Comment on Why do so many UK electrical sockets have an on/off switch next to them?
codapine@lemm.ee 1 week agoTom Scott has a video all about the UK power outlet plug and socket and it’s an engineering marvel. The switch is just one feature.
Comment on Why do so many UK electrical sockets have an on/off switch next to them?
codapine@lemm.ee 1 week agoTom Scott has a video all about the UK power outlet plug and socket and it’s an engineering marvel. The switch is just one feature.
Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 1 week ago
The switch isn’t really a a feature of the UK plug, rather just something they seem to have started doing with their sockets.
codapine@lemm.ee 1 week ago
Well, the design of the plug also implies the design of the socket. I was born in the eighties, and I’ve never seen an electrical socket without a switch, except for the appliance socket used for the cooker, which is behind where you install the appliance - the switch is higher up, above the countertop where it is accessible.
Basic extension trailing sockets don’t, most of the time unless you buy a snazzy one. But it’s by no means a recent development.
Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 1 week ago
Plug and socket obviously go together but I just mean that you could have the switches for any plug, it’s not tied to the plug but just rather what socket plate (or what’s the term) design is adopted. Schuko could have those switches, I think Yanks have them in newer plug plates and so on. It’s just that the UK has adopted (in a standard or just commonly for some other reason) the switches.