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What is a Charging Valet?

Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen

A charging valet is a product that helps keep all electronic devices in one location for battery recharging. Also known as a charger station, this product can vary in appearance and size and usually consists of a couple of stacked shelves, separated by a few inches. The shelves allow people space for numerous devices like MP3 players, personal organizers, and cellphones, but the product itself doesn’t take up much space and can easily fit on a corner of a desk.

What makes the charging valet so attractive to many people is that it provides a convenient location to store all products that need charging, but doesn’t have exposed plugs or wires hanging from it. Most of these charging stations have a single concealed power strip, which can allow about six devices (this may vary) to be plugged in at the same time. Cords for charging can be fed through concealed holes and many charging valet types have Velcro to attach the cords in back and keep them neatly out of the way.

Some charging stations have extra drawers or space for common accessories like keys.
Some charging stations have extra drawers or space for common accessories like keys.

Some people find the charging valet difficult to set up at first. The power strips may not accommodate the larger plug sizes that often are part of charging devices for electronic equipment. Others complain that the holes to feed the cords into the back are a little too small and could be more generously sized. Other people love the convenience of the charging valet and contend that once the charging station is set up, it’s quite easy to use.

There are a few different products on the market that are called charging valets, so customers can expect variation in features. They may each look slightly different, and may not all charge the same number of devices. A few only hold about four devices at most. Some have additional features like extra drawers or extra space to keep common accessories like sunglasses or keys.

Price on charging valets will vary by features, manufacturer and stores selling these items. They are popular at “gadget” stores like Brookstone®, but can also easily be found on plenty of Internet sites like Amazon. The differences in colors, appearance and extras make it easy to find one that will coordinate with home or office décor. These useful organizational tools can solve the growing problem of how to charge all electronic devices in the home neatly and without clutter.

Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen

Tricia has a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and has been a frequent WiseGEEK contributor for many years. She is especially passionate about reading and writing, although her other interests include medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion. Tricia lives in Northern California and is currently working on her first novel.

Learn more...
Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen

Tricia has a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and has been a frequent WiseGEEK contributor for many years. She is especially passionate about reading and writing, although her other interests include medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion. Tricia lives in Northern California and is currently working on her first novel.

Learn more...

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    • Some charging stations have extra drawers or space for common accessories like keys.
      By: Andy Dean
      Some charging stations have extra drawers or space for common accessories like keys.