now in my small home, I plug into an extension cord under the furniture and sort of route around so it isn't seen. If you are going to go under even a rug, would definitely think about a long enough extension so there is no plug under it. And use a wide tape on top for safety and keeping it from being moved around. Conference setups do this all the time. Not sure what they use.

There are some flat plastic units that allow feeding wires into and stick to wall or floor. Not terribly bad looking, a bit safer in the long run.

What is the deal with it under a carpet, is it because people will walk on it and it will fray? ..or... because of a heat build up - or something else?

I put an extension cord and some of the lamp cord under my rug running from the from the back of the sofa table to the floor plug under the sofa.

It will never be touched in anyway -never jousted, walked on, etc. but is it still dangerous?

Having a floor plug installed in wall to wall carpet isn't that expensive when you think it is there for the life of the house. I think ours was $100 or so. I wouldn't put a cord under the carpet as it is a fire hazard (from a spark I believe) and that would be a lot more costly in so many ways than just having an electrician come out and install a floor plug.

(Can't someone come up with a recharge battery pack for lamps???? Wouldn't that just solve so many of our decorating problems.)

They do in a way, they have small rechargeable battery generators used for camping etc, that have an outlet.

Getting electricity just where you need it is an age old problem. My husband solves this by putting an outlet every three feet around any room. What are the chances of an in floor outlet being where you want it? When it is in the wrong place, it is pretty ugly and uncomfortable to accidentally walk on. One rearranges furniture, gets new/different things in the span of a life time. What works this year may not next. It seems pretty prohibitive to me. Putting them in as part of a plan when first designing a house they are cheap, after the fact, not so much and what all gets ruined while they put them in adds to the cost. Life is full of these little frustrations!!

Sorry Utopian Kitchens - you didn't specify flooring in your post and I assumed hardwood.

In our last house when DH had his home theater installed (carpet was already down) the installer cut through the carpet, adhered the cording with double stick tape, and then seamed the carpet back together.

He used an extra flat power cord. It looked like regular cord that had been stepped on. Under the padding you couldn't even tell it was there.

This isn't exactly what he used, but it was very similar: