I just don’t see how this statement can be objectively true. The UK plug contains features that others don’t. In respect of those features, the alternatives are not effective at all
Now you might argue that these features aren’t really necessary, but that argument can be applied to anything. Insulation on wires isn’t absolutely necessary, if you’re careful. Safety shoes aren’t absolutely necessary, if you make sure not to drop anything.
Exactly why I believe that all bathroom switches should be on the inside. This was a constant source of fighting between me and my brothers. Really. Bro is taking a dump? It’s dark out? Flip the switch and go watch tv while he screams bloody murder. tee-hee.
What? Were you guys actually nice to each other?
Doesn’t always help, at least in public bathrooms. I’m occasionally in the far stall at work when someone leaves the bathroom and turns the light off. I’m sitting down at this point, however, and usually have my phone as a light source, so it turns out all right, but it could be a lot worse.
*Raises hand briefly and the bickering attorneys are stilled. “With any known make of toilet,” evenly, “I could pee three feet in the dark with my left hand.” *
[ Apologies to JT ]
That may or may not be the case as far as domestic appliances are concerned, but most workshop portable tools still require the plugs to be manually affixed.
Yeah, if you want to rip the dishwasher out of the cabinet to get to the outlet. Personally, I’d go flip the circuit breaker in the basement long before that.
I think dishwashers are typically hardwired. This was definitely the case in the three separate houses that I’ve had.
In Britain large appliances such as washer/dryers & fridges are mainly wired in but with on/off switches above the countertop level.
Breaker boxes are near the front door generally.
this is not a safety feature this for convenience,
according to the (relatively) new wiring regulations
Guide to 17th Edition Consumer Units
Integrated switches in sockets are not mandatory and are there for convenience mostly.
They are an overkill exactly as the ridiculously over engineered 3 pin plugs
there is also such a thing as a common sense,
those features incorporating a fuse (!)
and bronze contact capable of carrying 100 amps for a plug designed for 13 amps load.
Overkill.
I understand the history behind this design but today they are obsolete, heavy,expensive and
remain in the regulations only because, as it often happens in the UK,
it has always been done that way. :rolleyes:
US systems tend to have only one protective device, whereas UK systems will have two, and if you counts the incomer fuse then its three.
The UK plug may be large, but it contains a silica sand fuse, and this prevents tracking across the carrier, which matters in events such as crowbar short circuits.
Our systems is that of one ring main with any number of outlets connected, the protective device backing that up will be between 30A(not common) to 60A(rare).This circuit board fuse has only one purpose, to protect the house wiring - it is not there to protect the appliance at all. If there is a RCD installed then it will protect users from earth faults
The problem here is that the flex is rated only for a maximum of 15 amps, and that would only be on heavier current appliances and extension leads. The majority of appliance flex will be rated at less than 15A, more likely around 7A or under - which means that the protective device could readily carry a current of , say 20-30A without operating, and the 7A flex is just going to melt and start a fire.
This is why we need a fuse in the plug, that fuse will be rate for the flex, and not - as most people believe - to the appliance.
Our plugs may seem large, however I have seen enough of them burned out - especially n the bad old days when people used socket adaptors such as these
If folk did not have enough outlets they would add in an adaptor, and then add another adaptor into the adaptor. The weight of all these plugs and adaptors on an outlet would reduce the friction contact, it was too much for the strength of the outlet contact springs - result is you get heating of the contacts due to higher resistance. It takes a while but this will generally degrade the plastics in the plug and outlet - and this leads to a vicious cycle where heat degradation increases contact resistance further and so increases the amount of heat produced further.
I don’t know the specific ratings of the US 110V system and the outlets but they do not appear to me to be capable of handling 13A, they only look to be good for maybe 5A - and that surely means that you can only use appliances up to around 500Watts - whereas our outlets will go up to 2.5KW
120V, 1500 W space heaters are common in the US.
I really like GFCI. I installed them in the aquarium room after I discovered how conductive salt water is. No shocks, things just turn off.
All good points. The US system is kinda rinky dink in many ways.
Ref the last point above, the standard US plug or outlet is good for 15A so nominally just over 1500W. A rule of thumb is 1500W for a medium-term continuous load e.g. space heater and 1750 for an intermittent short-term load e.g. microwave oven.
Where the US system really falls down is additive loads.
A common household branch circuit will be protected by a 20A breaker, and with wire sized for a 20A continuous load. Which circuit feeds 3 or 4 built-in light fixtures and also a half-dozen duplex outlets. The fixtures are probably heat limited to 2A apiece, whereas the outlets are 15A per face. Which means you’ve got 20A wire & breaker feeding a potential simultaneous load of 180A+.
As a result people discover by experiment :eek: which of their loads they can use simultaneously without blowing a breaker.
The good news in recent years is that devices used outside a kitchen may be proliferating, but they’re also rapidly going low-power. And there’s been upgrades in the NEC to allow lots fewer outlets on a single 20A branch within kitchens and workshops where high-draw devices predominate.
I am not sure why you think that. Moulded plugs are mandatory for all portable domestic electrical equipment
There is provision made for adaptors (commonly supplied with wall warts) so convert them to the UK standard.
Yes, true, I overstated it. I should have said sufficiently effective.
There’s some familarity bias in both directions, I expect. When I handle US plugs, I feel like they are flimsy to handle, insufficiently positive in plugging home (or too easily pulled out) and I feel like I want to check the pins haven’t been accidentally bent. Those aren’t completely objective judgments - they’re just contrast shock - and I think it happens both ways.
That doesn’t explain why, when the UK standardized on a plug late in 20th Century the heavy plug was choosen. (before IEC sockets, allowed selection of power cords, UK appliances commonly required post-sale adjustment of the power plug)
As an aside: the Australian standard plug has a flat vertically oriented earth pin. Now required by standard to be longer than the active pins, so that the earth connects first/ disconnects last.
Also by modern regulation, the two active pins at the top are partially protected, at the pin base, by non-conductive coating, so that if a metal wire or ruler falls between the wall and the plug, it doesn’t hit active metal.
The plug looks exactly the same as a modern Chinese plug, except, by modern regulation, the Chinese now install sockets the other way up, so that if something falls between the wall and the plug, it hits the earth pin rather than the active pins.
In Aus by modern standard, they are required to have a disconnect point. A plug/socket. This always has a switch, because that’s standard. The disconnect point is required because you, or your washing machine installer, or your repair man are no longer permitted to connect/disconnect wiring. Only a licenced tradesman with a 4 year apprenticeship can do that.
The traditional American lighting socket with a standard lamp and a connected wall switch is unknown in Aus. Sockets have switches. Lighting is installed in the ceiling, and wired in. Table lamps and standard lamps are available now, but they plug into a switched outlet down near the floor.
In the old days, before one-piece switched sockets were available, the switch was installed on the same base-plate as the socket, never somewhere else.
Australians were taught to “always turn off the switch before removing the plug”, which is a widely ignored basic safety rule that has almost zero effect on mortality, but made more sense in the days of perishable insulation
So it’s true… You do things upside down in Oz.
In all my life, going back to when the three pins were round, I have always seen the earth pin at the top. I understood that the insulated part of the two conductors was in case someone pulled the plug part way out and put their fingers behind to get a better purchase or something.
As an aside, the two floor lamps in my sitting room are plugged in to power sockets but they have remotely controlled switches, so yet another remote to look for when we want them on. The bedside lamps are permanently live, but have a touch sensor - touch the metal base and it lights up dim, touch again and it brightens and once more for fully on.
I lived in England for 4.5 years. Getting use to the differences in electricity didn’t take all that long.
It was the water system that took a while. For the most part you shouldn’t ever drink the water except from the cold water faucet in the kitchen. Why? Did you ever see a water tower in England? Probably not. Most homes and buildings have a reservoir tank in the attic or roof. This tank supplies the water to all the faucets except the cold water in the kitchen. That faucet is supplied directly from the main pipe. These reservoir tanks can get dirty, moldy, or even have things like dead birds in them. Don’t want to drink that!
The US has always been ground pin on the bottom, live pins on top.
Until recently when they’ve now started going the other way, ground pin on top. We’re seeing it first in hospitals and commercial buildings and I’m not up to date on the official code specifics. But it seems to be the way we’re going too.