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I have literally lost track of how many cordless devices I have in my house now; maybe 40. Thankfully, many of them use the same connector: Micro USB, USB C, Apple - but a quick tally still gives me a list of at least TEN different power supplies that I need to use on a regular basis.

Some are obviously used daily, but others might be used only 3 times a year. Nonetheless, each of them needs to be easily accessible when needed, otherwise the device will probably remain discharged and will get forgotten about. The three daily-use ones mentioned above are usually kept freely-available, but the other 7 are kept in a box and have to be retrieved from it every time they are needed.

I have toyed with a sort-of "Charging Station" with all of them permanently plugged-in to a series of trailing-sockets and a little shelf for items to sit on - but I don't have the space for this ideal solution.

How can I keep all ten chargers quickly and easily available and minimise the amount of unsightly chargers clogging up my house?

EDIT:

To clarify, here is a list of the 10 different chargers that I am talking about, along with the approximate frequency of use:

  1. USB micro: phone, tablet, headphones and more (daily)
  2. USB C: phones (daily)
  3. Apple Lightning: iPads (daily)
  4. Power supply and cable for shaver (weekly)
  5. Power supply and cable for window vacuum (monthly)
  6. Power supply and cable for hair clippers (monthly)
  7. Power supply and cable for work light (quarterly)
  8. Mains fed charger for drill battery (quarterly)
  9. Mains fed charger for strimmer battery (monthly)
  10. Mains fed charger for mower battery (quarterly)

Consequently, the top 3 are always plugged-in and ready to use in various parts of the house - they can probably be ignored for this purpose.

The others are all unique in some way so there is no cross-usage possible. In particular, 4)-7) all look similar, making it more annoying to find the right one if that are put away tidily.

8) to 10) are all bulky, approximately 12*15*12 cms each, plus cable and plug.

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    +1 volt for the great question. Can any of them be used for more than one device. For example the specs are the same for the output voltage, amperage? Are the plugs compatible for adapters to cut the number further? (An adapter takes much less space and the adapter can be left plugged into the relevant charger receptacle.)
    – Stan
    Nov 8, 2019 at 13:56
  • @Stan +1 for "volt". I see what you did there. A good suggestion, but they are all different, either voltage, plug style, polarity. Three of them are battery chargers for tools where I have to physically put the battery on the charger. You guessed it; 3 tools, 3 different batteries. I even made a point of buying an 18v Bosch strimmer because of my 18v Bosch drill - only to find that Bosch helpfully have 2 separate ranges with different 18 volt batteries!
    – Lefty
    Nov 8, 2019 at 17:34

2 Answers 2

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Buy inexpensive zipper-type gallon storage bags. Put one cord in each bag. On the outside of each bag, slap a piece of duct tape, and write the name of the cord on the duct tape ("hair clippers" or "work light" or ...). Neatly store the bags, upright, in a box or a drawer or cabinet. Then, when you need one, just flip through the bags to look for the right label ("hair clippers", "work light", etc.).

Plastic bags like this also significantly reduce the chance your cords will get tangled. An advanced technique is to leave the two ends of each cord sticking out of the bag! Just put most of the cord in the bag while leaving the two ends out, and then "zip" the bag closed around the two protruding ends. Since the ends can't loop through the middle to form a knot, and the cord isn't getting jostled around anyway, there's a good chance they won't tangle.

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  • I like this idea. By "zipper-type" bags I assume you mean plastic "zip-lock" bags...? On reading your answer, my thought immediately turned to fabric mesh draw-chord bags which have recently become much more available in the UK for a low price. Labeling would be a bit harder - probably involving a Tag that attaches to the chord. These type of bags also give me the option to HANG the bags somewhere convenient.
    – Lefty
    Nov 11, 2019 at 9:15
  • @Lefty I've always used Ziploc bags, but since that's a brand I avoided mentioning it. Your fabric drawstring bags would be an excellent alternative, especially since you could hang them! For the label, I like the idea of looping a tag around one of the drawstrings rather than applying something to the fabric (which as you already know would be wrinkled and hard to read).
    – BrettFromLA
    Nov 11, 2019 at 23:48
  • Excellent, I think I have my answer! Different coloured tags as well - to help identify them. I even have a convenient hanging-spot in mind. Thank you!
    – Lefty
    Nov 12, 2019 at 8:59
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    Zipper-type bags are one of the very best of modern conveniences, with many, many uses for organizing and storage. Where I live, Costco sells inexpensive large-count boxes of Ziplocks in different sizes. I find it convenient to have sandwich, freezer quart, and freezer gallon varieties always on hand. You may find that quart or sandwich size will work for some of your chargers and their cords, instead of gallon size. In order to reduce the impact on the environment, I even keep a supply of gently-used ziplocks, for reuse in situations where a pristine new ziplock is not required.
    – jrw32982
    Nov 12, 2019 at 19:24
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Consolidate as many as possible of the USB-compatible chargers into one.

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Items that are chargeable off a USB port negotiate the required amperage with the charger. As such, there are many chargers available that have multiple USB-A or USB-C outputs and take up a single electrical socket, and you're fine as long as the charger can provide higher than the minimum required amperage.

All you then need to do is keep the cables you need hooked up to it, and can keep the actual wall-plug chargers in storage in a closet until you need them. (I also labeled my chargers with a label-maker to list their amperage, so I don't need to get out a magnifying glass to know that I've grabbed one with a decent maximum output when getting ready for a trip)

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  • A good suggestion, but in a sense, this is not really too much of a problem. The USB powered chargers remain permanently plugged-in in different part of the house because that is where it is most logical to charge them. The main problem is the other 7 chargers: 3 different tool battery chargers mentioned in my comment, and 4 different power supplies with unique plugs.
    – Lefty
    Nov 8, 2019 at 17:44
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    @Lefty I got the impression (similar to notovny) that you had about 10 USB chargers for your 40 devices. It might be worth mentioning the tool battery chargers in your question text to clarify that it’s 10 different types of chargers, not 10 chargers.
    – Lawrence
    Nov 9, 2019 at 11:12
  • You should also exercise caution in checking in/out voltage/amperage/polarity require for each device.
    – Arctiic
    Sep 7, 2021 at 11:49

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