Comment on Why do so many UK electrical sockets have an on/off switch next to them?

RandomUser@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• tourist@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Allows you to remove power from the plugged in device without unplugging it. This provides convenience to easily and quickly turn things on and off and prevents arcing when unplugging.

  That’s exactly what I do, because it’s more convenient than unplugging everything.

  I live in South Africa, where we had rolling blackouts (called loadshedding) for a few years. It’s easier to switch everything back on when the power comes back than to plug it back into a socket without a switch, especially with my fucked up spine.

  The electricity in the place I live was done poorly, so having something plugged in “live” risks a surge or something and then the appliance gets fucked and then everything smells like burnt plastic.

  And that’s the best case scenario. Others have had housefires.

  Also, the South African plugs aren’t pleasant accidentally to step on. It won’t pierce your foot, but it can still hurt like a motherfucker for a few seconds if you step on it in the wrong way.

  Those UK plugs do look a lot more nasty to step on. I shudder at the thought.

  I like the EU and US two prong cables ( 🔌?) where the prongs are parallel to the cable, but not the cables with the orthogonal prongs.

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  • grue@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I like the EU and US two prong cables ( 🔌?) where the prongs are parallel to the cable, but not the cables with the orthogonal prongs.

    Non-grounded plugs aren’t that great, though, and once you add the third prong the plug gets much less flat. Compare:

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    Maybe Italy and Chile have the best idea in terms of slim grounded plugs, although the lack of polarity might be a problem?

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    Also, IMO right-angle plugs are often better than straight ones because you can put furniture closer up against them and do so without stressing the cable.

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    • tourist@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      right-angle plugs are often better than straight ones because you can put furniture closer up against them and do so without stressing the cable.

      Yeah that is definitely a huge bonus. I’ve taken it for granted.

      We’re slowly adopting three pronged Italian/Chilean-type plugs that will be “backwards-compatible” with the EU plugs. I have no clue about polarity or anything like that.

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      New sockets include em. The original three pronged socket is kind of a hazard. Kids can stick their fingers in there. Not sure how that got approved.

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      • WhatYouNeed@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Wait until you step on with bare feet an upturned UK plug. Worse than stepping on Lego

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    • Sidyctism2@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      why would the lack of polarity be a problem? the outlets only deliver AC, and everything plugged into them are made for AC.

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      • grue@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        I gotta admit I don’t entirely understand it either, but people claim it matters. ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

        physicsforums.com/…/why-is-the-correct-polarity-i…

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• Revan343@lemmy.ca ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  exciting to stand on

  Thanks, I hate it.

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• Etterra@discuss.online ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Makes sense, American lie voltage (outlets) are 120V. 240V is considered high voltage and isn’t typically fed into residential units. Plugging anything rated for 120V into a 240V outlet is gonna be a bad time, and is why the outlets for high voltage are shaped differently.

  I was gonna guess that the switches were too negate so-called vampire power, which is when a truck’s of electricity flows into appliances that are normally off. IMO that trickle is so negligible in a residence that is 6 effectively irrelevant, but that’s just here in the US. I don’t know anything about foreign electrical systems.

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  • timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    240 is used all the time for furnaces, driers, and increasingly EV outlet connections.

    It’s just all our “normal” stuff is 120.

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    • Empricorn@feddit.nl ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I wish our electric kettle outlets were 240. I’m unreasonably jealous that other places in the world can boil water faster!

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      • pixelscript@lemm.ee ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        I think you can have it, but you’t need to spend a pretty penny.

        All it would take is calling an electrician to run the appropriate wiring from the place you want the kettle plugged in to you breaker box, connect it to the breaker box with the appropriate breaker, cap off the other end with the appropriate plug (a 240V plug does exist in America), and then buy a kettle capable of receiving the rated current and splice on the appropriate plug (because I presume you won’t find one sold with that plug).

        An extremely expensive way to save maybe three minutes boiling water, but you can do it.

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• jonne@infosec.pub ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  How many devices do you have that don’t have a switch on the device itself?

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